Allegorical Critique and Representation of Neoliberal Dystopia in Mohsin Hamid’s The Face in the Mirror

Abstract

This study offers an allegorical reading of Mohsin Hamid’s short story The Face in the Mirror through textual analysis, interpreting its central motifs of “black” and “white” as symbolic critiques of neoliberal dystopia. The “white” father represents the protective welfare state, associated with social security, dignity, and collective solidarity, while the “black” son reflects the neoliberal subject—alienated, commodified, and severed from communal bonds. Through close reading, the analysis uncovers how the short story dramatizes the erosion of welfare protections, the lack of essential services and the transformation of identity under racialised and economic pressures. The father’s decline allegorically signifies the dismantling of welfare structures, leaving individuals vulnerable in a profit-driven order. By juxtaposing past solidarity with present fragmentation, Hamid critiques the dehumanising effects of neoliberalism while representing the psychological dislocation of its subjects. This research contributes to scholarship by deepening the understanding of neoliberal dystopia in The Face in the Mirror through the interpretive lens of allegory.