Rereading Mujtaba Farooq’s “The Last Cigarette" By Dr Rosie Patangia

Rereading Mujtaba Farooq’s “The Last Cigarette"

Dr Rosie Patangia

Mujtaba Farooq’s short story “The Last Cigarette” a fantastic short story was
featured in the 13th issue of LitStream, the literary weekly supplement of The
Daily Headlines Today, published from Srinagar, J&K. LitStream has earned a
global readership for its consistent publication of fiction, short stories, and poetry of exceptional intellectual depth and emotional resonance.

I have been following this distinguished literary supplement regularly through its
LitStream Facebook page, e-paper, and LitStream blog.

The story “ The Last Cigarette “ is a haunting vignette that dramatizes the act of smoking not as a casual indulgence but as a metaphor for grief, alienation, and existential decay. The story unfolds in a public setting where a man, scarred and broken, smokes under the gaze of a judgmental crowd. The narrator—revealed at the end to be a dog—observes the scene with piercing detail, transforming a mundane act into a meditation on human suffering, social hypocrisy, and identity.

Farooq’s narrative is not linear but impressionistic, layering sensory images,
social commentary, and psychological insight. The story’s power lies in its ability to turn a cigarette into a symbol of mortality, memory, and rebirth. Yet, it also raises questions about narrative excess, ambiguity, and the balance between metaphor and realism.The central figure is not merely a smoker but a man ostracized by society. The crowd around him—mothers shielding children,
businessmen flaunting Rolexes, college girls recoiling, teenagers calculating
status—embodies collective judgment. Each group projects its anxieties and
prejudices onto him, reducing him to a symbol of immorality. The mother’s
whispering frames him as a cautionary tale. The businessmen’s pity is tinged withsmugness, reinforcing class superiority. The girls’ disgust equates him with rot, while the boys commodify his cigarette brand as a marker of class.

Farooq critiques how society dehumanizes individuals, turning personal grief into public spectacle. The smoker becomes a scapegoat for collective fears.The man’s smoking is described as “grief finding its way through the nostrils.” His coughs, scars, and red eyes suggest a war within—a life devastated by trauma. The cigarette is not pleasure but ritualized mourning. Each puff is both a cry and a wound.

Farooq portrays him as a living corpse, inhaling smoke in exchange for
memories. This paradox—alive yet dead, present yet absent—captures existential
collapse. The act of smoking becomes a metaphor for consuming oneself, for
burning identity into ashes.The climax centers on the “last cigarette.” It is not
merely tobacco but a symbol of rebirth. The man smiles at the thought of
finishing his grief, of killing an identity judged by others. By saving the last puff,
he postpones transformation.This gesture suggests agency: he refuses to let society dictate his end. The last cigarette becomes a threshold between death and renewal, between being “a bad man” and becoming “someone else—unjudged, unknown.” The crowd’s reactions expose hypocrisy. Those who judge him—businessmen, mothers, students—are themselves complicit in other forms of decay: materialism, classism, moral policing. Farooq suggests that society condemns visible vices (smoking) while ignoring invisible ones (greed, vanity, cruelty).The Rolexes tick “silently, but still could be heard”—a metaphor for time wasted in superficial pursuits. The girls’ scarves symbolize purity, yet their disgust masks fear of contamination. The boys’ obsession with brands reflects consumerist indoctrination. 

Farooq’s story is saturated with symbols, sometimes overwhelming but undeniably powerful۔ Cigarette symbolises grief, memory, mortality, identity. Each puff is a wound, each ash a memory. Ashtray (steel bowl) refers to containment of grief, ritual burial of memories. Boots with loose laces symbolise instability, repeated falls, scars of life.The umbrella without rain suggests misplaced protection; the sunflower in

black paper suggests beauty suffocated by grief.Biscuits left on the floor can be seen as a gesture of kindness or futility, perhaps a dog’s reward, linking to the narrator’s identity.The dog narrator sees without judgment, embodying innocence and loyalty. Its perspective critiques human hypocrisy.

