M.

PHIL ENGLISH

M.PHIL- S1 /Assignment/2020

ASSIGNMENT
Year, 2020

(1st SEMESTER)

TRENDS IN PAKISTANI LITERATURE

Student Name : Zainab Ihsan

Date of Submission : 13 DECEMBER 2020

Submitted To : Mam. Fariha

BAHAUDDIN ZAKARIYA UNIVERSITY

Tumultuous Families and Financial Affairs in Javed Amir’s Modern
Soap

Abstract

Tumultuous families, greed, humiliation and class differences have been the major issues
in post-colonial literature. The novel, Modern Soap (2002) by Javed Amir also deals with
the characters having troubles with their own members of family due to financial affairs
leading them to disruption. The aim of present study is to see the novel through Marxist
lens and to have an insight that how money matters are leading us to humiliation. The
article tries to answer two principal questions: Can the themes of tumultuous families due
to financial affairs and jealousy be tracked down in Modern Soap? and how is the greed
for money and material things leading the families to humiliation and in turn making
them loose everything? To answer these questions in a profound manner the article
makes an analysis of Modern Soap keeping in mind the Marxist theory (1848) of Karl
Marx and Fredrick Engels. The article reveals that the characters in the novel are so
occupied in their financial affairs and the fear of being left behind in the race of wealth
that they often put themselves and their families in situations that lead to destruction.
Throughout the novel, the characters are running after wealth being indifferent of the fact
that the consequences would be unbearable and lead them to such humiliation and
disgrace that afterwards there would be no going back. The article concludes that greed
leads all the characters to shame and disorientation of families.
Key Words: Tumultuous families, Karl Marx, Fredrick Engels, Financial Affairs, Marxism.

Introduction

Most celebrated and read throughout the world form of literature is post-colonial literature and it
constitutes as the most important study of English literature. Many concepts can be applied to the
study of these writing but one of the most eminent works done in this field is by Karl Marx as he
gave the most reliable ideas about wealth and capital (1848).

Lenin famously argued that:

If Marx did not leave behind him a “Logic” (with a capital letter), he did leave the logic of
Capital . . . In Capital, Marx applied to a single science logic, dialectics and the theory of
knowledge of materialism . . . which has taken everything valuable in Hegel and developed it
further. (Saad-Filho,2002, p.8)
Marx and Engels gave their ideas about the class struggle and how social institutions and capital
plays a great role in making the society problematic as it is today in their Communist Manifesto
(1848). The current study with Marxist lens also deals with the money matters and class struggle
that eventually leads to destruction in Javed Amir’s Modern Soap (2002).

Javed Amir who is known to be a talented old Ravian and a former member of the Pakistani
diplomatic corps, is settled in Washington DC (US) since 1978. He usually writes fiction and
essays and has a recognizable journalistic background also. As a multilingual writer (English,
French and Spanish), he is known to the intellectual circles on five continents (which encompass
literally the whole world) by virtue of his articles, essays and reviews (Sajid,2004). His other
works include Thought Never Dies (novel), The Mask (short stories and poems), Writing Across
Boundaries (essays).

The main idea of the current article is to justify Marx’s ideas of class differences and the notion
of capital and wealth through analysis of the novel Modern Soap. there haven’t been any major
works recently carried out on this novel so I had a room full of options to choose from which
aspect I want to analyze further. The article explores the greed for wealth of bureaucrats and
other industrialists who are ready to sacrifice their families and loved ones just to be prestigious
in the society and have a reputation of being wealthy. In addition, the article studies that while
staking money and trying to be wealthy these characters are losing their families and bringing
humiliation to their family’s name and fame.
Research Questions

1) Can the themes of tumultuous families due to financial affairs and jealousy be tracked
down in Modern Soap?

2) How is the greed for money and material things leading the families to humiliation and in
turn making them loose everything?

Theoretical Framework

The article uses Marxist theory (1848) and the concepts of class distinction, wealth and capital
given by Karl Marx and Engels.

