DECONSTRUCTING RACIAL ONTOLOGY AND STRUCTURAL INEQUITIES IN THE LAST WHITE MAN THROUGH MAGICAL REALISM AND CRITICAL THEORY

Abstract

This study inspects the way themes of race, identity and power are explored and criticized in Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Last White Man by using the theoretical framework of Magic Realism along with Critical Social Theory. The key question is how the novel’s narrative exposes and challenges the social hierarchies and identity crisis that dark people face due to white privilege. This paper uses the qualitative and thematic base analysis embedded in frameworks of Magical Realism and Critical Social theory that focuses on foregrounding the social anxieties, discrimination, and racial tension prevalent in society. The major claim of this research is that Mohsin Hamid used a blend of fantasy and reality to show naturalized racial superiorities, whereas Critical Social Theory critiques those constructed power structures, highlighting the need for equality by dismantling racial norms. The significance of the study lies in its contribution to highlighting not just the ordinary but also the speculative elements of the novel that contribute in creating the overall meaning of the novel, and it highlights the ability of rethinking to break rigid societal norms to bring harmony in society. In essence, this study investigates the causes and implications of the transformation, analyzing societal and individual responses, and the broader impacts on daily life and social dynamics. By exploring racial ontology and socio-structural inequity, the findings of this paper show how dark-skinned people suffer identity crises and discrimination in their own society. By combining both magical realism and social critical theory, this research highlights how Hamid uses fiction in the novel not just to escape from reality but to critique the rigid social discrimination that is still present in the modern world.