It's because the style is more carefree and fluid
The correct answer is "(Smith 179)".
The MLA in-text citation format comprises the author's last name and the page number of the author's work being referred to. These elements MUST NOT be separated by a comma or any other punctuation mark.
The option "(Smith 2015)" could be considered correct provided the author's work is 2015 pages long or more. It is most likely this number indicates the publication year of the author's work, rather than the page number. Therefore, this option is discarded.
To tell you a story, and perhaps to teach you something
“The use of animal fat violated Hindu and Muslim beliefs and cause the native soldiers to revolt. This revolt led to one of the largest massacres of British men and women ever recorded.”-
“An attempt was made to evict these Mahajarins, whereupon the military police were attacked by a crowd of some forty Maharanis and the British officer who intervened was seriously wounded with a spade.”-
“A detachment of Indian troops at Kacha Garhi thereupon fired two or three shots at the Mahajarin for making murderous assault on the British officer. One Mahajarin was killed and one wounded and three arrested.
