Moth Smoke Summary
Mohsin Hamid

Moth Smoke Overview

Set in a fairly contemporary Pakistan (late 1990s), Mohsin Hamid’s work of historical fiction, Moth Smoke, chronicles the downward spiral of Darashikoh Shezad after he is fired from his well-paying bank job. Hamid’s narrative follows Darashikoh as he succumbs to drug addiction and participates in an ill-fated affair with his best friend’s wife, which ends with a false conviction that puts Darashikoh behind bars. Told primarily from the first-person point-of-view from multiple narrative voices, Moth Smoke explores themes such as power, shame, and corruption.