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Presented By
Muhammad Javaid Jamil
PhD. English
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
javaid459@yahoo.com

Give me women, wine, and snuff
Until I cry out “hold, enough!”
(John Keats)
2/3/2017 2
Muhammad Javaid Jamil, Lecture in English.
@HED, Multan, Pakistan: javaid459@yahoo.com

Introduction of Author
 Uzma Aslam Khan was born in Lahore and grew up
in Karachi. She is the author of Trespassing (2003),
which was translated into thirteen languages and
shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize Eurasia
Region, and The Geometry of God (Rupa & Co. in
2008). The Story of Noble Rot (2001) is her first novel.
 Khan has contributed articles to various newspapers
and journals around the world, such as to Drawbridge
UK, Counterpunch USA, and Dawn Pakistan.
 She has taught at the Beaconhouse National
University in Lahore, and in the fall of 2008, she is
the Distinguished Visiting Writer at The University of
Hawai'i in Honolulu.
 Khan is married to the American writer, David Maine.
2/3/2017 3

What about the Novel is? ??
‘The Story of Noble Rot’
2/3/2017 4

‘The sweet taste of the wine comes from the
muscadelle grape, and the grayish mould
that it attracts. The fungus sucks water from
the grape, leaving it with an unusually high
quantity of sugar and glycerin. We have
lovingly named the mould pourriture noble,
noble rot.’ (page. 121)
Mrs. Masood jotted down, “You’ve come at last,
my noble rot,” (page. 180)
2/3/2017 5

Characters
 Chaudry: An honest carpenter and
staunch patriarch.
 Malika: wife of carpenter, Chaudry.
Commits adultery.
 Momin, Moeez, Shauqat: sons of
Chaudry who banished Moeez and
Shauqat because of their theft and
heroin addiction. Momin works in carpet
factory.
 Faika: The daughter of Chaudry.
 Talpur: An assistant of Chaudry in his
work
 Tufail, Jamil, Khalil: Servants at ‘The
Masood Paradise’.
 Pathan: A gardener, with whom Malika
commits adultery.
 Soomla: the legendary Sindi princess
renowned for her magical powers.
2/3/2017 6

Characters
 Mr. Masood: A retired bank manager who
had established a thriving carpet business in
Karachi.
 Mrs. Masood: Her name was Hinna.
Brought from Cholistan. She sliced off her
tongue for the guiltiness that she tasted the
wine, prohibited by her husband.
 Laila: Daughter of Mr. Masood.
 M.Chauclet: A delegate from French
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and
Laila’s future father-in-law.
 M.Didier: From French Ministry to
investigate the opening of an outlet of Mr.
Masood’s products in France.
 André: Son of M. Chauclet and Laila’s fiancé.
 Mr. Saeed: A widower with three children.
 Fazeel, Faisal: sons of Mr. Saeed
 Saima: Eldest of Saeed’s children with
unpredictable behaviour
Cholistan
2/3/2017 7

Character Map
Mrs. Masood
(Hinna)
Momin
Malika Chaudry
Mr. Saeed
Mr. Saeed
M. Didier
M.Chauclet
André Laila Saima
Fezeel Faisal
Pathan
Soomla
Moeez
&
Shauqat
WorksatSavesfrom
factory
did not like
banished
workshauntedby
fears
Treats her
stoically
Business partner
Business partner
son
Daughter
Stealanecklacefromherdowry
son
daughter
son
Faika
Fondof
engaged
2/3/2017 8

Key points
Narrator: Third-person omniscient.
Protagonist: Mrs. Masood(Hinna) OR Malika.
Antagonist: Malika OR Mrs. Masood.
Setting: the main action of the novel is set in Karachi,
while the setting of dreams and thoughts is in the
desert, Cholistan.
Point of view: the novel is told primarily from the
point of view of Malika and Mrs. Masood.
Tone: tone of the novel is light, sarcastic and
obsessive, with the sprinkles of humour.
2/3/2017 9

Continue…
Motifs: wine imagery, animal imagery, sensual
imagery.
Symbols: Radio music, wooden statuettes, Lizard, sah
pina snake, Sirkish camel, Crow, Minnow, Soomla.
Foreshadowing: Malika’s flipping of her feet
backwards, grandmother’s stories.
Plot: Two stories i.e. of Malika and of Mrs. Masood,
are intertwined together like pendulum. At the end,
both are combined together leading towards the final
catastrophe
2/3/2017 10

Structure of Novel
The novel is divided into three parts;
Part 2nd .
‘Tom Thumb’s
Minnow’
Part 3rd .
‘Lying in the Bed
We Made’
Part 1st.
‘A Toast’
2/3/2017 11

