LESSONS FROM THE PAST IN MOHSIN HAMIDS MOTH SMOKE

Abstract

The events in the novel Moth smoke, by Mohsin Hamid are based in Lahore, Pakistan. The writer takes us back in time to the Lahore of the Mughal era. He highlights a turbulent period in Mughal history when the ageing Monarch, Shah Jahan was distressed over the question of succession to the throne. A Sufi saint had predicted that his younger son Aurangzeb would become the king. The writer discusses the political tension of the times. The drive for succession involved a series of diplomatic moves and strategies which the four Mughal Princes adopted to survive the political storm that was generated by the conflicts related to the war of succession. The novel focuses on the late 90s in Lahore. Mohsin Hamid draws a parallel between the political disturbance in the 16th century and the Lahore of present times. The Lahore of the late 90s is in the grip of serious political and social crises. The hostility gripping the two countries of the subcontinent, India and Pakistan is portrayed through the nuclear tests conducted first by India and immediately afterwards by Pakistan in 1998. He focuses on the disintegration of the country and highlights the rampant corruption, drugs, and class wars. The intrigues and conspiracies hatched in the court and harems of Emperor Shah Jahan bordered on the lust for power or supremacy. The novel highlights the impulses, dreams and ambitions which motivate the actions of the characters in the two different time zones and how they finally lead to defeat and death.