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SATIRE IN THE OPTIMIST

A SHORT STORY
BY BINA SHAH

FARIHA ALI
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT SINDH UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION
Satire is one of modernist devise that has been extensively used in
order to pinpoints the follies of individuals, class , communities or
societies at large. Satire being extensively used in literature these days
is the deliberate effort on part of writers in order to be in line with the
modernistic trends and also to bring in something interesting and
amusing at the same time serving the purpose of instruction. This
work shows the inclination of writers towards the increasing trends of
modernist literature through Satire. I have analyzed The Optimist, a
short story by Bina Shah, where writer points towards stubborn
behaviour of society, its rigid framework which doesn`t allow it to
come in line with the changing modern trends around the world. Here
satire is used in favour of modernism in a light respectful way. Writer
Bina Shah has written the piece with a neutral tone neither supporting
the structure of arranged marriage system neither despising it but she
has presented the matter at hand as it is, rather as if narrated through
the main characters Raheela and Adnan, Raheela is a British citizen
whose marriage has been arranged without her consent, the events and
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scenario that proceeds is dicussed and and analyzed in this piece of

research.

METHOD

The research methodology is a qualitative one which is an extensive

study of the text. In order to make my research more systematic a
research question has been formulated which is as follows"

How Pakistani writers are trending towards modernist literature by

using Satire?
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LITERATURE REVIEW

According to the oxford dictionary the definition of satire it’s the use
of humour , irony exaggeration or ridicule to reveal and criticize
people's bad points. Satire is one of the very commonly used feature
of modern literature, writers have been using this devise specifically
to pinpoint the prevailing hidden or exposed malices, in order to
correct then or to let the readers be more informed about the vice it’s
pros and cons , so to create greater awareness and thereby
contributing in the wellbeing of the society .

Moving on to the better half of humour that is satire, sarcasm and

gibe as defined by the encyclopedia Britannica;
“Satire in its literary aspect, may be defined as the
expression in adequate terms of the sense of amusement
or disgust excited by the ridiculous or unseemly,
provided that humour is the distinctly recognizable
element and that the utterance is invested with literary
form without humor, satire is invective; without literary
form, it is mere clownish jeering.

Abual- al-Ejaz Hafeez Siddiquee has defined satire in the following

words:
”.
“The comic situations of life which can be pointed out
and the contemptuous aspects of life which can be
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opposed and humorously criticized are termed as

satire (121)

Satire has been the part and parcel of modernist literature since
always. And it has effectively contributed in the corrections of the
societies at large. When we come to Pakistani literature , we can
safely name Allama iqbal as the Pioneer in the field of writing, his
poetry is known to be the awakening and enlightening device and he
is widely credited as The Poet of the East. Iqbal’s poetry is one fine
example of modernist literature. In his poetry we can find the satire at
its peak where he has liniently criticised the religion politics
characters flaws and presented it as a mirror to the society. As at one
place he is found saying

Ummatein aur bhi hen un men gunahgaar bhi hen ,

Ujuz waale bhi hen mast e mai pindaar bhi hen,
Un men kaahil bhi hen , ghaafil bhi hen ,hoshiyaar bhi hen,
Rehmatein hen teri agyaar kay kashaanon par,
Barq girti hai to bechaare musalmanon par.
‫امتین اور بہی ہیں ان می گنہاگار بہی ہیں‬
‫عجز والے بہی ہیں مست مئے پنرار بہی ہیں‬
‫ان میں کاہل بہی ہیں غافل بہی ہیں ہشیار بہی ہیں‬
‫رہمتیین ہیں تیری اغیار کے کاشانوں پر‬
‫( برق گرتی ہے تو بیچارے مسلمانوں پر‬Iqbal , 253)
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Here though iqbal is asking God about His injustice to Muslims but in
actual he wants his nation to see through their own flaws.
At other point he says,
Masjid to bana di shab bhar men emaan ki hararat walon ne ,
Man apna puraana paapi hai barson men namaazi ban na saka.
‫مسجد تو بنا دی شب بہر میں ایمان کی حرارت والوں نے‬
‫( من اپنا پرانا کاپی ہے برسوں میں نماز ی بن نا سکا‬Iqbal, 410)
Here while criticizing ownself he highlights the folly of religion for
being so outwardly focused that it forgets the very soul.

