Moth Smoke

Daru’s trial is presented to the reader as an entertainment or an allegorical play—the clear implication being that it is merely a “show trial.” The guilt or innocence of the accused is irrelevant; the purpose of the process is to put the reader in the judge’s robes, as it were. Ultimately, no verdict is rendered within the novel; the reader must decide for themself whether Daru is guilty or not. The omniscient narrator describing the courtroom portrays it like a theatrical play: “The cast begins to enter, filing into this chamber of dim tube lights and slow-turning ceiling fans” (7). After the main cast arrives, the courtroom fills with spectators, “their diversity the work of a skilled casting director” (7). Even the title of the chapter that introduces the trial resonates with theatrical nomenclature: “Judgment (Before Intermission).” Not only does the title emphasize the staged nature of the trial, but it also implies that judgment has been reached “before intermission,” before the arguments are fully heard. The trial itself symbolizes the corruption endemic to the political system, as well as serving to implicate the reader in Daru’s fate.

To emphasize the theater of the trial is also to indicate the falseness of the testimony. Chapter 14 begins by highlighting its pageantry: “The actors sit upright in these, the final moments of the trial” (234). If those who have borne witness to the events are mere actors, then their testimony is immediately called into question. This also validates Daru’s arguments—summarized by the prosecutor—that those testifying have been bribed into accusing him. In the final scenes from the courtroom, the author clarifies beyond a doubt that the reader must deliver the verdict; it will not come from the main players: “[O]ne by one the other actors in this drama turn to you. The audience awaits. The director bites his nails. Critics and producers will judge your decision” (236). Ultimately, “someone hisses from offstage” (236), nudging the reader—the only (potentially) impartial witness—to determine Daru’s guilt or innocence.

A notable backdrop to the events of the novel are the nuclear tests both India and Pakistan perform near each other’s borders. Historically speaking, these tests were highly controversial: Both nations developed nuclear capabilities outside the agreement of the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (see Background: Socio-Historical Context). In terms of the novel, the nuclear tests serve as a symbol of the increasingly fractured relationship between Daru and Ozi, as well as the widening gulf in Pakistani society between the rich and the poor.

Murad Badshah notes that the timing of the nuclear tests allowed him to move forward with his plan for armed robbery: “It was a summer of great rumblings in the belly of the earth,” he tells the reader, “of atomic flatulence and geopolitical indigestion, consequences of the sectarian chickpeas by our famished and increasingly incontinent subcontinent” (63). In his baroque but striking metaphor, Murad emphasizes the political tensions of the time: India and Pakistan have only been distinct nations for 51 years by the summer of 1998, and Pakistan has gone through a civil war 27 years previously, leading to the independence of Bangladesh. Thus, the populace is uneasy about the possibilities for warfare, and the resulting economic fallout following the tests makes Murad certain that his robberies of the rich will be celebrated by the poor. In the aftermath of Pakistan’s test, Murad declaims, “This nuclear race is no joke. Poor people are in trouble” (134). The economic fallout from the test instigates inflation and freezes foreign aid, which exacerbates the conditions of those living in poverty most of all.

Daru and Ozi both discuss the tests at various times in the novel. Daru is certain that Pakistan will go through with a nuclear test once India has done so; Pakistan must prove itself to be India’s equal, just as strong and independent, prepared for battle. This echoes Daru’s own struggles to prove himself to his wealthier, more socially privileged cohort; his embattled position fuels his ambition—though ultimately in self-destructive ways. Later, after Daru has witnessed the hit-and-run accident committed by Ozi, he is furious about his friend’s lack of concern over the fate of the boy. Daru credits Ozi’s callous reaction to his privilege, his inherited sense of entitlement. After Daru wanders back home, weathering a short and unsatisfying storm, he is reminded of the nuclear tests: “They say the nuclear tests released no radioactivity into the atmosphere. Each a huge gasp, smothered unsatisfied” (100). Coming on the heels of what Daru has witnessed, this mirrors the test of friendship that the two young men now face. The fallout may not be radioactive here either, but it will be profoundly life-changing for both, as Daru faces trial and Ozi loses his wife—and his lifelong friend.