Short story “The Zoo” is an ironical satire on the economic condition and social discrimination of Pakistani society.

Introduction:

In literature and other arts, satire is a style or technique used by the writers and speakers in a play, novel, short stories, essays, poems or other performing arts to criticize the short comings of individuals, people or government, or shaming in an exaggerating, mocking and ironical manner.

In any developed country, the fundamental needs of its people are the first priority of the Government. The fundamental needs include shelter, health, education and equality or justice. These needs can also be called “Necessities of life”.

In order to get well balanced and successful society every government should first make these necessities available for its people, afterwards the government can work on luxuries of live. If the government is unable to fulfill these necessities of their people than it will generate injustice. Thus, the balanced and harmony of the society will be lost.

The short story “The Zoo”, written by Tariq Rahman, is an ironical satire on the social and economic conditions of Pakistan. In the story the writer, Tariq Rahman, brilliantly compares the life of poor lower class family with the splendid life of animals in the Zoo.

Summary of the Story:

Hashamt Ali (the protagonist of the story), who has recently shifted from Sargodha to work in Lahore and after a great labor got the job of a gardener in a school. Afterward he rented a room; it was up four flights of stairs, in a blind alley. It faced another dark wall and the only window was covered with newspapers as all the window-panes were broken. Due to expensive electricity Hashmat was ordered to have only one small bulb in the room by the owner of the room.

Subsequently, getting the room, Hashmat brought his wife, Fatima, and two children, Azmat and Zainab, to the city so that, his both children can get education and live a better life. The life in that dark alley was so suffocated and tough for the poor family but, for the sake of his children’s bright future Hashmat was happy to live that way.

One day, Hashmat decided to take his family to the Zoo in order to make them happy and at least, for one day, see the delightful life of city and forget that dark alley where they were living. The next day the whole family went to see the Zoo.

The Zoo was amazingly beautiful. An Austrian firm created an appropriate landscape for different types of animals. There were verdant grasslands for the antelopes, the deer, the wild bison and the zebras. The elephants lived in a swampy area with a thick growth of trees and fields of sugarcane. All of these things were expensively made to impress the foreigners so that, they could have a charming and splendid view.

Hashmat with his wife and kids strolled around the Zoo. The children were happy and Fatima was shocked by the lifestyle of the animals. On their return Fatima was thinking of her room where the sun would never shine, nor do the stars ever become visible. Thinking about the stars which would be twinkling at the monkeys, she became sad.

Main points of Satire:

1.      Social discrimination:

The writer portrays the social discrimination and economic condition of Pakistan where the government is unable to fulfill the necessities of their people. The government is wasting billions of rupees on luxuries neglecting the basic needs of their people. The story is a great representation of inequity of the classes and categories of the people and the location. It is all the matter of relatedness and association. 

2.      Maladministration and Inefficiency of the Government:

The government only cares about the outer image of Pakistan to impress the foreigners but does not care about the health, shelter, education and justice for its people. The social and economic condition of Pakistan is getting worse day by day. The rich is becoming richer and the poor is getting poorer. The main reason behind this injustice is the maladministration and inefficiency of the government. The first priority of the government must be necessities of their people not the luxuries to lure foreigners or specific social class into deceitful representation of their country.

3.      Inequity of the Classes:

Although, all the best things were done in the name of human rights and human dignity all through the human history from conquering period to colonization experiences, however the systems and structures are not authorized to have equity and equal significance whatsoever. The things can be perceived in the perspective of the approach by the points:

• Firstly, possessiveness of the things & relations of masterly centers are given extra than due priority as compared to the things of colonized subjects. 
• Secondly, the notions of story-line are not essentially based on equality & impartiality but on the perception of what comes from outside rather than indigenous origin. Foundation of the things matter a lot. 
• Thirdly, comparisons of the elements in the story are not in the sense of same commodity but based on hegemonized commodity with marginalized ones. 
• Finally, the resource availed & used for prioritized & marginalized elements are not equal as animals are given more importance on the lives of Hashmat & the family of indigenous origin.

Conclusion:

To conclude, the story, The Zoo, is a great representation of inequity of the classes and categories of the people and the location. It is all the matter of empathy and association. It may be seen in time and space divergence and racial division with reference to subjects and master. The author uses irony to represent his train of thoughts on the social discrimination, inequity and government’s maladministration of Pakistan society.