Comparing Rushdie's Haroun And The Sea Of Stories

In his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini depicts his homeland Afghanistan as a host to many different cultures and classes, such as Pashtun and Hazara, Sunni and Shiite, with this dichotomy of beliefs and attributes being powerful enough to shape diverse, sometimes negative relationships amongst the characters of the novel and their behavior to each other, as well as establish that individual’s identity. Each person interprets the impact of the role of belief and social status differently, while all living in the same setting, adding to their complexity and depth as a character in the novel with many different figures tied together by the same geographical and cultural conditions.

Throughout Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie provides a fundamental, yet intricate variety of literary usage. These instances of literary usage provide and framework of support for the text which is to follow and to further accentuate the smaller and unnoticeable details of the story in to vital parts which are necessary for better comprehension and understanding of the meaning of the upcoming events. Symbolism is the most commonly used and most imperative literary device used by Rushdie. 'With the land of Chup, on the dark side of Kahani?This looks like the doing of the leader of the Chupwalas, the Cult master of Bezaban.'(H.S.S. Pg 75) This statement from the text has a very symbolic meaning behind it, both in terms of the

It is very important to be aware that the media is capable of controlling the flow of information that citizens receive. Furthermore, much of the content suppressed in this country is for fear of retribution from others. When governments and other institutions suppress information, citizens are not able to address matters concerning their country, as well as around the globe. In ‘The Decline of American Press Freedom’ by Anne Applebaum, Applebaum explains a recent controversy with Yale University and the publishing of a contentious comic in a scholarly report on the global consequences of political comics. The comics in question were satirical in nature and displayed the Islamic prophet Muhammad in an offensive manner. In an aniconic religion where visual depiction of the prophet is inherently blasphemous, the Islamic response to these comics were violent. When an analysis of the comics and the cultural backlash was written, instead of publishing it, Yale University swept it under the rug for fear of offending Islamic extremists. Applebaum argues that if “Yale University Press refuses to publish [the comics], then that makes it much harder for anybody else to treat the cartoon controversy as a legitimate matter for scholarly and political debate” (Applebaum 640). By not allowing the publishing of this analysis, Yale University is censoring what the American populace have access to in terms of global controversy. The issue becomes trivialized because institutions fear retribution from extremist groups. Without these scholarly points of reference of this issue and others, it is difficult to have a serious conversations about the ramifications of political and religious satire. This leads to people remaining uneducated and ignorant of these serious issues, and liable to repeat these same actions that so sorely offended an extremist

Glenn Beck, a renown conservative with extreme political theories, is included in the cartoon as a book to learn from as well, further emphasizing ideologies like his plot against government and numerical claims that “10 percent of all muslims are terrorists,” . In an analysis of the textbooks passed by the board, reviewers found that the books do not have any negative attitudes towards capitalism, viewed christianity as a harmless takeover of indigenous culture, and racially categorized many diverse african groups as one unity, calling them “negros”. World history textbooks emphasized the violence in Islamic countries, and related it to the terrorism and additional issues western countries have today. The statement, ““Much of the violence you read or hear about in the Middle East is related to a jihad,” is an example of the racism and bias towards Islam. From a developmental age, reading about these ideas will encourage racist attitudes and negativity towards certain ideals in the student’s future. Through political cartoons, artists attempt to persuade readers to their standpoint, and to go against the idea portrayed in the cartoon.

Chraibi’s book Muhammad: A Novel is a fantastic, powerful read because it is just that: a novel. It is a fictional story, but written by an author who had an unusual, mystical calling himself to write the book. By using original aspects from the traditional biographies of Muhammad and then adding his own personal, esoteric twist on these characteristics, Chraibi creates a work of literature that is truly compelling and shows Muhammad’s journey to becoming a prophet in a mystical light. Two central distinctions, namely Muhammad’s relations with Khadija and Bahira, add the spice in this novel that really help the reader grasp what is mystical about both this literature and most importantly, Muhammad himself.

According to the Bill of Rights, we are afforded the freedom of speech through the first amendment. But this awarding of freedom is only allowed if it goes along with what the general population deems “normal”. During the middle part of the 1900’s many books were banned on political, religious, and moral views. While our society has changed these issues are still prevalent in today’s public views and opinions of author’s work. These books are not “normal” and that is why they play an unprecedented part in literature today. Books written in this era had a different political, religious, and moral atmosphere than those written in the modern day; but these same issues arise in today’s society.

