Free Essay

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

In:

Submitted By BrewCrew06
Words 522
Pages 3
1. Comment on Khattam-Shud’s remark that inside a story lies a world that can’t be controlled. Why is that important? The remark that was made by Khattam-Shud to me is that he is trying to convey truth. He wants to show us that the world is dark and cruel place. You cannot control something outside your own realm of dreams and possibilities. He was trying to shed light onto a touchy subject. As a cruel and ruthless leader, he is attempting to take away freedom of speech basically. Stories are meant to be something exciting, creative, and imaginative. Without that, the people under his rule become silent.

2. Is this a story for children? Why or why not? I don’t think that it is honestly. Even though there is a young child playing a major role in the story with his father, most children I don’t think would grasp the concept of the story, nor would they be able to follow along with all the characters and references made in the story.

3. What do you think the author had in mind with Khattam-Shud and his Silence Laws? Do we have to know Rushdie’s personal history for the story to make sense, or does the story have a broader application?

I picked up right away that this story was some form of culture that I’m not accustomed to. Maybe a folk tale of some sort from India? Either way, I’ve seen firsthand in the military being in a variety of different countries that you need to respect the laws and rights of their culture. A lot of places are very different than the United States and who are we to judge what they say or do? Being too outspoken may get you into trouble at times. I feel as though it would be nice to know about Rushdie’s past in order to better understand him as a person, but we don’t necessarily need to know his past in order to figure out what he is trying to get across to us. The broader application is that stories are wonderful. Children grow up reading stories, telling stories, hearing stories from their parents. Taking that away from them would only hurt them. Allow children to enjoy being young and susceptible to fairy tales and monsters. Even though this story is nothing like what I was reading as a child, who are we to poke fun at it? That is what what Haroun was trying to get across and fight for.

4. If you are familiar with the classic Arab collection of stories Arabian Nights, the names of Haroun and Rashid may sound familiar to you. Their last name is Khalifa. What do you think the author meant by creating such a connection?

I’m not entirely sure of what the connection would be. Id be lying if I said I knew any form of Middle Eastern books. Maybe he is just trying to keep his traditions and views alive within his family and the traditions that they have grown accustomed to sharing with one another. That would be my best guess.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

...Haroun and the Sea of Stories SALMAN RUSHDIE Novel, 1990. Summary. In this story we encounter storytelling as a means of saving your identity, your relationship with your family, and perhaps even your life—which means that, in a sense, you are saving a world. The British-Indian author Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) had to go underground after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses in 1988. The book was considered blasphemous to Islam by the fundamentalist government of Iran, which issued a death warrant against him. He says that he reached a point where he was so distressed he wasn’t able to think of any stories to tell. But he worked himself out of his depression, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a book for children and other people who have a natural love for stories, is the result. This modern fairy tale has many surprising elements, but here we will focus just on the core issue: why stories have value. Haroun’s father Rashid is a professional storyteller and a very popular one. He usually tells cheerful stories, even though they live in a very sad city. Haroun is beginning to ask questions about his father’s storytelling: Where do the stories come from? From the great Story Sea, says Rashid, and you have to be a subscriber to the water, which comes from a tap installed by one of the Water-Genies. But Haroun doesn’t believe him. And now a sad thing happens in their lives: Haroun’s mother Soraya with the beautiful voice leaves her husband and child for another tenant...

Words: 1400 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

...Haroun and the Sea of Stories SALMAN RUSHDIE Novel, 1990. Summary. In this story we encounter storytelling as a means of saving your identity, your relationship with your family, and perhaps even your life—which means that, in a sense, you are saving a world. The British-Indian author Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) had to go underground after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses in 1988. The book was considered blasphemous to Islam by the fundamentalist government of Iran, which issued a death warrant against him. He says that he reached a point where he was so distressed he wasn’t able to think of any stories to tell. But he worked himself out of his depression, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a book for children and other people who have a natural love for stories, is the result. This modern fairy tale has many surprising elements, but here we will focus just on the core issue: why stories have value. Haroun’s father Rashid is a professional storyteller and a very popular one. He usually tells cheerful stories, even though they live in a very sad city. Haroun is beginning to ask questions about his father’s storytelling: Where do the stories come from? From the great Story Sea, says Rashid, and you have to be a subscriber to the water, which comes from a tap installed by one of the Water-Genies. But Haroun doesn’t believe him. And now a sad thing happens in their lives: Haroun’s mother Soraya with the beautiful voice leaves her husband and child for another tenant...

Words: 1698 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Rushdie's Haroun And The Sea Of Stories

...In Salmon Rusdhie’s 1990 allegorical novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, oppressed freedom and imagination of speech are shown in a symbolic way. The novel is about a young son that goes on a magical adventure to rescue his father’s ability to tell stories after the ocean has been poisoned by evil. Through the symbolic element of the plentimaw fish it conveys the idea of the brain and represents how life works. Metaphors are also used to symbolise the real meaning of war through the construction of Haroun’s father, Rashid. Finally, censorship is shown as detrimental to civilised society through the symbolic plot devices such as the poisoning of the sea of stories. Rushdie’s, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, uses symbolic plot devices to show...

