BIOGRAPHY OF USMAN ALI
Usman Ali is one of the most prominent literary figures in the circle of Pakistani playwrights born in Mandi Bahauddin district. He is the product of the end of the 20th-century influences of post-war, post-colonial, postmodern, and Pakistani literature. He did his M.Phil. in literature from Punjab University and served as a researcher on the Mandi Bahauddin campus of the University of Sargodha. He is generally considered a keen observer.
ANALYSIS OF THE LAST METAPHOR
The Last Metaphor is a post-colonial piece of writing. The style of this drama is similar to English, American, and Russian, but this is a typical Pakistani by the dint of its characters, surroundings, and writer.
The play thematically as well as the portrayal of characters, the dialogues, and the discussions show that it is more relevant to the theatre of the absurd. In fact, it is a philosophical discussion. Basically in the drama, the writer has lamented several social evils that are taking place in our society. When social evils are increased in a society where there is no good. It vanishes automatically. Society converts into a barbaric and oppressive one.
The title refers to symbolically something which is lost and the play is divided into three acts. Due to its shortness, it resembles GB Shaw’s plays. It is a commentary to the audience and a continuous discussion between two characters. Banka and Jugnoo are the major characters.
The situation created by the writer remains the same throughout the play: the social evils. Stage, dead body scenes, and even characters also remain the same. The discussion between the characters shows the social life of Pakistan. The drama is a discussion of Pakistani societal issues and their root causes.
Act one is primarily about crimes and punishments. It depicts the barbaric and fake encounters of police which is very common, especially in Sindh and Punjab provinces. In this play, the police do the same. Banka keeps on telling the story of two boys who are captured by police on a very weak suspicion. They beat the two innocents and bring them to death with the help of people. The people are so cruel that even no one is ready to accept the dead bodies. It is said that this is still happening in our society without trial and justice.
The play progresses and touches on the looming danger of death. How death is important. Banka reflects on the deaths of his family and tells four generations of death. His grandfather, great-grandfather, and father died in a tube well. This reflects especially the culture of Punjab and Sindh where there are tube wells to store water.
This also reflects the poor condition of people. It is the philosophy of life that death comes very fast to the poor.
The second act is again about death and nature. In this play, people are divided into two groups: dead and living. According to the writer’s philosophy, sometimes some people die but they keep on living. Their celebration and remembrance are remaining in this world, but on the other hand, some people are just living bodies, and they have no contribution. They don’t do anything for the betterment of life. The function of fire is becoming weak. It is a belief in many religions. They take it as worship. In Islam, fire is a term with hell. The characters Jugnoo and Banka resemble Vladimir and Estragon from Samuel Beckett’s drama ‘Waiting for Godot’. In both plays, the characters are purposeless and have no meaning in life.
Act three is about burial, and one more character is added but can’t appear on the stage. This character is a symbolic one: Bhali. He is responsible to bury the dead bodies but he doesn’t prefer to bury the poor people. He is ready to give the service to well-off persons. He is the representation of the forces of nature as well as human beings.
Conclusion
This short three acts play’s characters, themes, and scenes are a vivid representation of Pakistani culture, but on the other hand, they are the symbolic portrayal of men and their life in the modern period where everyone is running behind their ideals without thinking about the needs of humanity in general. We are self-centered having no respect for others’ interests and traditional social setup. In fact, this play attempts to highlight the problems and cause the root of social evils in Pakistani society. It is considered a bright example of Pakistani Anglophone literature. Although the drama is written by a Pakistani playwright and represents the Pakistani social setup, its message, and interpretation are universal and human in general. Fake encounters with police are very common. We have bright examples of Sahiwal incidents.
“According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) data, as many as 3,345 people have been killed in police encounters from January 2014 to May 2018. The data further shows that 23 women and 12 minors have also been killed in these police encounters whereas 55 police officials have also been killed in these encounters.”
Pakistani society is surrounded by many social problems. In this short play, the writer is more philosophical. The play shows the absurdity of modern times, people have no clear purpose and meaning in life.
It can be summed up that this is one of the most popular dramatic genres produced by a Pakistani writer. From the beginning to the end of this play, the issues and problems of Pakistani society are vividly explored through characters. Pakistani society is badly surrounded by a lot of social issues. Some of the deep and dark issues highlighted by Usman Ali in his short-act play are injustice, violence, poverty, death, and the loss of humanity.