Another witty piece of satire is Shazaf fatima Haider`s How It Happpened

(2012). Where she has pin pointed the rigidness of communities on account
of inter sect marriages.
Here Dadi is the main character who mirrors the society`s austere
behaviour ,regarding inter sect marriages,

At one place we find Dadi showing typical mentality regarding girl`s

looks and their importance for marriage, where she says for her grand
son,
My Haroon has such good taste in selecting a girl that he would
never pick someone who is not beautiful , and for instance God
forbids he picks a dark coloured girl her magical mixture
of turmeric and yoghurt will make her look like a moon.
(Shazaf,34)
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At other place when she sees her grand daughter dating a guy from
another sect she has every good reason to defy that when she says to
her son,
This is all your wife`s fault ! Filling her head with modern
nonsense and putting her in a mixed school ! Now suffer the fate
you have brought upon the Bandian name : a Bandian was caught
dating ! eating ice cream together !! And that too in the middle of
Moharram!.(Shazaf,201)

Apart from few poems of Shahid Suharwardi , there was no lightness

or humour in Pakistani English Poetry until 1960`s . Then Zulfiqar
Ghose , Taufiq Rafat and Alamgir Hashmi Gave an experience from
an unconventional and reconstituted to gain sympathetic appraisal.
In fiction however Bapsi Sidhwa made exrensive use of situational
as well verbal humour in order to satirise characters and the
community in which they live .
Then Tariq Ali`s Redemption (1978) has offered a hilarious
comedy of situation and ideas. Again Ahmad Ali`s Rats and Diplomat
(1986) is a direct attack on the corruption and imhumanity of those
running countries and societies.

Tazeen Gul and Tabassum Javed (2012) have rightlly asserted

regarding the process of satire and the way it works,
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The process of sarcasm through satire is very much like surgery. As a

surgeon cuts and opens up the human body so to extricate it by the
infected part, similarly a satirist pinpoints the follies of the society and
extricates it of the corruptive areas. Although that`s true and admitted
that a satirist surely has the gusto and ardor of elatedness and
supremacy in him. Whatever a satirist mocks he shows his soreness
towards it and is desirous to modify and aspire it. Perhaps the element
of sympathy is absent which is thought to be the spirit of humour.
Sarcasm exposes to the readers the personal follies and the
humiliation of others which can only be worked upon by a mature
mind of
decent taste and disciplined attitude. In short, in this genre readers
are not only able to see the faults of others but also their own
misdeeds as well.
The element of humour makes this genre light hearted, jovial, intimate
and infectious. It is therefore necessary that it shouldn`t be cheap and
vulgar but should rather be meaningful, far reaching, universalized
and
enduring.
One other great name in urdu literature is that of Patras Bukhari whose work
is not that voluminous but its one of the greatest works of satire . His erudition
and experience had given his work a prominent status in literature. There is a
touch of delicacy, liveliness and good taste in his humour. He used to create
humour through situations more than words. He is well at parody writing but
repartee is his special technique. He does not laugh at the individuals but at the
groups and classes.
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ANALYSIS

