Corruption, Islam, and Secular Ethics in Tahar Ben Jelloun’s L’homme rompu

In his often-overlooked novel, L’homme rompu (1994), Tahar Ben Jelloun addresses the issue of corruption in Moroccan society. The narrative explores Mourad’s inability to resist corruption in a world where women, in their struggle to join the male-dominated workforce, risk adopting their corrupt mindset. In this novel, Ben Jelloun not only presents secular ethics as a solution to a country with a predominantly religious mentality, he also seems to be ahead of his time; the ever-present theme of corruption would not gain the spotlight until 2010.