SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRISES

IN MOTH SMOKE BY
MOHSIN HAMID
DEPICTING PAKISTAN’S
SOCIETY
PRESENTED BY: ZEENAT ASIF
Introduction:

“Socioeconomic” is the combination of two words related to social sciences and economics.
 The socio-economic theory is based on the relationship of social behaviors like norms,
ethics, and sentiments with economic status.
 It relates the position of two different individuals based on education, wealth, occupation,
and where someone lives.
 This theory is basically used to depict the difference in the economic status of society as a
whole.
 Our society is divided into three parts: high, middle, and lower class and the same is the
case for Socio-economic theory.
About the novel:

 Moth Smoke reveals the impacts of unemployment on youth and their approach towards
crimes because of their social position. These crises lead any society towards crimes,
hatred, and disobeying of any law and rule (Barua, 2007).
 Mohsin Hamid tried to justify globalization and who is responsible for it: the common
people because humanity is the same all around the world. It is utterly our fault if society
is disturbed because we are ignoring the approach in which we should address our
problems (Jay, 2005).
 This novel has the concept of fundamentalism by observing keenly. It is the story of a
man struggling to maintain a high-class lifestyle, which leads him to commit crimes and
end up in jail (Perner, 2010).
About the novel:

 Moth Smoke shows the true face of society while mentioning crime and the criminal
system and the role of the law in these things. In short, Moth Smoke addresses all aspects
of society, including corruption, justice, morality, ethics, and human development. It also
shows a way of correction and stability of the system (Malik, 2017).
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRISES:

 Socio-economic crises are basically all these problems we have in our society because of the
economy. These crises mainly include social, psychological, and environmental problems.
 There are a few important socio-economic factors. These factors include income, education,
profession, health, and political involvement.
 INCOME:
 As said by Daru, “And pass not one but two lovely Pajeros. Yes, God has been kind to Ozi’s
father, the frequently investigated but as yet un-incarcerated Federal Secretary (retired)
Khurram Shah “(p. 10)
 In the novel, Khurram Shah was a corrupt person under investigation for his corruption, but
nothing happened to him because he got money and the system was completely under his
knees. He was living a luxurious life.
INCOME:

 The protagonist says, “I know I need to present my case forcefully. ‘Sir,’ I begin. ‘Not you,’
my bank manager says. ‘Malik Saab, tell me what happened “(p. 22).
 Malik Saab has the right to have listened first because he got the money. The bank manager
did not even allow his own employee to speak. It might have been his mistake. But he just
got fired by the manager because he used a bit of unhealthy language with Malik Saab.
 As Mumtaz points out, “It was a red light, Mumtaz points out. So? He could see me coming.
There are rules, you know. And the first is, bigger cars have the right of way “(p. 27).
 In Moth Smoke, the depiction of social discrimination among people, even among their cars,
is clearly shown. Mumtaz tells Ozi that you just broke the traffic rules by crossing the red
light, but he responds that the first rule is that bigger cars have the right to proceed in law or
against the law.
INCOME:

 “Zulfikar Manto: why did he stop? Julius Superb: Money, I think. His girlfriend had just left him for a
textile baron’s son. He got a job offer from a bank, and he couldn’t resist. He told me it was impossible
to make a living in academia or development “(p. 41).
 Dilaram confesses, “The landlord of our area asked me to come to his house. I refused, so he threatened
to kill my family. When I went, he raped me “(p. 58).
 Dilaram further confesses, “Then he told me he had bought me from the landlord for fifty rupees. He
said I would have to give him fifty rupees if I wanted to go back to my village. But you did not have the
money. Dilaram chuckles, He bought me Heera Mandi and made me have sex with men until he had his
fifty rupees “(p. 59).
 “He loved load-shading for this reason. As he drove past their open gates, it was assumed he would see
the rich people on the grounds of their mansions, fanning themselves in the darkness, muttering as they
called the power company on their cell phones.Indeed, nothing made Murad Badshah happier than the
distress of the rich “(p. 128).
EDUCATION:

 “He speaks what he thinks is well-bred English to deny the lower-class origins that color the
accent of his Urdu and Punjabi. But like an over ambitious toupee, his artificial diction draws
attention to what it’s meant to hide “(p. 45).
 Here Murad Badshah is trying to cover up his inferiority complex by speaking English to look
like an educated fellow with a proud language, although he did not make it.
 “Of course, the bullets might not have come from those weddings. Someone might have fired a
Kalashnikov in the air to announce a victory in a kite fight, a job promotion, or the birth of a
child. A young man may have fired just to fire, or to let the neighborhood know that his was not
a house to be robbed “(p. 133).
 Without thinking that one’s actions might hurt someone and lead to situations like the death of
Daru’s mother, found dead in the morning. Her fault was only that she was sleeping on the roof
of her home in the sky.
EDUCATION:

 Mumtaz mentioned that, “I remember what it felt like to tell him how my father used to
beat my mother, once so badly she lost her hearing in her left ear. How my brother never
cried, not even when I almost died of pneumonia and he spent the entire night awake with
me in the hospital “(p. 185).
 Mumtaz elaborates on this point and says, “She’d spent half her life making her son into
the man she’d wished she’d married, and now that he’d returned, she was back in
business. She corrected his posture, critiqued his suits, made him self-conscious about his
receding hairline by telling him again and again how a good haircut would hide it. And
the effect she had on him was incredible. One look from her would transform the relaxed,
charming, sexy man I‘d married into an uncomfortable little schoolboy “(p. 193,194).
 PROFESSION:

 “Shut the door, Mr Shezad, ’my BM says to me. ‘What happened? I know I need to present my case forcefully. ‘Sir,’
I begin. Not you, ‘my BM says. ‘Malik saab, tell me what happened “(p. 22).
 Mohsin Hamid elaborates,
 “Badly. They want foreign qualifications or an MBA. It’s all about connection, old boy. ’ He takes a hit. ‘How did
you get your previous job? Through a family friend, ’I admit. Ozi’s father, as a matter of fact. “ (p. 45).
 “I wrote about things people didn’t want to see, and my writing was noticed. Zulfikar Manto received death threats
and awards “(p. 196).
PROFESSION:

 Ozi stated that, “Some say my dad’s corrupt and I’m his money launderer. Well, it’s true
enough. People are robbing the country blind, and if the choice is between being held up
at gun point or holding the gun, only a madman would choose to hand over his wallet
rather than fill it with someone else’s cash. Why do you think my father got into it? He
was a soldier. He served in ’71. He saw what was going on. And he decided that he
wasn’t going to wait around to get shot in the back while people divided up the country.
He wanted his piece. And I want mine “(p. 230).
 “It goes on and on. People are pulling their pieces out of the pie, and the pie is getting
smaller, so if you love your family, you’d better take your piece now, while there’s still
some left. That’s what I am doing “(p. 231).
CONCLUSION:

 Pakistani society was gripped by social problems as a result of the economy in the
1990s.That led to discrimination among different societal classes. The poor were unable
to have due rights and justice made a business by the rulers. Politicians were only
concerned about their bank accounts and were busy with money laundering. The
bureaucracy was not working for the well-being of a state to make it a truly independent
state. All these factors led people towards hatred, crimes, and no mercy. Society was
ethically dead and having extra-marital affairs was a fashion for the rich. Women and
teenagers were raped by the landlords and others in power.
 Everyone considers that they have a part or piece in looting this country. Everyone was
involved at their own level of approach toward crimes and corruption.
Thank you