Key Words: Pakistani literature, Short story, Class difference
Tariq Rahman’s short story “The Zoo” depicts the grim reality of a Pakistani society, where the elite class is more interested in trying to impress the foreigners and the labor class is unable to afford the necessities of life. On one hand, the story shows how foreign funds are invested in building a public zoo. Also, it shows that how the funds initially received for the public zoo are used by the authorities for personal purposes. On top of it, there is no one to ask about this mishandling of the funds, rather the authorities are confident that they will get more funds easily
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Moreover, on building the zoo in a short time the manager
gets awarded by the Governor. On the other hand, the story tells the story of a
young man, Hashmat Ali, who has come from the small town of Sargodha to the big
city of Lahore, for better life prospects. Unfortunately, they do not get what
they expected, from city life. After much effort, the accommodation they get is
void of sunlight and fresh air. Hashmat cannot even afford the facility of the
heater in winters. Moreover, the writer has compared the privileges given to
animals of the zoo and the citizens, to show the harsh realities of Pakistani
society.
Hashmat’s wife Fatima and two children get frustrated in the
city within a few days. To appease them, Hashmat takes them on a visit to the
zoo of the city. In the zoo, they see that the animals have much more
facilities than them. They are fascinated by the living conditions of the
animals and are surprised to know that as humans they do not get any fresh air
and sunlight at their home, whereas the animals of the zoo are given an area
where they can breathe in the open air, they get a variety of food and proper
shelter to rest. While leaving the zoo, the family compulsively thinks that the
animals in the zoo are better off than them, the labor class in the city.
The writer of the story has shown the ugly picture of the society where all the money goes to the upper class and the labor class suffers at their hands. Just like the colonizers exploited the colonized, the elite class exploits the lower class in this society. The preference of the government is not to facilitate the poor people rather they spend on the overall appearance of the city to attract foreign funding. The contrast in the lives of Hashmat and his family, and the zoo animals show the discriminatory behavior of the superior class towards the labor class. Thus, “The Zoo” is a reflection of our society where the needy people are becoming needier and the rich are spending more money on superficial things. The story also reflects the priorities of the rich and the governing bodies. The hardships faced by the labor class show how they are marginalized by the rich of society.
The story is analyzed by Saba Alam, one of the contributors to the School of Literature.