Summary of Novel: 1.A Toast
 The novel starts when Mrs. Masood comes
at the store of the carpenter, Chaudry to
collect the ordered table. Chaudry and his
wife, Malika felt cheated when Mrs. Masood
does not pay the settled money of the table.
She ransacks the table authoritatively and
even orders for the matrimonial bed for her
daughter, Laila, whose marriage was going to
be held, at Christmas, with the son of the
French business partner of Mr. Masood__
Andrés. Malika plans to gain access to
Masood household for the retrieval of the
money and to rescue her five-year-old son
Momin from a wretched life as a labourer in
Mr. Masood's carpet factory. She dreams of
sending him to school, but her aged husband,
a stern father, will only put money aside for
their baby daughter's dowry.
2/3/2017 12

1.A Toast
 Mr. Masood treats her wife like
furniture. Wine was strictly
prohibited to her because it was
‘unislamic’ for her. When Malika
went to the Masood Paradise to
get job of masi, she caught Mrs.
Masood red-handedly, sipping
wine. In her dizziness of wine,
Mrs. Masood takes her as
Soomla, a churail. Malika
capitalize on the situation and
gains control over Mrs. Masood.
Malika made her drink more
‘noble rot’ and she calls it a
Toast.
2/3/2017 13

2.Tom Thumb’s Minnow
 Malika uses her habit of flipping her feet
backwards as advantage. She , under the
guise of Soomla(Churail), made Mrs.
Masood to pay all the money which was
owed to her husband, Chaudry for table
and bed. She was able to get the job of masi
at The Masood Paradise and even able to
rescue her son, Momin from carpet factory
of Mr. Masood.
 Malika continues her works at the house
of Mr. Saeed, a widower with three
children. Her daughter, Saima becomes
fond of Momin in a sarcastic manner. She
told him the story of Tom__ a thumb-sized
creature and of witches and minnows.
2/3/2017 14

3.Lying in the Bed We Made
 Mrs. Masood yearns to shake off the specter of her wild
roots, a camel-riding grandmother who taught her to fear
witches and obey her husband. She thinks that her plight is
only because of her disobedience to her husband. So, under
the utter weight of guilt Mrs. Masood slices off her tongue
with the broken wine bottle, so that she may never taste
wine again.
 Considering that Malika is total responsible for the
amputation of Mrs. Masood’s tongue, Mr. Masood forced
her to take Mrs. Masood away from the house so that his
French business partner__ Laila’s future father-in-law__
may not watch Mrs. Masood in that condition. He even
threatens to kill her husband, Chaudry, in the case she will
not carry out his orders.
2/3/2017 15

Continues…
Malika took her to the house of
Mr.Saeed so that marriage
ceremony of Laila may held safely.
But Mrs. Masood fell off the third
floor of the house on the same
night when Malika and Chaudry
were enjoying the new bed before
it was sold. Mrs. Masood died and
Malika’s plans collapsed. Malika is
ambushed by her own illicit
desires
2/3/2017 16

Character Map
Mrs. Masood
(Hinna)
Momin
Malika Chaudry
Mr. Saeed
Mr. Saeed
M. Didier
M.Chauclet
André Laila Saima
Fezeel Faisal
Pathan
Soomla
Moeez
&
Shauqat
WorksatSavesfrom
factory
did not like
banished
workshauntedby
fears
Treats her
stoically
Business partner
Business partner
son
Daughter
Stealanecklacefromherdowry
son daughter son
Faika
Fondof
engaged
2/3/2017 17

Question
 Extract out binaries from text’s texture and
relate them with writer’s point of
view/perspective??
2/3/2017 18

What is Binary opposition/Binarism??
 ‘Binary’ means a combination of two things, a pair, ‘two’ or
duality. (OED) [1]
 In critical theory, a binary opposition is a pair of related
terms of concepts that are opposite in
meaning.(Routledge,2000) [2]
 Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and
thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and
set off against one another. (Smith, G. 1996) [3]
 The principle of contrast between two mutually exclusive
terms such as on and off, up and down etc, is called
binarism. (Baldick, C 2004) [4] . The mutually exclusive
terms are called binaries.
2/3/2017 19

Structuralist View
 The concern with binarism was first
established in Suassurean structuralist
theory. (Fogarty, S. 2005). [5]
 According to Ferdinand de Saussure,
‘signs have meaning not by a simple
reference to real objects, but by their
opposition to other signs. Each sign is
itself the function of a binary between the
signifier and the signified. Saussure held
that although the connection between the
signifier and signified is arbitrary, once
the link is established, it is fixed for
everyone who speaks that language.
(Routledge, 2000) [2]
Ferdinand de
Saussure
2/3/2017 20

