Themes of moth smoke

Themes of moth smoke

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  Assignment Novel (Group 2 ) Group leader Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob – Roll no. 3 Group Members Zara Gul khan – Roll no. 15 Samia Shabbir - Roll no. 24 Rabia Ashiq – Roll no. 28 Anza Naeem – Roll no. 31 Mehak Rasool – Roll no. 43 Topic Themes of Moth Smoke Moth Smoke: Moth Smoke is a novel written by Mohsin Hamid, published in 2000. It tells the story of Darashikoh Shezad, a banker in Lahore, Pakistan, who loses his job, falls in love with his best friend's wife, and plunges into a life of drugs and crime. It uses the historical trial of the liberal Mughal prince Darashikoh by his brother Aurangzeb as an allegory for the state of Pakistan at the time of the 1998 nuclear tests. Themes of Moth Smoke: Following are some of the themes that are most prominent in the novel Moth Smoke. • Desire The novel Moth Smoke, set in Lahore revolves around three main characters. The story is heart and soul capturing. We find a desire for power, greed, lust and temptations or pleasure in the characters. In the achievement of these desires there is an essence of unfaithfulness found in the characters. Unfaithfulness to the different facets of life about which the average Lahori is not unfamiliar with. The most interesting and appealing thing about the novel is probably the fact that each character plays a central role. The novel is like a big jigsaw puzzle with each piece an integral part of the whole. On a deeper level, this novel is neither of realistic motivation nor a photograph of Pakistan's decadent society .It's central metaphor is borrowed from Urdu poetry, is of the moth's love and desire for the flame which will consume it. Towards the end, Hamid deftly replaces this stagnant image with a gruesome depiction of a lizard dinning on a moth the candle has spared. It's a crisp summary of his concern with the workings of obsession ,and the lust for power.
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  • Class divisionin a society Mohsin Hamid has made class divisions on the basis of his own imaginative powers. The first group which is also referred to as the masses are put in to the category of large and sweaty. The second group is much smaller but its member practice a great control over the environment and is coned as the term elite. In the novel, the distinction is made on the basis of control of an important resources "air conditioner". The elites have managed to recreate for themselves the living standards of life. Their residence is in an artificially cooled world. There are no working class heroes in moth smoke .Although Daru's boy servant, Manucci , comes close to being a more likable model than his employer. • Desire, Decadence and death in Lahore The selection of "Lahore" in the novel is a realistic touch. The reason for selection of Lahore is to reveal a very close to reality account of the lives of the contemporary elite class. The opinions of the masses and elite in regards to issues like poverty, joblessness , crime , foreign relation and their nuclear issue have all been highlighted. Moth smoke begins with a story from Mughal India presenting the encounter of the Emperor Shah Jahan with a Sufi saint who predicts the war of succession that will make a ruler out of one of his sons and death of the other one. Darashikohshikoh Shikoh and Aurangzeb are the friends separated by capital and class in contemporary Pakistan. Mumtaz, lover of one and wife of the other is the novel's catalyst. • Power, Greed and Lust Moth smoke is set in Lahore and revolves around three main characters. It captures the heart and soul of the second generation of an independent Pakistan. It's a story about power, greed, lust and infidelity. The main thrust of the novel, for all its social desire is towards timeless tragedy: a drama of crime, punishment and redemption. Daru , the little man and Aurangzeb's childhood friend falls in a passionate affair with Mumtaz. He is undone when society, through scheme of corrupt wealthy Aurangzeb accuses him of the hit and run killing of a child. Though he insists Aurangzeb himself is responsible. Mumtaz steps in at the climax with a new revenge and twist. Mumtaz is wife of one of Lahore's wealthy man, Aurangzeb. She is also a journalist. She acts as a pseudonym of Zulfikar Manto and portrayed the urban low life of Pakistan. Mumtaz is given translations of collection of Manto's stories by Aurangzeb. This is an irony on elite class who feels pride on their ignorance of Urdu .Mumtaz shah in Moth smoke represents the most liveliest and progressive face of the otherwise decaying
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  Pakistani middle class.Hamid's Mumtaz appears in a definite light. She protests against what she and many other women experience as a denial. • Jealousy Jealousy factor is seen in Daru`s character throughout the novel. Daru is jealous of his best friend , Ozi, because of his money, fame and his wife. He is status conscious and thinks only rich people can live happily. He belongs to middle class while Ozi belongs to the elite class. Ozi enjoy all the luxuries of life and fulfill all his desires. But Daru depends on Ozi’s father for financial help and even to get a job. He cannot even afford to pay his electricity bills. This makes Daru jealous of Ozi at the very beginning of the novel and he wants to have everything Ozi has even his wife. • Unemployment: One of the major themes of the novel is unemployment which is the main root of all the other happenings in the novel. Mohsin Hamid has shown the problem of unemployment in Pakistani society and its reasons and effects very vividly. Daru is an educated person but he needs to give bribe or an important person like Uncle Khurram’s reference to get a job. He loses his job and becomes unemployed just because of a small mistake. This unemployment and need of money makes Daru a drug dealer and robber. Murad Badshah, who is an M.A, also has to become a rickshaw deriver because he cannot get a job. The diverse effects which unemployment can have on one’s life are realistically shown in this novel. • Moth smoke : The title of the book Moth smoke is one of the major themes.it refers to what remains when moth is seduced by the candle flame. It is also used as a metaphor for Daru moving towards his own destruction and fall, pulled by the temptation of sex, drugs and easy money. The young protagonist of novel, Daru loses his job at a multi-national bank in which he works. He loses his self-esteem . Eventually the ethics leave him and he falls in love with his best friend Ozi's wife, Mumtaz who come back from the United States. Daru presents himself as the moth whose wings get singed in love. Hence the title of the novel.The moth smoke depicts the social norms of Pakistan’s elite class which is the richest and the most respected but the most corrupt and inhumane. The sad thing about the book is that it is a doomsday book.it holds out no hope and like the moths dancing around the flame that will eventually kill.