BIOGRAPHY OF USMAN ALI
Usman Ali is one of the most prominent literary figures in the circle of Pakistani playwrights born in Mandi Bahauddin district. He is the product of the end of the 20th-century influences of post-war, post-colonial, postmodern, and Pakistani literature. He did his M.Phil. in literature from Punjab University and served as a researcher on the Mandi Bahauddin campus of the University of Sargodha. He is generally considered a keen observer.
ANALYSIS OF THE LAST METAPHOR
The Last Metaphor is a post-colonial piece of writing. The style of this drama is similar to English, American, and Russian, but this is a typical Pakistani by the dint of its characters, surroundings, and writer.
The play thematically as well as the portrayal of characters, the dialogues, and the discussions show that it is more relevant to the theatre of the absurd. In fact, it is a philosophical discussion. Basically in the drama, the writer has lamented several social evils that are taking place in our society. When social evils are increased in a society where there is no good. It vanishes automatically. Society converts into a barbaric and oppressive one.
The title refers to symbolically something which is lost and the play is divided into three acts. Due to its shortness, it resembles GB Shaw’s plays. It is a commentary to the audience and a continuous discussion between two characters. Banka and Jugnoo are the major characters.
The situation created by the writer remains the same throughout the play: the social evils. Stage, dead body scenes, and even characters also remain the same. The discussion between the characters shows the social life of Pakistan. The drama is a discussion of Pakistani societal issues and their root causes.
Act one is primarily about crimes and punishments. It depicts the barbaric and fake encounters of police which is very common, especially in Sindh and Punjab provinces. In this play, the police do the same. Banka keeps on telling the story of two boys who are captured by police on a very weak suspicion. They beat the two innocents and bring them to death with the help of people. The people are so cruel that even no one is ready to accept the dead bodies. It is said that this is still happening in our society without trial and justice.
The play progresses and touches on the looming danger of death. How death is important. Banka reflects on the deaths of his family and tells four generations of death. His grandfather, great-grandfather, and father died in a tube well. This reflects especially the culture of Punjab and Sindh where there are tube wells to store water.
This also reflects the poor condition of people. It is the philosophy of life that death comes very fast to the poor.
The second act is again about death and nature. In this play, people are divided into two groups: dead and living. According to the writer’s philosophy, sometimes some people die but they keep on living. Their celebration and remembrance are remaining in this world, but on the other hand, some people are just living bodies, and they have no contribution. They don’t do anything for the betterment of life. The function of fire is becoming weak. It is a belief in many religions. They take it as worship. In Islam, fire is a term with hell. The characters Jugnoo and Banka resemble Vladimir and Estragon from Samuel Beckett’s drama ‘Waiting for Godot’. In both plays, the characters are purposeless and have no meaning in life.
Act three is about burial, and one more character is added but can’t appear on the stage. This character is a symbolic one: Bhali. He is responsible to bury the dead bodies but he doesn’t prefer to bury the poor people. He is ready to give the service to well-off persons. He is the representation of the forces of nature as well as human beings.
Conclusion
This short three acts play’s characters, themes, and scenes are a vivid representation of Pakistani culture, but on the other hand, they are the symbolic portrayal of men and their life in the modern period where everyone is running behind their ideals without thinking about the needs of humanity in general. We are self-centered having no respect for others’ interests and traditional social setup. In fact, this play attempts to highlight the problems and cause the root of social evils in Pakistani society. It is considered a bright example of Pakistani Anglophone literature. Although the drama is written by a Pakistani playwright and represents the Pakistani social setup, its message, and interpretation are universal and human in general. Fake encounters with police are very common. We have bright examples of Sahiwal incidents.
“According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) data, as many as 3,345 people have been killed in police encounters from January 2014 to May 2018. The data further shows that 23 women and 12 minors have also been killed in these police encounters whereas 55 police officials have also been killed in these encounters.”
Pakistani society is surrounded by many social problems. In this short play, the writer is more philosophical. The play shows the absurdity of modern times, people have no clear purpose and meaning in life.
It can be summed up that this is one of the most popular dramatic genres produced by a Pakistani writer. From the beginning to the end of this play, the issues and problems of Pakistani society are vividly explored through characters. Pakistani society is badly surrounded by a lot of social issues. Some of the deep and dark issues highlighted by Usman Ali in his short-act play are injustice, violence, poverty, death, and the loss of humanity.
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