Moth Smoke discussion

Daru, Ozi, and Mumtaz seem like complicated people. Daru disrespects Manucci, Ozi is corrupt, and Mumtaz hates her son. None of these characters seem likable, or maybe it's just me. Do you think any of the main characters of Moth Smoke are good people or moral?

I do not think that in the novel, all the main characters are a moral or good people, but the interesting fact is that Hamid narrates the story in all the characters point of view,which make them good people.:)

I agree. The multiple points of view was an interesting aspect of the book. But I kind of wished that Daru and Mumtaz would be the good guys. But they were kind of bad people. Maybe Mannuci was the only good character.

Ha ha may be.:D
But if Daru and mumtaz were the good guys, the novels would be like a 'Bollywood movie', in which you can see, a Hero who is good man, a heroin who suffers from villain, ho is her husband or fiance :)

I think the author might thought about that and he described the view of Ozi in this perspective.

Exactly! Mumtaz really disappointed me though. I thought she would be the voice of reason. But she is as bad as the other characters. Oh well. This book is fascinating only in the sense that it shows almost all the characters in a grey area of morality. Neither good nor bad.... but mostly bad:)

I thought the characters in the novel were all very human. On the inside, aren't all of mostly bad? If we really get down to analyzing ourselves?
If perhaps, the story was told from one particular point of view then some characters may have come across as the good guys. But it wasn't so, so none of the characters were good.

Fatin wrote: "I thought the characters in the novel were all very human. On the inside, aren't all of mostly bad? If we really get down to analyzing ourselves?
If perhaps, the story was told from one particular ..."

well said....there should be a villain in our selves too...:)

Mohammed wrote: "Daru, Ozi, and Mumtaz seem like complicated people. Daru disrespects Manucci, Ozi is corrupt, and Mumtaz hates her son. None of these characters seem likable, or maybe it's just me. Do you think an..."

You are right Mohammed, all the characters have a twisted personality and are quite negative. That was my opinion when I read the book, the story could've been better and I think the plot also needs work

None of them are moral and that is the way it should be, I think. Jay Gatsby had his amoral characteristics, Holden was a whiny guy, Raskolnikov was a flat-out murderer. That's why they are likable. They are square pegs for a round holed world.

All characters in this novel have justifications for their actions and at times one might prefer one over the other as far as morality is concerned. Its the circumstances that one has. I felt the overall mood of the novel was depressing. Every character seemed to lost in their own issues and ignored their responsibilities as Friend, Wife, Mother, Husband, Family member and Under command (Manucci).

The more a novel is near to morality the far it will gonna be from reality. In this novel, the demons( in our hearts which we try to hide from the world) are visible and walking with each character. The Author suppresses the natural urge of a writer to make the main character "flawless saint" and showed his weaknesses honestly which make this novel a marvelous piece of literature.

I think making them purely good would have taken away from the grit of the stories.

I didn't read the novel but I m looking for how Male character is exploited in novels. Can I have this things in ths novel? Anyone who has read this must answer 😊