Themes of Moth Smoke.

1. Novel’s Assignment made by Group No. 01.
B.S. English. (6th
Semester.)
Group Leader: Aleena Farooq – Roll no. 07.
Samia Azhar – Roll no. 17.
Hira Asim – Roll no. 22.
Laraib Nadeem – Roll no. 30.
Sadaf Jamal – Roll no. 36.
Zulaikha Hameed – Roll no. 39.
Topic: Themes of the novel ‘Moth Smoke’
Themes of Moth Smoke:
Following are the themes that are most prominent in the novel Moth Smoke.
¶ Desire:
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.
On a deeper level, this novel is neither of realistic motivation nor a photograph of
Pakistan's decadent society. Its central metaphor is borrowed from Urdu poetry, is of the
moth's love and desire for the flame which will consume it. It's a crisp summary of his
concern with the workings of obsession, and the lust for power.
¶ Class division:
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 put into the category of
large and sweaty and the second group is much smaller but its member practice a great
control over the environment and is coned as the term elite. 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.
¶ 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.

2. ¶ 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.
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 Pakistani middle class.
¶ 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:
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.