Topic > Hidden allegory in Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories

IndexIntroductionRushdie's communication with readers through the storyConclusionHaroun and the Sea of ​​Stories by Salman Rushdie tells the fictional story of a young protagonist named Haroun who travels to the Sea of ​​Stories to helping his father regains his ability as a storyteller. This narrative was a consequence of Rushdie's many years spent in hiding. After publishing The Satanic Verses, a novel about pagan goddesses of Mecca that insulted many Muslims, former Iranian supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering Rushdie's death. As a result, the English government placed Rushdie underground and he was forced to separate from his young son, Zafar. In an effort to reconnect and entertain his son, Rushdie wrote a funny story for children: Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories. While the tale resonates with younger audiences and portrays a sense of magical realism, the allegory also makes several allusions to works familiar only to older audiences. Rushdie's references to King Lear, Plato, and the Beatles demonstrate this dichotomy, resulting in a work that aims to satisfy a child's sense of wild creativity, but also to appeal to more experienced readers familiar with complicated subject matter. One way Rushdie captures his second, presumably older audience is by explaining the importance of discourse and storytelling in a deep philosophical context. By describing the circumstances of his fatwa, Rushdie appeals to the second audience by providing an overview of how the speech promotes a richer public and private life. In the story Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories, Rushdie addresses children and older readers simultaneously. Using magical realism to advance the plot, alluding to other known children's works, and introducing myriad magical creatures, Rushdie immediately captures children's interest. Almost contrastingly, Rushdie informs readers about the importance of storytelling, portraying Khattam-Shud, the opposition to all narrative, as an antagonist and developing Haroun's gradual love of storytelling and culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Introduction After several years of being on the run and isolated from his family, Rushdie wanted to connect with his young son, Zafar, through a story that entertained him. Therefore, Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories is structured as a children's book to demonstrate the bond between Rushdie and his son. The first way Rushdie exemplifies this concept is by using the art of magical realism to advance the plot of the book. Magical realism is defined as a genre of fantasy fiction that expresses a magical, distorted account of the real world. Magical realism is commonly used when writing children's stories, such as Peter Pan or Harry Potter, both of which begin with a protagonist living in reality and discovering a revolutionary, magical world. Rushdie's first allusion to the works of other children is at the beginning of the third chapter, when Haroun is introduced to Iff, the water genie. The character Iff most resembles the Genie of the Magic Lamp from Aladdin, as he acts as Haroun's guardian throughout the plot and has some physical similarities. Iff is said to have baggy trousers and a turban, common Middle Eastern garments that are strongly reminiscent of Aladdin's genie's background. The description and role of Iff, a significant role in the allegory, shows that reader Rushdie's primary intention was to write a book that would appeal to younger children, particularly his son. Furthermore, in the fourth chapter, Rushdie makes explicit mentionof the fairy tale Rapunzel, writing: “What Haroun was experiencing, he thought he didn't know, was princess rescue story number S/1001/ZHT/420/41(r )xi; and because the princess in this particular story had recently cut her hair and therefore had no long braids to untie (unlike… Rapunzel)". The story is inserted into the narrative of a different and popular story that promotes the adventure and reaffirms Rushdie's intention to make it an accessible story for children.Finally, another visible allusion is found in the seventh chapter, when Haroun observes a man ferociously fighting his own shadow with a sword reacting “with equal ferocity, attention and skill”. The reference to Peter Pan in this scene is evident, as Peter Pan also fought his own shadow. The book's adventurous and magical plot makes it much more accessible to younger children Likewise, the use of magical realism to move a change in the plot is common in children's fairy tales. Therefore, the use of magical realism, the countless allusions to popular children's fairy tales, and the introduction of several bizarre characters affirm the idea. that Rushdie wrote Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories in an attempt to entertain his son and other children. Readers Through Story Although Rushdie's primary intention when creating Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories was to write an entertaining fantasy for his son, he also wrote it to explain the circumstance in which the fatwa had placed him. Rushdie begins this process by telling the reader about Khattam -Shud, translated as “silence.” Khattam-Shud is the story's antagonist who poisons the waterways of the Sea of ​​Stories and captures Princess Batcheat. Haroun best describes Khattam-Shud as "a thin, gaunt, whining, talkative, mean, miserly, wretched, weasel, employed fellow, who had no shadow but seemed almost as much a shadow as a man." Immediately, the reader is presented with a negative connotation of the character responsible for silencing Haroun's father. Rushdie emphasizes the importance of free narrative, which Khattam-Shud vehemently opposes. Rushdie continues to write: “The Chupwalas… proved to be a disunited rabble… many of them had to fight their own insidious shadows! And for the rest, well, their vows of silence and their habit of secrecy had made them suspicious and distrustful of each other... The result was that the Chupwalas did not stand side by side, but betrayed each other, they stabbed each other in the back, they mutinied, they hid deserted.” The Chupwalas, meaning "quiet ones", were silenced by Khattam-Shud and, as a result, suffered from censorship. Rushdie once again argues that a society suffering from censorship can never stand up when challenged and fight itself and its own shadows. He fiercely criticizes the character of Khattam-Shud for his lack of tolerance and authoritarian rule, but also portrays the acceptance of the narrative in a positive light. He explains from Haroun's perspective, "he looked into the water and saw that it was made up of a thousand thousand thousand different currents, each a different color, weaving in and out of each other like a liquid tapestry of breathtaking complexity. … these were the Streams of Story… each colored thread represented and contained a single tale.” Haroun's realization of the beauty of the narrative indicates a change in the plot, as he admires both his father's and Rushdie's occupation. Shud, the enemy of the word and destroyer of myth, closely resembles Iranian Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, as he attempts to silence and orders a fatwa on Rushdie. As a result, Rushdie indirectly criticizes Khomeini in.