THE FABRICATED CHILD: MORAL BOUNDARIES AND THE ECONOMY OF ORPHANED BODIES IN THE LOST CHILDREN OF PARADISE BY OMAR GILANI

Abstract

This research explores the ethical and political implications of child bioengineering in Umair Gilani's fictional novel The Lost Children of Paradise, with a focus on commodification and exploitation of orphaned and street children. The objective of this research is to examine how Gilani uses the genetically modified orphans to explore biological issues of scientific intervention, the commodification of marginalized bodies, and the fight for agency and resistance in a biopolitically controlled society. Using the qualitative literary analysis methodology, the research combines the theoretical framework of critical posthumanist theory with Michel Foucault’s idea of ​​biopolitics to analyze the moral, political, and social behavior of genetically modified children in the novel. This research highlights how “The Lost Children of Paradise” uses speculative fiction to question contemporary biopolitical control structures, the marginalization of genetically engineered children, and the moral misuse of technology. The paper argues that the novel, in addition to criticizing technological and biopolitical regimes, reimagines the limits of humanity and moral duty in the face of technological dominance. This research will contribute to scholarship by investigating how speculative fiction challenges technological control, dehumanization, and resistance in modern society by linking the domains of biopolitics and posthumanism.