A Marxist Approach to Bapsi Sidhwa’s The Trouble-Easers

Abstract

Marxism is a social, political, and economic philosophy named after Karl Marx, which examines the effect of capitalism on labor, productivity, and economic development and assumes that the struggle between different social classes, specifically between the bourgeoisie or capitalists, and the proletariat or workers, defines economic relations in a capitalist economy and this conflict will eventually lead to a revolution in which the working class will overthrow the capitalist class and will control the economy. This study deals with Bapsi Sidhwa’s short story The Trouble-Easers while keeping elements of Marxism in the background. In this story, the author focuses on the issues related to Marxist views that are based especially on labor and class struggles. The Marxist elements, such as the role of religion, classism, rugged individualism, commodification, and struggles, become significant issues and are evident in the story. Ruling class exploitation has also been depicted in the story. As a result, this study displays that in Bapsi Sidhwa’s The Trouble-Easers, the influences of Marxist views are emphasized.