Pakistani Sisyphean Heroes in Taufiq Rafat’s Foothold

The protagonist of Foothold, Saleem, wanders off into the wilderness to seek faith like Buddha. He does not give up his quest as he returns home to his family and friends, and learns that faith can be found and practised amongst his community. A close reading of the text proves that Saleem bears the qualities of a Sisyphean Hero as outlined by Albert Camus. Other characters have also been subjected to a similar scrutiny to prove whether they are Sisyphean Heroes or not. Furthermore, the close reading of Foothold renders an insight into the generation of the Sixties who experienced decolonization and felt like misfits in their own environment. Saleem is acutely affected by the process of decolonization and hence, he is deeply puzzled with the institutionalized religion in Pakistan. To shape the theoretical framework of this research, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, The Stranger, and A Happy Death have been used. As there is a dearth of criticism on Foothold therefore, the interpretations for this research have been derived from Camus’ works. This research will be beneficial to those researchers who wish to study the application of Camus’ works in a postcolonial setting. Moreover, the scope of this project extends to Sufism, Mysticism, and Imagism

N-Phenyl-6-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridazin-3-amine

The mol­ecule of title compound, C13H11N5, is essentially planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0440 Å) and an intra­molecular C—H⋯N hydrogen bond generates an S(6) motif. In the crystal, mol­ecules are connected into chains by inter­molecular N—H⋯N and C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. In addition, π–π stacking inter­actions are observed between the pyrazole and pyridazine rings [inter­planar distance = 3.6859 (10) Å]

3-Chloro-6-[(E)-2-(1-phenyl­ethyl­idene)hydrazin­yl]pyridazine

Two independent mol­ecules are present in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C12H11ClN4, (Z′ = 2): the dihedral angles between the phenyl and pyridizine rings are 8.35 (10) and 37.64 (6)°. In the crystal, the two mol­ecules form inversion dimers with R 2 2(8) ring motifs through inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The crystal structure is stabilized by π–π inter­actions between the pyridazine rings of symmetry-related molecules. In one of the independent mol­ecules, the centroid–centroid separations are 3.6927 (13) and 3.7961 (13) Å, whereas in the other, the separations are 3.6909 (13) and 3.9059 (13) Å

3-Chloro-6-[2-(cyclo­pentyl­idene)hydrazin-1-yl]pyridazine

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C9H11ClN4, contains two virtually planar mol­ecules that differ in conformation about the bond connecting the hydrazine and pyridazine units. The 3-chloro-6-hydrazinylpyridazine and cyclo­pentane groups are oriented at dihedral angles of 4.5 (3) and 8.8 (4)° in the two mol­ecules. In the crystal, the mol­ecules form a one dimensional polymeric structure extending along the a axis via N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The crystal stucired was an inversion twin [ratio of the twin domains = 0.73 (9):0.27 (9)]

3-[(2E)-2-(Butan-2-yl­idene)hydrazin­yl]-6-chloro­pyridazine

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C8H11ClN4, contains two independent mol­ecules (A and B) with slightly different conformations: the dihedral angles between the 3-chloro-6-hydrazinylpyridazine units and butyl side chains are 4.5 (2) and 11.98 (16)°. In the crystal, the A and B mol­ecules are linked by a pair of N—H⋯N hydogen bonds, generating an R 2 2(8) loop

3-Chloro-6-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridazine

The title compound, C7H5ClN4, is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.022 Å). The dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 2.82 (5)°. The packing results in polymeric chains extending along the a axis. In the crystal, mol­ecules are connected to each other through inter­molecular C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, resulting in R 2 2(10) ring motifs

3-Chloro-6-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridazine

In the title compound, C9H9ClN4, the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 6.25 (9)°. The whole mol­ecule is approximately planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.070 Å). In the crystal, π–π inter­actions between the centroids of the pyridazine rings [separation = 3.5904 (10) Å] occur

6-Chloro-N-(2-meth­oxy­phen­yl)pyridazin-3-amine

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C11H10ClN3O, contains two geometrically different mol­ecules, A and B, in both of which the pyridazine rings are essentially planar with r.m.s. deviations of 0.0137 and 0.0056Å, respectively. In mol­ecule A, the dihedral angle between the pyridazine and benzene rings is 6.5 (2)°, whereas in mol­ecule B it is 27.93 (7)°. In mol­ecule B, an intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond forms an S(5) ring motif. In both molecules, S(6) ring motifs are present due to non-classical C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The π–π inter­actions between the pyridazine rings of A mol­ecules [3.4740 (13) Å] and B mol­ecules [3.4786 (17) Å] have very similar centroid–centroid separations. π–π Inter­actions also occur between the benzene rings of B mol­ecules with a centroid–centroid separation of 3.676 (2) Å and a slippage of 1.02 Å. In the crystal, the mol­ecules are linked into chains extending along [010] by C—H⋯N and C—H⋯Cl interactions

N-(4-Methyl­phen­yl)-6-(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridazin-3-amine

In the title compound, C14H13N5, the pyrazole ring is disordered over two orientations in a 0.571 (10):0.429 (10) ratio and the dihedral angle between the pyridazine ring and the benzene ring is 28.07 (10)°. In the crystal, pairs of N—H⋯N and C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into dimers, with the aid of a crystallographic twofold axis. The packing is consolidated by further C—H⋯N bonds and weak C—H⋯π inter­actions