Post-structuralist View
According to the post-structuralist view, the binary
opposition is the most extreme form of difference
possible__ sun/moon; man/woman; birth/death;
black/white. The problem with such binary system is
that they suppress ambiguous or interstitial spaces
between the opposed category, so that any overlapping
region that may appear between the opposed
categories, becomes impossible according to binary
logic, and a region of taboo in social experience.
For instance, the interstitial stage between
child/adult_ youth_ is treated as a scandalous
category. (Routledge, 2000) [2]
2/3/2017 21

Continues…
 Meaning in the West is defined in terms of
binary opposition. Such binaries entail a
“violent hierarchy”, in which one term of the
opposition is always dominant (man over
woman, birth over death, white over black),
and that, in fact, the binary opposition itself
exists to conform that dominance. (Derrida,
Jacques 1992. p.41) [6]
 Post-structural criticism of binary opposition
is not simply the reversal of the opposition,
but its deconstruction, that is, not intrinsically
favouring one arm of a binary opposition over
other. Deconstruction is the ‘event’ or
‘moment’ at which a binary opposition is
thought to contradict itself, and undermine its
own authority. (John Searle 1983) [7]
Jacques Derrida
2/3/2017 22

Violent Hierarchy
Man : Woman
White : Black
Good : Evil
Human : Bestial
Day : Night
Civilized : Primitive
Doctor : Patient
Birth : Death
(Routledge,2000) [2]
Interstitial
space or
domain of
Taboo
2/3/2017 23

Presence-absence dichotomy
A classic example of a binary opposition is the
presence-absence dichotomy. Much of the Western
thought is based on polar opposites. According to
post-structuralist criticism, presence occupies a
position of dominance over absence, because absence
is traditionally seen as what you get when take away
presence. It has been maintained that the human brain
has a preference for binary oppositions. (Britannica
2011, Binary opposition) [8]
2/3/2017 24

Gender Binarism
 Some western thinkers, including structuralists, believe
that the world is organized according to male and female
constructs, roles, words, and ideas. (Marjorie Garber
1997). [9]
 A post-structuralist view is that male can be seen as
dominant over female because male is the presence of a
phallus, while female is an absence or loss of it.(Claudia
Card 1994). [10]
 So ‘ the classification of sex and gender into two distinct,
opposite and disconnected forms of masculine and
feminine is referred as gender binarism’. (Rosenblum,
Darren. 2000) [11]
2/3/2017 25

Hero : Villain
good : bad
handsome : ugly
liked : disliked
loyal : disloyal
The categorization of binary opposition is often value-
laden and ethnocentric, with an illusory order and
superficial meaning. (Goody 1977, p.36). [12]
Binary oppositions have a deeper or second level of
binaries that help to reinforce meaning, for example,
Hero and Villain.(Fourie, Peter 2001) [13]
Secondary
level
Primary level
2/3/2017 26

Binaries From the Text
Man :
Water :
Mr. Masood :
Chaudry :
Husband :
West(Occident) :
Self :
Doctor :
Woman
Wine
Mrs. Masood
Malika
Wife
East(Orient)
Other
Patient
2/3/2017 27

Binaries From the Text
Master :
Vulture :
Djinn :
Kingfisher :
Boy :
Sheepdog :
Father :
Servant
Sparrow
Churail
Fish
Girl
Lamb
Mother
2/3/2017 28

Man : Woman
 “ It’s difficult for a woman to understand,
since it’s not she who carries the burden
of her lineage. But man is born with a
promise to fulfill.” (p. 43)
 Chaudry clicked his tongue petulantly.
‘And you waste it on such inanities when
you too could contribute to your
daughter’s future. Why do men alone
understand the worth of saving for
tomorrow?’ (p. 114)
 ‘Men are weak when they aim below their
means, women when they aim above’ (p.
35)
Man’s burden
2/3/2017 29

Water : Wine
 ‘Our women are prohibited the
consumption of alcohol. It’s unislamic’
(p. 37)
 ‘Some men drink blood, I ask only for
wine…’ (p. 3 , 72)
 ‘A cloying sweetness settled like a
parasite on her tongue, the very tongue
that minutes ago had afforded her
boundless pleasure. Now she wished to
be rid of it, to never speak and never
taste, for only then could her sin be
forgotten.’ (p. 59)
2/3/2017 30

Mr. Masood : Mrs. Masood
 “ ‘Come with me, and your life will be sweeter
than wine.’
Her grandmother, sensing the man’s ardour,
refused. When he persisted, she explained she
could not afford a dowry. He agreed. She still
refused. He offered her a price, doubled it,
tripled it, till finally, the wily guardian gave her
consent.” (p. 35)
 ‘Mr. Masood had presented her the statuettes
when he brought her to the city from Cholistan,
announcing she was no longer Hinna but Mrs.
Masood.
One figurine was a man, the other a woman.
Both were hunched in walking position, topless.
He held a walking stick in one hand and a snake
in the other. She carried a baby and a pail.’ (p. 10)
2/3/2017 31

