Haroun And The Sea Of Stories Character Analysis

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Harounand the Sea of Stories is a 1990 children's novel[1] by Salman Rushdie. It is Rushdie's fifth major publication and followed The Satanic Verses (1988). It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so miserable and ruinous that it has forgotten its name.[2]

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is an allegory for problems existing in society at the time of its publication, especially in the Indian subcontinent. It presents these problems from the perspective of the young protagonist, Haroun. Salman Rushdie dedicated this book to his son, from whom he was separated for some time. Many elements of the story deal with the problems of censorship, an issue particularly pertinent to Rushdie because of the fatwa against him issued in 1989 by Ayatollah Khomeini.[3] The book is highly allusive and contains puns in multiple languages. Many of the major characters' names allude to some aspect of speech or silence.

At the beginning of the story, protagonist Haroun Khalifa lives with his father Rashid, a famous storyteller and doctor, and his mother Soraya, until the latter is seduced by their neighbour "Mr. Sengupta" to leave home. Rashid is hired to speak on behalf of local politicians but fails his initial assignment. Rashid and Haroun are taken to the "Valley of K" by courier "Mr. Butt," to speak for "Snooty Buttoo," another politician. Attempting to sleep aboard Buttoo's yacht, Haroun discovers "Iff the Water Genie," assigned to detach Rashid's imagination, and demands to speak with Iff's supervisor, the Walrus, to argue against this decision. They are then carried to the eponymous "Sea of Stories" by an artificial intelligence in the form of a hoopoe, nicknamed "Butt" after the courier. In the Sea of Stories, Haroun learns the Sea is endangered by antagonist "Khattam-Shud," who represents the end.

In the Kingdom of Gup, King Chattergy, Prince Bolo, General Kitab, and the Walrus announce their plans for war against the neighbouring kingdom of Chup, to recapture Bolo's betrothed Princess Batcheat and to stop the pollution of the Sea of Stories. Rashid joins them here, having witnessed Batcheat's kidnapping. Thereafter, Haroun and his companions join the Guppee army of "Pages" toward Chup, where they befriend Mudra, Khattam-Shud's former second-in-command.

Haroun, Iff, Butt the Hoopoe, and Mali, the stories' gardener, investigate the Sea's "Old Zone" and are captured by Khattam-Shud's animated shadow, who plans to plug the Story Source at the bottom of the Sea. Before he can do so, Mali destroys the machines used by Khattam-Shud to poison the Sea, and Haroun restores the Sea's long-annulled alternation between night and day, thus destroying the antagonist's shadow and those assisting him, and diverting the giant "Plug" meant to seal the Source. In Chup, the Guppee army destroys the Chupwalas' army and releases Princess Batcheat; whereupon Khattam-Shud himself is crushed beneath a collapsing statue commissioned by himself. Thereafter the Walrus promises Haroun a happy ending of his own story. On return to the human world, Rashid reveals Haroun's adventures to local citizens, who expel Snooty Buttoo.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories includes a host of interestingcharacters, many of whom embody creative archetypes of the types of charactersfound in many traditional stories. Below are brief descriptions of some of thestory's major characters.

Haroun, the title character and protagonist, is the lonely only child in hisfamily. While he is generally a happy boy, he finds his surroundings to be sadand depressing. He helps his father bring joy to the community by accompanyinghim when he goes out to tell his stories. When his mother leaves, Harounbecomes as sad and inconsolable as the city around him. He begins to sufferfrom a short attention span and can't concentrate on anything for longer thaneleven minutes. In an attempt to save his family, Haroun journeys to the SecondHidden Moon of Earth to connect with the Ocean of the Streams of Story. Alongthe way, his bravery and resourcefulness help restore balance to that world andto his family.

Rashid, Haroun's father, is a master storyteller. He is known throughout thecommunity for his gift of weaving tales together and inventing creativecharacters to entertain and bring joy to all those who will listen. However, heappears to be blind to his own troubles. When his wife becomes despondent andstops singing, Rashid carries on as if nothing is wrong. It is not until sheleaves the family that he becomes depressed and loses his ability to spin hisstories.

Haroun's mother, Soraya, was once known for her near constant singing ofbeautiful songs. However, early in the story, she becomes fed up with herhusband's imagination and leaves him for the dull clerk who lives upstairs.This results in the family crisis that her son sets out to rectify.

