Haroun and the Sea of Stories Analysis
by Myfanwy Kinder
To properly analyze the key themes and meanings of Salman Rushdie's 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories', it is crucial to acknowledge the events that unfolded in 1988-1989. Rushdie published his fourth novel, 'The Satanic Verses' in 1988 which sparked an uproar of controversy instantaneously within the Islamic communities across the globe resulting in the publication being banned in 13 different countries. Critics described the book as an offense against Islam and identified the book as blasphemous. in 1989 a fatwa demanding Rushdie's execution was proclaimed by Ayatollah Khomeini, a spiritual leader of Iran. The fatwa and the novel sparked violence around the globe with some extremists creating rallies to burn copies of the book, and in more severe cases, people associated with the publication of the novel were seriously harmed and even killed.
The importance of the events in 1988 and 1989 are justified in the reflection of key issues sparked from 'The Satanic Verses' and those within 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories'. One of the key themes throughout 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories' (HatSoS) is the censorship present within the land of Chup, a direct relation to Rushdie's experiences with the fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini. This is further highlighted by the unrestricted freedom of speech present within the land of Gup which eventually leads to the defeat of the forces of Chup. Contrary to this, as the book progresses Rushdie portrays that silence (censorship) possess qualities that were even described as beautiful 'as they fought each other, standing toe to toe, Haroun began to think of their combat as a dance of great beauty and grace, a dance danced in perfect silence, because the music was playing inside the dancer's heads' (Page 124) and in return, that freedom of speech can lead to distortion and even anarchistic behavior, 'that sounds like mutinous talk to me' (Page 118).
Another core theme throughout HatSoS is the importance of Storytelling. The catalyst for both disaster and adventure was when Haroun said to his father, mimicking Mr Sengupta, 'what’s the use of stories that aren't even true?'. (Pages 20 and 22). This hurt Rashid, Haroun's father deeply and as a result he lost his 'gift of the gab'. Haroun blamed himself for this and set off on an adventure with the water genie to return his father's ability to tell stories and furthermore restore his faith of the importance of storytelling. Khattam Shud is the biggest disbeliever of storytelling in the book, seeking out to destroy the Sea of Stories entirely and even block the story source. Khattam Shud's behavior and views can be compared closely to those belonging to Mr Sengupta and are relative to the behavior of the opposers of Rushdie's novel, 'The Satanic Verses'.
Love is another theme imbued within the book. The presence of love shows us not only that it conquers all and gives Haroun the courage to volunteer to be a spy for the Gup army, but it shows us also the strong effect that a lack of love can bring to someone through Rashid'd depression after his wife leaves him. Further examples include the love between father and son, the extent at which Haroun is willing to go to save his father, and also the love between the Prince and Princess which shows us more than anything else that beauty is not skin deep as the Prince loves Batcheat despite her many visual imperfections.
Rushdie gives us further meaning to the story by demonstrating his personal views of warfare throughout the battle between Gup and Chup. Through the description of the battle, it is clear that Rushdie disproves of warfare and symbolizes it through behavior of the opposing sides and visualizing it in their clothing. Both sides must wear strange nose warmers which Prince Bolo felt were 'undignified' and Rashid felt something similar thinking to himself 'really, this is beginning to look like a war between buffoons'. (Page 179).
The revelation of Blabbermouth's hidden identity of being a girl is an interesting point in the book and aids Rushdie's attempts to lessen the distinguishment of what can be perceived as good and evil. Immediately after Blabbermouth save's the command troop including Prince Bolo himself from a live bomb, Prince Bolo fires Blabbermouth on the basis that she is a girl and was hiding her true identity. It is at this point we see flaws in the supposedly kind hearted Guppies and instead see kindness from the opposition as Mudra the Shadow warrior offers her a place by his side instead.
Although the alignment of Gup and Chup appears to be easily distinguishable throughout the book, Rushdie challenges these misconceptions throughout and especially towards the end concluding that both sides of the opposition have good and bad points to them.
Overall the book has many interesting themes running alongside one another. Although many themes can relate to the disgusting treatment Rushdie received in 1989 there are also a lot of innocent and inspiring messages to be found throughout the book. Rushdie ends on a melancholic note implying through Haroun being granted his final wish that not all books need happy endings, and that, it is a matter of opinion whether or not an ending is entirely happy.
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