Moth Smoke

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain discussion of child death, drug addiction, and sexual exploitation.

Prologue Summary

An omniscient narrator recounts the final days of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. He asks “a Sufi saint” what will happen to his empire and his sons after his death (3). He is given circular answers suggesting that his sons’ names predict their destinies. In the fight over succession that ensues, Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan’s youngest son, executes Darashikoh, his eldest.

The narrator then takes note of a trial taking place in the present day, wherein all those present are guilty—including, perhaps, the judge.

An unnamed, first-person narrator comments on the conditions of his prison cell. A guard hands him an envelope, and the prisoner recognizes the woman’s handwriting on it. He does not read the letter it contains.

The omniscient narrator reveals the details of a courtroom. The judge, addressed directly in the second person, presides, as associates of the accused enter: Murad Badshah, who is potentially a criminal compatriot of the accused, comes in first; followed by Aurangzeb, “the best friend”; and Mumtaz, who is cast as “wife, mother, and lover” (7).