“Marxism is an analytically powerful tradition of social theory of vital importance for

scientifically understanding the dilemmas and possibilities of social change and social
reproduction in contemporary society.” (Burawoy, Wright, 2000)

The Communist Manifesto appeared much ahead of its time, with its vision of globalized
capitalism and working-class struggles during 'the Springtide of peoples', the February March
revolutions of 1848. In terms of his literary counterparts, Marx is much younger than, say, Rumi,
Dante, Cervantes or Shakespeare, and as a social and political theorist younger than, for instance,
Hobbes and Locke who in his day were the heroes of Cambridge academic politics not to speak
of classical sages such as Plato, Aristotle, Confucius and Mencius. (Therborn, 2008, pg.1)

Marxism explain the social conditions with any society given at that time by the analysis of
material conditions and economic activities that must be there to provide for human needs.
According to Marx and Engels the society is divided into two major classes;

 The Bourgeoisie: these are the people who are dominant and gather all the wealth and are
considered to be the ruling class. They are considered as the ones who control the society
and all the thing going on in it.
 The Proletariats: these are the people included in lower or middle classes who are
oppressed and dominated by the bourgeoisie.

The article deals with the family issues that arise due to these financial issues and class
differences that are explained by Karl Marx and Engels.

As Karl Marx said,

“Money is the alienated essence of man’s work and existence: this essence dominates him and he
worships it.” (Amir,2002,pg.87)
Analysis

As the novel is recent and I was not able to find any solid information or texts relating to it, the
analysis will only include what my critical thoughts about the theme of family and money
matters are.

In today’s world people consider the ides of being rich and famous and considering nothing else
not even their family or the consequences they would have to face after their wrong doings. All
that matters to them is being wealthy. So, taking this Marxist notion of wealth and the plot of
Javed Amir’s Modern Soap (2002) this very theme would be analyzed. Javed Amir explores how
people are blind sighted by the dream of having a better life style and living in a world which is
stuffed with materialism everyone has a desire to outsmart others by wit and out live them in
terms of being wealthy. This desire leads them to such dark routes that does not suit any human
but they, in a desire to acquire more riches follow that path that leads them to abyss.

The novel (2002) can be divided into stories as there are the tales of five families going side by
side. The land of Cain is the start of the book as it narrates the story of a courtesan, Billo, who
goes to the palace of Maharaja of Kashmir and is loved by the maharaja but soon she has to leave
as she become pregnant with maharaja’s baby and has to run away. But the love for maharaja
turns into hatred and she thinks of a scheme to outsmart him at his own game. Billo, who is now
the mother of Gulabkali teaches her daughter how to sing and dance and to get her revenge takes
her to maharaja’s palace once again. Both Gulabkali and maharaja not knowing each other make
love and Billo in the mean time steals the jewel that is the heritage of Kashmir from Maharaja
and gets her revenge.

The next story is of Bhai’s family who himself is a lawyer and had two brothers; Maq and
Akmal. The story advances as the brothers are being introduced, Maq; a well-reputed bureaucrat
has planned to build a soap factory called Modern Soap with the help of bhai and that is their
plan about which no one else knows. As Maq funds his factory he cannot reveal his identity so
both the brothers plan to bring in Habil who used to work for them in the village of Harappa and
put the factory in his name so that they can work on their big plan under cover and without
bringing it in anyone’s knowledge.

“The best investment was to buy real estate in the names of distant relatives and then take power
of attorney from them.” (Amir,2002,pg.145)

Here comes a parallel story of Bhai’s son Shahid who is wants to be a successful bureaucrat and
clears the exam with distinction. As soon as he does so, Bhai and Bhabhi start to look for his
Rishta in a wealthy family so that when he goes to Paris to continue his job he can live with his
wife and then comes Billo’s family in the story again. Gulabkali is now married and has changed
her name to Paroji and is trying to marry her grand-daughter to a bureaucrat who has a job in
foreign affairs with a plan to export the diamond that was stolen from the Maharaja of Kashmir
so that they can export it to foreign country without bringing it into notice of the Pakistani
government. For the completion of this plan the family use negative means and let Beenu
(Paroji’s grand-daughter) stay with Shahid before marriage to let him fall in love with her so that
their plan succeeds.