The revelation that the narrator is a dog reframes the entire story. Until the final
line, the voice seems human, empathetic yet detached. The twist destabilizes the
reader: the dog’s gaze is purer, untainted by human prejudice.

This choice is both brilliant and problematic. Brilliant, because it exposes human cruelty through non-human eyes. Problematic, because it risks undermining the narrative’s gravitas—some readers may find the twist gimmicky. Yet, the dog’s perspective emphasizes that true compassion often lies outside human society.

Farooq’s prose is rich in sensory detail: the smell of smoke, the sight of scars, the
sound of Rolex ticks. His metaphors are visceral—“corpse still beating,” “war
inside his eyes,” “grave full of dead bodies.” This intensity creates atmosphere but sometimes veers into melodrama. The repetition of death imagery risks desensitizing the reader. Yet, the cumulative effect is haunting.
The story relies on repetition—of odour, grief, judgment. This reinforces
monotony, mirroring the smoker’s ritual. However, it occasionally feels excessive,
diluting impact.

Farooq avoids clear exposition. We never know the man’s backstory, the setting,
or the narrator’s identity until the end. This ambiguity invites interpretation but
may frustrate readers seeking clarity.
The lack of narrative resolution—what happens after the last cigarette?—is
deliberate. The story is about the moment, not the plot.The tone oscillates
between empathy and condemnation. The narrator sympathizes with the smoker yet critiques society. The dog’s neutrality adds irony: humans judge, animals observe . Symbolic richness of the story is mention-worthy The cigarette as grief is a powerful metaphor.

The story exposes hypocrisy of class, morality, and consumerism.Narrative twist is interesting The dog narrator reframes the story, adding depth.
Vivid imagery creates a haunting mood.
Overuse of death imagery risks melodrama.Ambiguity overloads Lack of context may alienate readers.The story is more tableau than plot, relying on description rather than action.As to Dog twist, some may find it contrived, reducing seriousness.

Farooq’s story resonates with existential literature—Camus’ The Stranger, Kafka’s
“The Tria” where alienation and judgment dominate. Yet, unlike Camus’ detached
prose, Farooq’s style is lyrical, almost poetic. His imagery recalls Bengali and
Urdu literary traditions of metaphorical intensity. The cigarette motif echoes
works like Julio Ramón Ribeyro’s Only for Smokers, where smoking symbolizes
identity and rebellion. Farooq, however, infuses it with grief and social critique,
making it uniquely his. At its core, “The Cigarette Puff” asks: what defines
identity? Is it society’s judgment or personal grief? The man’s refusal to smoke the last cigarette suggests resistance to finality. He chooses to delay transformation, asserting agency amid collapse. The dog’s perspective implies that human identity is fragile, easily destroyed by judgment. True understanding requires innocence
—seeing without prejudice.

Mujtaba Farooq’s “The Last Cigarette" is a powerful, if imperfect, meditation on
grief, alienation, and identity. Through vivid imagery and symbolic layering, he
transforms a cigarette into a metaphor for mortality and rebirth. The story
critiques social hypocrisy, exposing how society condemns visible vices while
ignoring deeper decay.

Its strengths lie in atmosphere, symbolism, and philosophical depth. Its
weaknesses lie in excess and ambiguity. Yet, these flaws are part of its raw power.
The final twist—that the narrator is a dog—forces readers to confront their own
judgments, reminding us that compassion often lies outside human.

About the reviewer

Dr. Rosie Patangia, Assistant Professor and Head of English at Narangi Anchalik Mahavidyalaya, Guwahati, is a bilingual poet and co-author of several
anthologies. Author of 200 Life Changing Quotes, she has received the ZIIEI
Teacher Innovation Award (2019), Knight Riders Creative Writing Award (2022),
and AIM Outstanding Education Award (2025). She is a lifelong member of AIAER, INTACH, and Assam Sahitya Sabha.