A Necropolitical Analysis of Hanif’s Red Birds and Our Lady of Alice Bhatti

Necropolitics is the study of controlling the lives of individuals in a way that pushes them towards death. This study examines two novels by Muhammad Hanif: Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2011) and Red Birds (2018). The research explores the ways in which war, gender, and religious oppression reduce marginalized characters to disposable lives. It also aims to analyze how necropolitics influences the lived experiences of vulnerable individuals in selected novels. Achille Mbembe’s theory of necropolitics (2003) serves as the theoretical framework for analysis. This research shows how highest authorities oversee and manage the zones of death and existence for individuals. The places mentioned in the novel like refugee camp, hospital, and the zone of death and living death, represent those places where people lose their rights and dignity, and gradually their desire to live as well. The findings of the study show that both novels address global issues like state of violence, war, gender-based oppression, and treatment of minorities, and thus, play a pivotal role in necropolitical system. In other words, death and suffering are common in both novels.