CORRUPTION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES: A MARXIST CRITIQUE OF SUCCESS IN MOHSIN HAMID’S HOW TO GET FILTHY RICH IN RISING ASIA (2013)

Abstract

The current study aims to focus on the thematic framework of the novel How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia concerning corruption and socio-economic biasness through the critical examination of the transformation of self in order to get benefited in rapidly evolving socio-economic conditions. The novel traces the journey of an unnamed narrator whose personal ambition and societal structures both are marked by ethically ambiguous revenues. Use of second person narration symbolically depicts mutually shared hassles of the unprivileged groups particularly of rising Asia to navigate from being poverty-stricken to filthy rich in the face of capitalism. This study analyzes how characters present corruption as a byproduct and symptom of social and financial inequalities through their experiences .By employing Marxist Social Capital Theory and Patrimonial Capitalism theoretical lens, this paper argues that Hamid emphasizes the class distinction and exploitative dynamics as an outcome of corrupt corporate system acts as a catalyst for differentiation in urbanized Asian context .The protagonist’s acceleration in novel’s manipulative settings depicts duality of corruption as an enabler and thus a barrier. Therefore, as a result concentrated economies work as an allusion for real-world harsh realities .The current study provides insights into how literary texts can be used to analyze, expose and question the socio-economic structures. Hamid’s use of satirical tone exposes striking reality of the society that dysfunctional institutions and lack of accountability, trap individuals in never ending cycle of corruption making it difficult to break these shackles of injustice.

Key Words: Corruption, Socio-economic, Inequalities, Filthy rich, Marxism, Social Capital, Patrimonial Capitalism, Urbanized Asia, Dysfunctional institutions