78 pages • 2-hour read
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
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Themes
Freedom of Speech as the Greatest Power of All
The most distinct feature of Khattam-Shud’s reign over Chup is the creation and enforcement of the so-called Silence Laws. Butt the Hoopoe asks, “Is not the Power of Speech the greatest Power of them all? Then surely it must be exercised to the full?” (119). The bird frames the question as one of duty. It is not enough for free speech to exist. Those who have the freedom of speech must appreciate it enough to exercise it to the full.
In the case of author Salman Rushdie, the mere act of writing Haroun was an act of exercising his right to freedom of speech. Khattam-Shud is a character analogous to the Ayatollah who decreed a death sentence on Salman Rushdie after deeming his previous novel, The Satanic Verses, to be blasphemous against Islam and the prophet Muhammad.
Khattam-Shud understands that in the absence of free speech—or no speech, in this case—there can be no dissent. The Silence Laws go even further. If people are not allowed to speak, they cannot tell their fellow citizens about themselves. This leads to an ability to empathize, commiserate, celebrate, and bond with one another. The consequences of the Silence Laws are clear when the Chupwalas backstab each other on the battlefield: They do not trust each other because they have never had the chance to know each other well.
Mudra has gone without speaking for so long that he literally struggles to vocalize when Haroun meets him. This symbolizes the consequences arising from authoritarian suppression of free communication. The suppression of free speech robs the citizens of their right and ability to ask questions. Without the freedom to ask questions, they cannot find answers to the problems they face. They have no way to protest their mistreatment or to argue their own rights in court. Teachers lose the ability to educate, because they cannot speak to their pupils, and schools become purposeless.
The victory of Khattam-Shud—literally, “The End”—would be the end of free speech. It would halt creativity of any sort, because it would make it impossible to produce and share art. A society that cannot express itself freely cannot be free. Without the ability to share their stories with each other, the citizens are also limited in their ability to ponder and shape their own identities. Without freedom, they must be what they are told to be.
The Importance of Stories
Early in the book, Mr. Sengupta asks, “What’s the use of stories that aren’t even true?” Readers can view the project of Haroun and the Sea of Stories as Rushdie’s attempt to answer that question. The book is a work of fiction. By definition, this means it is not literally a true story—Haroun was not a real person, there is no evidence that Kahani exists in space, shadows do not detach themselves from people, etc. However, this does not mean that the story does not express truths, as do all stories.
Mr. Sengupta could just as well ask about the purpose of a play, novel, film, or fable. Rashid does not seem to ask these questions. He loves to tell stories and he is a master of the craft. However, his son and wife both suggest that the stories he tells do not matter. By extension, because being a storyteller is part of his identity, this casts doubt on whether he matters, or if he is simply wasting his time telling people lies.
Regardless of whether fiction is important, Haroun immediately sees the toll that the loss of his storytelling gift has on his father. The remainder of his quest is an adventure story, but thematically, it is also a chronicle of his attempt to restore meaning to Rashid’s life. Each person’s life comprises the stories of their experiences. There is no way for people to know each other as well as possible in the absence of storytelling.
In Haroun, stories serve many functions. They instruct, as when Haroun asks characters about their pasts, or about the workings and rules of Kahani. They entertain and help make life more tolerable for people in the sad city. Politicians and public figures can also exploit stories for their own gain. Rashid has a reputation for being able to sway public support for politicians, even though the stories he tells on their behalf are little more than diversions for the people attending the rallies.
When the Walrus grants Haroun his wish and bestows a happy ending on the people in the sad city, Rushdie shows the catharsis that an effective story can provide, while simultaneously reminding readers that they are living the stories of their own lives. Before a story reaches its conclusion, it is always possible to hope for the story to change, and for the characters to emerge happy and fulfilled.
Linguistic Playfulness and the Slippery Nature of Language
Like Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, Haroun and the Sea of Stories revels in wordplay. The characters from Kahani speak in idiosyncratic ways, often standing in as literary devices like alliteration, rhyme, and characterization. Author Salman Rushdie uses the book to show the intricate, beautiful, and slippery nature of language. More than one character wonders about the purpose of a story that isn’t true, and readers can also question the function of language itself, given Rushdie’s use of naming, puns, and riddles. This appears most prominently in the characters from Kahani, who speak in idiosyncratic ways, often standing in as literary devices like alliteration, rhyme, and characterization.
In the brief afterword, Rushdie explains that many of the characters’ names originate, at least partially, from Hindustani words. This allows him to add another layer of allegory to the characters, while also adding jokes to the material. For instance, the Plentimaw fishes have many mouths in their skin, connoting the description, “Plenty of maws.” No “ifs, ands, or buts” is a popular phrase in English used to express certainty, but Rushdie defiantly includes characters named Iff and Butt to signal how quickly figures of speech can change in different contexts.
Rashid tells Haroun that “All names mean something” (40). He is correct, but his statement is also imprecise. It would be more accurate for him to say that all names—and many words—can potentially mean many things. Naming provides an object, person, or place with the sparsest beginning of a descriptive identity. The city that has forgotten its name is a city without an identity, therefore it is only possible to talk about it in terms of the sadness it contains. This point emphasizes the importance of giving things a name.
Language functions most effectively when everyone defines (and therefore, describes) things in the same way. Rushdie reveals this in his antagonist’s plan: Khattam-Shud realizes that eliminating speech prevents others from properly describing and understanding things, thus giving him the only valuable perspective.
It is arguable whether rational, critical thought is possible without language. Confusing or misused language can lead to confusing, misguided thinking, regardless of the user’s intentions. The slipperiness of language also makes it a tool for exploitation, manipulation, and sophistry, as shown by the success of the politicians that Rashid has helped in the past.
The playfulness of language is one of the great pleasures that fiction affords. Rushdie treats Haroun as a linguistic game that can be read superficially, reminding the reader of how delightfully strange and fallible language can be. It is also a game with high stakes, given that one’s ability to think is also a function of their facility with language.
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