THE OPTIMIST

The optimist is a short story written by Bina Shah . It is a story that

raises an issue about the commonly prevailing trend of our society
that is `arranged marriage set up`.The story is a satire on the society`s
stubborn clinginess to its older conventions and traditions , and its
unchallenged negation of accepting the modern trends of the world.
Its weightless and futile optimism about it being perfect with its
traditional customs.
The story is about a British Pakistani girl named Raheela whose
marriage has been arranged by her parents without even asking her
choice with her cousin who lives in Pakistan.The story is divided into
3 naratives, where in two narator is Adnan and in one Raheela is the
narrator. The narrative is unchronological. In the first narrative Adnan
is the narrator where Adnan and Raheela's wedding is taking place
and in second narrative is about the pre marriage scenario and the last
narrative is again post marriage scenario.
In the first narrative of Adnan we see how cruelly right on the stage,
Raheela crushes the happiness of Adnan by admiting tjhat she does
not love him and even cant tolerate his sight and was just marrying
him on her parents's wishes. And that how she curses him in slang
language.
Then it is told in the narrative how come Adnan happened to choose
Raheela as his suitable match, as per the old age custom of our society
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which is merely through checking out her photograph he insstantly

decides to marry Raheela, it is actually writer ridiculing the society's
way of arranging relationships when it comes to marriage, without
giving thought to the compatibility of two people, relationships just
happen . Adnan is perfectly okay with society`s custom of choosing a
partner without knowing as he has been in the position to chose the
life partner, for he is the man, he has given right to decide at his
choice at which age he is going to marry probably after having
enjoyed life at its fullest and having achieved career aspirations
whereas on the other hand women are giving only one choice that is to
get married and further more marrying not on their on choice but let
others decide whom she is going to spend her life with. And same was
the case with Raheela and when she protested ,
''They will never let me work" the answer was no exception "but
why should you work? Adnan is doing so well for himself." (175)

And the sentence said by Adnan is also sarcasm on the naivety of

behaviour of people in terms of arranged marriage setup." The days
our parents lived are gone where you take a stranger into your bed."
And Adnan himself going with the trends of society become
satisified with his self-assumed astrological compatibility that they
both will go well along with each other and this consideration of
Zodiacs to see compatibility is a metaphor for society`s senseless
customs.
Though Adnan is a man of modern age but he is complying with
the society`s age old custom of marrying through photograph set up,
and he is unaware and least bothered about the thinking of modern
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women. Just like typical society`s notion , where it does accept the
time has changed but is so inflexible to adapt to such changes.

Similarly a stereotyped mentality of a Pakistani mother in law has

been shown through Adnan`s mother , where she doesn`t want her son
to choose a girl who belongs to a sect or background other than theirs,
or girl who is dark or the one with quite an assertive or dominating
personality and thinking. This particular stereotyped behaviour as we
all must have observed have become a hinderance in getting a suitor
for girl in our society. The choice ofcourse belongs to the males and
their families. And this has become a serious social concern for the
girls and their families. A social anxiety it can be termed as.

.Moreover the way Adnan said these words seems as an insult for
any woman;
"She would get used to to the way we live over here as long as I
made her happy" (172)
Though Adnan not knowing what is actually important for Raheela in
terms of happiness . And at one place he is found saying
"My mother was always dreaming of having a daughter in law to
boss over and to help her in the kitchen, but Raheela wouldnot
adapt to our lifestyle without a lot of love and kindness . A
marriage takes compromise you see and I am nothing if not a
reasonable man". (172)
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It appears as if happiness, kindness and love are used as a

manipulative tools to tame a women in whatever way desired. And
Adnan boasting about compromise appears as a mockery as there was
no any compromise done on part of him throughout the story. All
compromises were expected from Raheela , expectations were there
from Adnan himself , his parents or even Raheela`s parent which she
was supposed to fulfill .

Then in his second narrative as well , Adnan speaking as if he is

being oppressed as if great injustice has been done to him, when
Raheela didn`t allow him touch her on their wedding night and
Adnan`s description of her physical beauty emphasises how much he
wanted to be physical with her no matter she loved him or not.
As he says "... she wouldn`t say those three words . Never mind ,
I told myself , it will come". (179)