“With Nikkah, Beenu would be legally entitled to a diplomatic passport and that was the
greatest prize in the whole drama of transporting the heera known as Regent from the clutches
of greedy government in the subcontinent to the safe haven of Europe” (Amir,2002, pg.100)

Coming back to Bhai’s story, Akmal, who is Maq and Bhai’s third brother is also a wealthy
industrialist and is one of the villains in the story. Other villains are namely; Soraya, who is
Maq’s wife and Kabil, who is Habil’s brother. These three people are suspicious of the plan
about Modern Soap and are doing everything they can to bring a wedge between bhai and Maq.

At the end Kabil with the help of Soraya bring Maq to take money by negative means that results
in Maq being kicked out of his job.

“Maq wanted to have his freedom. Freedom from his wife,his family and his country .Soraya
had enough resources hoarded to stay on in Lahore and look after the kids” (Amir,2002,pg.170)

“Soraya if only we had shown a little less greed, I could have escaped this humiliation. I
repeatedly begged you not to build that house on stilts, but no, you had to shamelessly flaunt
wealth. Sometimes I wonder why we need so much money. And now life has reduced me to this
humiliation” (Amir,2002, pg.157)

Akmal manipulates bhai in such a way that he starts doubting Maq and Kabil in the end is
successful in bringing the factory under his name and deceives Soraya, Maq and bhai. When the
family comes to know about it they file a case against Kabil with the help of bhai and the case
result in the end of Modern Soap.

“it was ironic that an outsider’s acts had forged an affectionate reunion among them. After
years of estrangement, at Akmal’s insistence, the three brothers met at Bhai’s Kothi to celebrate
Kabil’s defeat.” (Amir,2002, pg.171)

Kabil also manipulates Habil’s daughter to be like other city girls and roam around with her
fiancé that results in leaving her pregnant and the family broke off their marriage. At the end
Kabil uses her to give his clients sexual pleasures.
“Kabil manipulated the young girl’s life in a manner that she became a play thing for all his
business associates…. He had discovered that sexual favors as rishwat was lot less expensive”
(Amir,2002, pg.168)

Habil’s family disappointed and humiliated goes back to their village.

“the more these people have, the more they want. Why, Sufi sahib? Why is so” (Amir,2002,
pg.164)

Shahid in the end comes to know about the real face of Beenu’s family but still tries to have a
bond with her.

“Beenu was not a girl who was just a human being, but a zombie-like multiple creature who was
both innocent and corrupt, a virgin and a prostitute” (Amir,2002, pg.179)

But at the end Maq makes him realize the difference between love and marriage and shahid
beaks off the marriage with Beenu and finds Marie who demands nothing but love in return and
Shahid finds his paradiso. “The surprising part of her unconditional love was that she wanted
nothing in return” (Amir,2002, pg.193)

He remembered. More powerful than memories, deeper than blood was the land itself. Deep
down in his heart, Punjab the land of his birth was still dear to him. But it had been a barren
land without love. (Amir,2002, pg.195)

Discussion and Conclusion

The conclusion that I drew from this analysis was that family and loved ones are left behind
when it comes to the money matters. People are blinded by the love for money and they are so in
love with it that no matter what happens to their honor and what humiliation this money brings
with it they keep on hoarding a large sum of money. As Karl Marx gave the idea that if money
would be made so common that everyone had it people would stop running after it and they
would stop using negative means to acquire money. That would lead to a much closer bond
between the families, less jealousy because of having a lower status and much less crimes
committed by people who are committing them in want of money. Most of the losses that human
being bear are either because they do not have enough money or because they want more of it.
As Amir (2002) suggests most of them is because they are never content with money and they
want more of it.
References

Saad-Filho, A. 2002. The Value of Marx. London: Routledge.

Burawoy, M. Wright, E. 2000. Sociological Marxism. Carifornia.

Therborn, G. 2008. From Marxism to Post-Marxism? London: Verso.

Amir, J. 2002. Modern Soap. Islamabad: Alhamra.