The Different Themes In Salman Rushdie's Works

Haroun and the Ssea of Sstories is a fantasy novel written by Salman Rushdie, an Indian writer known for his many short stories and novels. Although Haroun closely relates to a children’s book, it has a far deeper meaning despite the childish story line and writing style. One of the things Haroun and the sea of storiesthe novel portrays is the idea of political power and censorship. It also relates with the subjects of language and story-telling. Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Your thesis statements are not specific enough. They should include indications that you will be discussing symbolism and theme.

After writing a book called The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie had a death sentence or fatwa on his head due to the extreme ways lengths he went to describe the Islamic religion. It had offended countless Muslims including the supreme leader of Iran so much that he had ordered a death sentence upon him. For ten years Salman Rushdie had to live in fear, surrounded by bodyguards to protect him. Haroun and the Ssea of Sstories had beenwas written during that time of his life. Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: It depends on who you talk to. I don’t think Rushdie himself considers The Satanic Verses to be extreme and, frankly, neither do I.

Salman Rushdie had used this book to symbolize the idea of censorship through a character called Khattam-shud. In Haroun, Khattam-shud is the leader of the Land of Chup, a dark place that promotes silence by sewing their lips and dedicating their life to living in shadows without light. Khattam-shud asks ‘What is the use of stories if they aren’t even true?’ (P.155) He detests imagination and creativity, seeking to destroy the Oocean of the Sstreams of Sstoryies by poisoning it at its source. (P.160). Khattam-shud and his followers, the Chupwalas, symbolize authorities that have political power such as the supreme leader that had ordered the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. They had believed that just because the ideas of an individual clashed with their ideas, it was reasonable to execute them. This goes to show how most societies in the world fear things that are different from them, which leads to censorship. They believe that people should not express themselves in ways that are dissimilar to the social norms, as such as Salman Rushdie did. Khattam-shud is not the only one who tried tries to impose censorship. There was is also Mr. Buttoo who was forcingforces Rashid to tell happy stories. He told tells him that people didn’t do not want to hear sad or scary stories on his campaign so he continuously warned warns Rashid to tell happy stories or he’d pay the price if he disobeyed his wishes. Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Use the simple present tense when telling a story or recounting history. Don’t use the past perfect tense. Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Page numbers?

In addition to this, lLanguage is expressed in a complicated way in the book Haroun and the sea of stories. For instance, there is a mixture of English and Arabic words. There is also a strange and playful use of the language. He creates words and phrases and the eccentric personalities of the characters highlight certain traits which makes them the embodiment of literary devices such as rhyme, alliteration and so on. Moreover, Rushdie’s use of idioms can be confusing; which the reader can have a hard times can never quite grasping what he’s he is trying to say. One example is when Haroun asked asks Iff, the water genie, why he was feeling blue. The water genie is literally blue which causes the reader to think. “Is he talking about his mood or the color of his skin?” Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Examples? Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Examples? Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Do not use contractions when writing essays. Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Page numbers? Comment by Tesfaye Woubshet: Always use the present tense when referring to things and events in literary texts.

Another thing this book is trying to portray is that there is beauty in darkness. This is shown in the dance of Mudra, the shadow warrior (P.124) As Haroun watches the movements of Mudra and his shadow he realizes that there is grace in it. He comes to understand that darkness isn’t is not something to constantly be afraid of, that it isn’t is not really quite different from the light and that these two things can live side by side without having to detest the other.

Many themes can be driven identified from in this novel depending on everyone’s point of view. Although Haroun and the sea of stories may seem like a children’s book at first,. I came to realize that it symbolizes many series serious topics like political power, censorship, language, darkness, war and so on. But the most important thing I realized was that fiction plays a huge role in all of it. Fantasy books (no matter how absurd they seem) are the kinds of books that connect to us the most. It is a way for us to explore things beyond our world. It is a way for us to imagine and to create. The real question should be “What is the point of stories if they are true?”