Chaudry : Malika
 He(Chaudry) whispered, ‘Don’t worry my
little bird.’ (p. 43)
 ‘Show me a trick, little bird.’
With a mischievous smile, Malika stuck her
pointed tongue into each nostril.
Chaudry laughed delightedly, ‘Jiggle it!’
The tongue danced in her nose.
‘I should call you my little lizard.’ (p. 44_45)
 He mumbled, ‘You think too much’ (p. 45)
 ‘But Malika dared not voice her opinion. It
was not fear that restrained her, but the
knowledge that Chaudry had made up his
mind’ (p. 44)
 ‘There would be no peace without either
one’s defeat.’ (p. 167)
2/3/2017 32

Husband : Wife
 ‘Evil frequents those who defy their roles
in life……… My father fell prey to the
churail because he walked backwards.
He followed a woman. But to be a good
wife, you must always follow at your
husband’s heel, so he knows where you
are.’ (p. 35)
 ‘It grew with the knowledge that, in one
swift gesture, she (Mrs. Masood) had
eradicated the sole purpose of her life: to
obey her husband.’ (p. 59)
2/3/2017 33

West : East
M. Didier began, ‘In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, France produced pile-woven carpets based
on Eastern techniques, and perfected them. It’s a
tragedy of the East. When the West takes from it, the
West thrives. But when it takes from the West, the East
makes a monkey of itself. Savonnerie was the name of
the weaving centre. It was a favourite of King Louis
XIV. His palace still exhibits the woven treasures. We
have preserved them as flawlessly as we imitated them.
How far you are from understanding’ (p. 90)
2/3/2017 34

Sheepdog : Lamb
 ‘ She(Mrs. Masood) dreamed
her shaggy spouse was a cuddly
sheepdog, herding her his
lamb, so she could yield and
gain his sanction.’ (p. 12)
 ‘ What did it matter if Mr.
Masood could not give affection
when he had bestowed a
palace?’ (p. 12)
2/3/2017 35

Boy : Girl
A. ‘ You should have been a boy,’ Chaudry
tenderly tugged her(Faika’s) toes. ‘You would
have borne our tradition with pride’. (p. 115)
 ‘Why don’t you feed her?’ Chaudry asked.
Ignoring him, Malika sat Momin down and tore
bite-size morsels of the hottest paratha onto his
plate. (p. 49)
 Momin’s wages were being stored for her dowry.
It was for her he slaved! She pulled away the
baby’s share of the quilt and wrapped it around
Momin. The girl shivered, sneezed once, then
breathed regularly again. (p. 47)
2/3/2017 36

Father : Mother
‘Before Sher Khan overthrew the
Emperor Humayun, before he was even
born, his mother had a dream: the
moon was entering her womb. She
woke her husband to tell him. He
responded by giving her a sound
thrashing. “But why?” the pregnant wife
sulked. “I hit you,” Sher Khan’s father
explained to his mother, “so you won’t
go back to sleep tonight after such a
righteous dream, or you might forget it
in the morning.”’ (p. 128)
2/3/2017 37

References
1) Oxford English Dictionary, 8th edition, 2010
2) Routledge, 2000: ‘Key Concepts in Post-colonial
Literature’ by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen
Tiffin.
3) Smith, G. (1996). "Binary opposition and sexual power in
Paradise Lost". Midwest Quarterly 27 (4): 383.
4) Baldick, C 2004. The concise Oxford Dictionary of
literary terms. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1056-
binaryopposition.html
5) Fogarty, S 2005, The literary encyclopedia.
http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?pec=true&UI
D=122
2/3/2017 38

References
6). Derrida, Jacques (1992). Positions. p. 41.
7). In 1983, American philosopher John Searle reviewed
Johnathan Culler's On Deconstruction: Theory and
Criticism after Structuralism for the New York Review of
Books.
8). Britannica 2011, Binary opposition.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/65552/binary-
opposition
9). Marjorie Garber (25 November 1997). Vested Interests: Cross-dressing
and Cultural Anxiety. Psychology Press. pp. 2, 10, 14–16, 47. ISBN 978-0-
415-91951-7. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
10) Claudia Card (1994). Adventures in Lesbian Philosophy. Indiana
University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-253-20899-6. Retrieved 18
September 2012.
2/3/2017 39

References
11) Rosenblum, Darren (2000). "'Trapped' in Sing-Sing:
Transgendered Prisoners Caught in the Gender Binarism".
Michigan Journal of Gender & Law 6. Retrieved 18
September 2012.
12). Goody 1977, p. 36.
13). Fourie, Pieter (2001). Media Studies Volume 2: Content, Audiences
and Production. Lansdowne: Juta Education.
2/3/2017 40

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Binaries in 'The Story of Noble Rot'

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