And the fourth night she let him touch her , Adnan was overjoyed
and thought his optimism has turned out as he expected . He
considered the physical relationship as the sole medium leading to a
happy relationship. This again happens to be prevailing concept of
marriage`s success , where a body of woman is being used to make
true all the assumptions of society, that how an arranged marriage set-
up happens to be the accepted norm of society for its healthier
survival , with least regard to women`s consent . And man feels a
masculine in controlling a woman`s body as it was said by Adnan in
his narrative. Thus in a way marriage happens to be a weapon to gain
control over the woman`s body.
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Then in the narrative of Raheela we see she is a strong-head ,

outspoken , loud , blunt girl , who knows that she has the very right to
self expression , how to validate herself in open and fierce ways as
possible , whether its a petty issue related to harsh weather conditions
or aloud refusal to an unwanted marriage , and when she is not being
heard she harms herself with the shards of broken cup. Because of her
realization about the fact that she will never be able to win a
judgement for her , when her mother brought her a cup of tea and
there she sensed a sort of tiredness in her mother`s eyes which she
overlooked in her own eyes thirty years from then , which shows that
no matter what , women associated with patriarchal culture has to face
the same fate the way woman have to be a picture of misery.
And so was the result of such forced relationship that it brought
out the worst in her. She did all that she previously considered wrong ,
she forsaken her virginity, she got involved into smoking and clubing.
This was her protest for doing something which she found more
aversive. And the most interesting is the fact that she did`nt do any
such thing before ,even when she was an independent British woman
who had all the freedom and rights but when her choice to live her life
on her own choice was confiscated, the rebel in her grew full-fledged
wings , as boundaries and chains either on body or on emotions
always make the object to struggle for the ways to escape . This shows
how the Women with patriarchal roots are held hostage no matter
where they are and hence they are kept tied to its culture and
traditions. These culture and traditions try every bit of tactics to boss
over women by seizing their rights, gaining control over their bodies
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and letting them act according to their set patriarchal ordeals for its
long life as was tried with Raheela.
Another important thing to be noted is a starking contrast in the
tone of the narrators , where Adnan`s narratives have subtle soft
touches in them , on the other hand we can sense loud and rebellious
expressions in Raheela`s narrative , this can be deliberative attempt as
if story is seen through the lens of society where a reader either man
or woman from a patriarchal society should percieve the character of
Adnan as the poor victim of an independent bad woman Raheela who
is willing to forsake the marriage bliss to her independence. Moreover
, though Raheela must have been through a mental torture but here we
see mental or emotional turmoil and psychological oppression of
Raheela is neglected throughout the story , we never see a sentimental
or weakening side of Raheela because it is never being visible to the
society`s eyes or it shuts its eyes to it..
Now some word about the tiltle of the story "The Optimist " and
it refers to vain optimism of Adnan . Here we can take Adnan as a
metaphor for society`s vain senseless conceptions about modern
woman , where society,religion and culture assumes that with its
prevailing systems and traditions it will be successful in clipping the
wings of the woman of today, but at the end of the story we see ,
Raheela eloped this compulsive relationship which that even after so
many restrictions compulsions, impositions ,women will somehow
make a way of freedom for herself and trespassing the self-made
boundaries of culture , she will pave a way for relief and
emancipation.
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REFERENCES

Shamsie Muneeza,2006,And the World

Changed .Karachi,Pakistan:Ameena syed Oxford University Press

Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 20, (USA: William Benten

publishers), 6

Abu-al-Ejaz, H. Sadeeqi, Akshaf Tanqeedi Istalahat (Islamabad:

Muqtadira Qaumi Zuban, 1985), 121

Gul Tazeen , Javed Tabassum,2012.Humour And Satire In Urdu

Literature.The Dialogue,VII,179

http://www.qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The%20Dialogue/7_2/
Dialogue_April_June2012_178-185.pdf

Benson Eugene,Conolly L.W,2005.Encyclopedia Of Post Colonial

Literature In English,London,U.k:Routledge

Haider Shazaf Fatima,2012.How It Happened.New

Delhi,India:Penguin Groups
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Iqbal Mohammad ,2005.Kulyaat e Iqbal.Karachi,Pakistan:Fazlee Sons