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  • Essay / Rushdie's Secret Weapon: Metaphor

    As easy as it is to take advantage of simplicity, some authors understand the depths of the complex world enough to transcend boundaries and speak at once of the fruitful innocence of youth and the most difficult seeds in the world. swallow. In 1990, the famous Anglo-Indian novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie published Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories, following the controversy over his last novel, The Satanic Verses, (which earned Rushdie a fatwa from the chef Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, ordering his execution) The story involves a boy named Haroun - the son of a famous storyteller - who, after his parents separate and lose his storytelling skills, s flees to another planet where the stories come from. Aided by a water genie named Iff and a bird machine named Butt the Hoopoe, Haroun finds himself at the center of a war led by an evil character called Khattam Shud who pollutes stories and language. Almost every aspect of the story can be read in more depth than just its literal function in the book. The relationship between Haroun and his father reflects how the fatwa affected Rushdie's family. Khattam Shud's character and his demand for silence serve as a commentary on the role that power and religion play on freedom of expression. Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories is an artistic response to the universally relevant topics of free speech and oppression as they affect Rushdie personally and the world at large. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay A major theme in Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories is the influence and power of politicians and how they affect society. art and freedom of expression. After Rashid loses his skills, he is hired by two politicians to campaign for them. He finds himself unable to speak to crowds and feels no sense of positivity, which is what politicians want to hear. This metaphor almost speaks for itself, expressing the concept that many governments claim to allow freedom of expression under the unspoken principle that art can only be propaganda. Rushdie dared to challenge this and was silenced and oppressed for it. By showing how Rashid is not allowed to express his sadness, Rushdie expresses his own lack of inspiration and frustration, silenced by his government. These themes are developed later in the novel when Butt the Hoopoe questions the speech restrictions placed on the Chupwallas who are at war with the Gups. Butt asks: "What's the point of giving people free speech if you then tell them they shouldn't use it in the same way?" And isn't the power of speech the greatest of all? So we must surely exercise it fully” (Rushdie, 119). Rushdie's voice is heard here, criticizing the fatwa and all limitations on free speech in the real world. This shows how Rushdie tells the story of a broken family, a sad allegory for Rushdie's emotional state and how he was personally affected by real world problems. Rushdie's 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, leads to the famous fatwa, issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, demanding Rushdie be killed. Rushdie writes about this through metaphor in Haroun and the Sea of ​​Stories. The character of Khattam Shud is a powerful and evil character who is against any use of expression and language. He waged war on the Gups who take care of the sea of ​​stories and promote imagination and], 1991.