Humanity is an imperfect medium for God’s works. It smears reference lines, is too motile when warmed, and too insoluble when chilled. The perfect balance is a rare and fleeting moment among millennia of failed attempts, and even then, the canvas is only given a short burst of color, fading quickly back into the neutral tones of moral ambiguity. Likewise, in Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses,” the reader is greeted not with a uniform portrait, but with a twisted triptych of Man’s struggle to find God. His accompanying motif, however, is not any deity, but chimaera of his own making-- discernment.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is the fifth novel written by Salman Rushdie. If you look closely at both a reading about Salman's life and one of his novels, you can actually find connections between them. In the reading about Rushdie's life, it was made evident that people despised his book The Satanic Verses. This is the same case in Rashid's life, for some people very much disliked his story telling. Furthermore, in the supplementary reading; I learned that individual people and larger organizations like governments wanted to capture Rushdie. This is because Rushdie's controversial book was heavily looked down upon by the Muslim Religion. This is a parallel to the Sea of Stories due to the fact that Khattam-Shud wanted to capture Rashid

Moreover, Hosseini alludes to the Holocaust through Asef, whose “sociopath[ic]” characteristics, German mother, “blue eyes” and admiration for Hitler promote the association with this “ethnic cleaning,” thus emphasising the evil of racism. Although extremism is criticised, Hosseini prevents the reader from dismissing everyday racism through General Taheri’s dialogue when he questions “why there is a Hazara boy” living with them, conveying that the Hassan’s death has its roots in the ingrained racist and prejudiced culture. Moreover, he is concerned about “the community’s perception,” suggesting reputations and societal expectations drive these prejudices. This is illustrated earlier when Baba’s desire to be close to his “illegitimate” son parallels the social barriers relationships between Pashtuns and Hazaras. Comparatively, Coen’s integrated band overcomes these social barriers, subverting the idea that the deep south is inherently racist, as “folks don 't mind they’s integrated,” in a time when integration was illegal. With the literary techniques of juxtaposition, parody, historical references and dialogue, and Coen’s manipulation of lighting and soundtrack, Coen and Hosseini overthrow racial stereotypes, criticising the societal expectations and casual racism that underpin extremism.

During his visit to Kahani,Haroun crossed the twilight strip which led them to an evil and forbidding region, “It was a suicidal mission, Haroun became convinced they would be defeated”(121),but after he saw Mudra a shadow warrior his opinions changed. Mudra was performing a martial dance,”The dance of the shadow warrior showed him that silence had its own grace and beauty...and that action could be as noble as words;and that creatures of darkness could be as lovely as the children of light”(125). This emphasizes the change Haroun went from seeing the evil in the Chups to seeing the beauty. Not only did stories change Haroun they changed the people in the Valley of K as well. Rashid told them “Haroun and the Sea of Stories”. The crowd became so impacted by the story they sang along and interacted with Rashid. Eventually the citizens were able to connect and sympathize with people from the land of chup. They realized how their ruler resembled Khattam-Shud and were able to choose leaders they actually liked. Storytelling takes us on a journey that lets us experience moments in a way reality doesn't let us;it changes us in a way no one else

The purpose of this essay is to analyse S. Rushdie's Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies from feminist perspective. To fully understand the views that Rushdie exhibited, with respect to feminist approach , it's important to notice the contrast between men's expectations about women in Islamic culture and the unforeseen behaviour of Miss Rehana, claiming her freedom.

Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer once stated, “Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever.” This was a problem faced by Salman Rushdie. After years of suffering from writers block, he overcame his obstacles and published "Haroun and the Sea of Stories". It is not only a story for his son, but a proclamation of the triumph of the writer over the oppressive forces that sought to silence him. When read literally, the resolution of "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" is the defeat of Khattam-Shud as dictator. However, Rushdie’s true resolution is the conquest of freedom of speech over oppression. This is seen in how the characters’

As a further means of separating the population into distinct groups, religion acts as a divisionary force between characters and cultures. There are two primary conflicting cultures represented in the novel that are the cause of religious differences: Sunnis versus Shi’ites and secularism versus religious fundamentalism. Similar to the discrimination based on ethnicity, the conflict based on religion is primarily exemplified through Assef and Hassan, who are Sunni and Shi’ite, respectively. As such, any justification for inclusion and exclusion of people not based solely on ethnicity could just be rationalized through differences of religion. With this prevalent culture present, the importance is in the author’s depiction of the “bleak hypocrisies of the Taliban period--the disgusting cruelties performed in the name of righteousness” as stated by David Denby in “Hard Life.” Through the

Ardian Syaf has been criticized for inserting coded references to the religious and political turmoil going on in his home country. Some of his fans also slammed him for including in the comics some references that indicate his support for the hardline Islamist movement against Jakarta’s Christian Gov. Basuki Purnama Tjahaja a.k.a. “Ahok” who is facing blasphemy charges after quoting the Quranic verse QS 5:51, Heat Street details.

Rushdie uses opposites frequently throughout his book and one of them deals with the lands of Gup and Chup. In the novel, Haroun explains "Gup is bright and Chup is dark. Gup is warm and Chup is freezing cold. Gup is all chattering and noise, whereas Chup is silent as a shadow" (114). In the story, Gup represents the West where we value freedom of speech, whereas the land of Chup represents the East. Kattam-Shud, the dictator of Chup, wishes to poison the Sea of Stories in order to silence the stories forever because he believes "Inside every single story . . . there lies a world . . . that I cannot Rule" (151). His sign is a symbol of stitched lips which points to that he represents censorship unlike the Gups who value freedom of speech tremendously. However, the importance of free speech doesn't mean one should always speak, unthinkingly. Haroun observes that "Silence has its own grace and beauty (just as speech can be graceless and ugly) . . . Action could be as noble as Words" (115). Rushdie argues that a society must have a healthy balance of speech. Silence in itself is not a bad thing, but forced silence