Summary

In “About a Burning Girl,” the first person narrator describes himself as “a sessions judge in the Lahore High Court” (97), but he adds that he has no real sense of justice. He makes decisions “based on the relative pressures brought to bear on me” (97). He describes his unhappy but functional relationship with his wife and children. He goes on to describe how happy he is with one of his servants, Khadim, whom he describes as reliable and attentive.

One day, Khadim makes an unexpected request: to go to his village home and see an unwell relative. The narrator agrees. Shortly afterwards, the narrator learns that Khadim has been charged with murder. The wife of his older brother was burned to death, and before she died named Khadim as the one who set the fire. The narrator has a meeting with the brother, in which...