CLASS STRATIFICATION: A MARXIST VIEW OF FATIMA BHUTTO’S THE RUNAWAY

Abstract

This study is an investigation of the class stratification and class consciousness in Fatima Bhutto’s The Runaways. It further examines the role of ideologies and discourse in supporting capitalism and sustaining the hierarchy of classes in the world of have and have not. The researcher analyzes the struggle of the have not to raise voice and resist against the economic exploitation and the extent to which this struggle can be fruitful or futile. The primary source of data for this study is Fatima Bhutto’s The Runaways. A detailed and extensive study of the textual evidences from the novel has enabled the researcher to interpret the text in the light of Marxism and the concepts of Class Stratification and Class Consciousness. The findings of this study show that countless instances of different modes of expressing class stratification and class consciousness are embedded in the narrative of the selected text, and the researcher concludes that ideology has an unchallengeable role in strengthening class stratification. Moreover, this study explicates and acknowledges the struggle of those who have developed consciousness about their status of being marginalized and being exploited and are capable of resisting the hierarchy of class though with no fruitful end. This study is of qualitative nature and Textual Analysis has been conducted to meet the objectives of this research.