Mr. Sengupta is the unimaginative clerk who runs off with Soraya. He abhorsanything creative. He appears on the Second Secret Moon as Khattam-Shud, thearch villain who must be defeated in order to restore the balance ofimagination.

Blabbermouth is a girl who has disguised herself as a boy in order to serveas a Page in the Guppee Library, or army. She is as brave as she is talkative,and Haroun seems to develop feelings for her over the course of the story.

Mudra, a fearsome Chupwala warrior who communicates not in words but in thelanguage of gestures, is the commander of Khattum-Shud's forces. Eventually, hebecomes disillusioned with his cause and joins the Guppee army.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a 1990 children's book[1] by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's first novel after The Satanic Verses. It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so old and ruinous that it has forgotten its name.[2]

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is an allegory for several problems existing in society today, especially in India and the Indian subcontinent. It looks at these problems from the viewpoint of the young protagonist Haroun. It is also interesting to note that Rushdie dedicated this book to his son, Zafar Rushdie, from whom he was separated for some time.

While writing his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, Rushdie's 9-year-old son Zafar said that he should write novels that children could read. In response, Rushdie promised that the next book he wrote would be one that his son might enjoy reading. True to his word, Rushdie began to write the novel in the summer of 1989, a few months after the fatwa.[3]

The "sad city", the novel's protagonists, and antagonist Mr. Sengupta are introduced and described. Soon after, the relations between Soraya and Rashid deteriorate until they finally collapse, whereupon Haroun, traumatized, repeats to Rashid Mr. Sengupta's question "What's the use of stories that aren't even true?", which combines with Soraya's desertion to depress Rashid. Thereafter Rashid continues as a storyteller, but his skill is diminished. Miss Oneeta, disowning her husband's name, becomes Rashid's frequent visitor.

Subsequently, Rashid is hired to speak on behalf of the corrupt politician known as Buttoo, but fails before an audience. Infuriated, Buttoo's henchmen (themselves stated to resemble Rashid's characterization of villains) demand that Rashid improve his performance before he speaks to Buttoo's constituents in the Valley of K and leave. To reach K, Haroun obtains the help of mail carrier Mr. Butt, who drives Rashid, Haroun, and numerous other passengers (whose names are never shown) to the Valley at dangerous speed, ignoring the warning signs placed on the road. These warning signs themselves resemble signs placed in India's capital of New Delhi in conveying their warnings by means of rhymes or witticism.

In the Valley of K, Rashid and Haroun travel across the Dull Lake, which Haroun discovers to be the center of the Moody Land (see above) when the weather changes in reflection of the characters' behavior. In the center of the lake, Rashid and Haroun are placed aboard Buttoo's houseboat, the Arabian Nights Plus One, where they are to sleep. Here, readers are introduced to the idea of an "Ocean of the Streams of Story", which becomes the setting of the second segment of the book. Having failed to sleep in the bedroom assigned him, Haroun exchanges beds with his father.

Haroun is later woken when Iff the Water Genie comes to cancel Rashid's subscription to the supply of imagination that enables him to tell stories. Upon seeing Iff, Haroun seizes the genie's Disconnecting Tool and uses it to blackmail Iff into taking him to Kahani to have the cancellation prevented. Iff and Haroun then travel to Kahani atop Butt the Hoopoe. En route, they discover that some of the stories of Kahani's Ocean are becoming polluted. They later arrive at Gup City, where it is revealed to them and to the reader that the Chupwalas have captured Princess Batcheat. Here, Goopy, Bagha, the Walrus, and Mali are introduced. Moments later, Rashid arrives on Kahani and shows himself to be a witness to Batcheat's capture. Upon hearing this, the Library of Gup organizes to rescue Batcheat and to stall Khattam-Shud's attack on the Ocean. During the organization, Haroun befriends the Page Blabbermouth, whom he discovers to be a girl.

En route to Chup, the Guppee army argues endlessly and without restraint about their purpose. This surprises Haroun, who considers doing so to be mutiny, but continues until the army has arrived in the Twilight Strip dividing Kahani. There, they encounter Mudra, who reveals Khattam-Shud's division of himself into two shadowy figures whereof one is an anthropomorphic shadow and the other a diminished man, states that many Chupwalas resent Khattam-Shud but are reluctant to rebel, and joins the Guppees. Haroun, Mali, Iff, Goopy, Bagha, and Butt go to Kahani's South Pole, where one of Khattam-Shud's two divisions of himself is poisoning the Ocean, while the army goes to Chup City to fight his other division and the armies it commands.

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