Words: 436 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Comparing The Book 'Haroun And The Sea Of Stories'

...Valazia Sophorlrath IB English Mr. Tetenbaum October 28, 2015 Ocean of Feelings Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie is a book about a boy whose mother had left the family for his neighbor, Mr. Sengupta, who did not like stories at all. Due to that tragedy, his father, Rashid, is not able to tell stories. Haroun goes on an adventure to bring back the joy of stories to his father. What do you think Rushdie's saying about the value of stories and how they make people feel? By looking at the roles stories play in Haroun’s society, we can see how important stories are to his father and how his situation with his family affects his ability to tell stories; this is important because it shows that in order for someone to persevere, they...

Words: 363 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Haroun and the Sea of Stories Study Questions

...on Khattam-Shud’s remark that inside a story lies a world that can’t be controlled. Why is that important? His belief as the leader of the land is that the world is made for one to control, he believes in controlling the way people speak. Without a use for language, the people become silent and then they are controlled. The people lose their freedom of speech. 2. Is this a story for children? Why or why not? I don't think children will fully understand the meaning behind the story. The child has to have a certain level of maturity and knows the freedom of speech to fully understand the story. 3. What do you think the author had in mind with Khattam-Shud and his Silence Laws? Do we have to know Rushdie’s personal history for the story to make sense, or does the story have a broader application? To tell us that certain cultures have different laws and rules that they abide by. In some countries there isn't freedom of speech and loose talk can get you into trouble with the law. I don't think we need to know Rushdie's personal history for the story to make sense, this story has also told me to know the laws of other countries, be sensitive to other race and religion and although you can't take back what you have said, you can try to make amends. In certain point of view, Rushdie might have been, in a way, talking about what was happening in his life at the time. Rushdie might have been trying to tell the world that stories have love and hate in them, but what's important...

Words: 394 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Arod

...Alifbay, where Haroun Khalifa lives with his father, a famous storyteller, and his mother. One day, Haroun arrives home from school to learn that his mother has run off with his upstairs neighbor. This neighbor had often been critical of Haroun's father, Rashid, because he did not understand the usefulness of stories. In anger, Haroun assails his father for the uselessness of his stories. This crushes his father. Haroun finds it difficult to concentrate on schoolwork and so his father decides to take him on a storytelling job he is performing for some politicos in the Land of G and the Valley of K. When Rashid attempts to tell his stories, however, no words come out, and the politicos get very mad. Haroun and Rashid board a mail bus bound for the Valley of K. It is driven by a parrot-looking man named Butt who stutters and speaks in riddles. Rashid makes a deal with Butt to drive them on the dangerous road between the Land of G and the Valley of K. Butt drives dangerously and Haroun is worried that he will die. When they reach the beautiful sights of the Valley of K, Rashid tells Haroun that it all reminds him of "khattam-shud," an ancient concept that means silence. When they reach K, Haroun and Rashid meet Mr. Buttoo, the politician, who takes them to his boat on the Dull Lake. As they depart on the lake, they are engulfed in a thick mist. The mist smells very bad and Haroun realizes that it is a Mist of Misery brought on by his father's foul mood. When the sea begins to rock...

Words: 1624 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Doubt

...2014 In Salman Rushdie's excellent book Haroun and the Sea of Stories, there's a striking scene near the beginning where Haroun, the child of a famous storyteller, confronts his father by repeating a line that was previously parroted by a narrow-minded neighbour: What's the use of stories that aren't even true? Haroun spends much of the story (which I gather might be imagined rather than true) making up for this mistake, through fantastic adventures in a universe where two factions are at war: those who tell stories, and those who want all stories to end and silence to reign. For this is where fiction is so much better: at the telling not of factual truths that anyone can observe, but of greater Truths about life, about what it means, what it's about, how to live it, how to enjoy it and be happy and find a purpose. To observe these Truths, one needs very good eyes indeed, and telling them directly is almost impossible. Instead, a great author must tell a story that illustrates the Truth that they experienced and observed. If they do it extremely well, it becomes a kind of distilled life experience that the reader assimilates and which changes their understanding of life in subtle and important ways. The plot concerns a boy who all but curses his father in a moment of despair by saying, cynically, ''What's the use of stories that aren't even true?'' As a consequence, the father becomes heartbroken, and loses his storytelling mojo. Haroun then embarks on a fantastic adventure...

Words: 702 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Romeo and Juliet

...March 29th, 2014 Leadership in Haroun and the sea of stories It can be said that great leaders have the qualities that make for exceptional leadership. This is main focus in the story Haroun And The Sea Of Stories, by Salman Rushdie. Many people who have a spark of the qualities needed, can develop and show great power of leadership in certain situations. Such as the protagonist Haroun Khalifa. But what makes a good leader? The story demonstrates that intelligence is a key ingredient for leadership. This is indicated through communication, decisiveness, and the power of conflict resolution. The first form of intelligence that a good leader has, is the ability to communicate with others. In this story Salman Rushdie, shows that expressing your thoughts and feelings freely is crucial and will bring you success in life. Rushdie portrays this through General Kitab and his army. The author shows the Guppees ability to communicate through the quote, "The black-nosed Chupwala Army, whose menacing silence hung over it like a fog, looked too frightening to lose. Meanwhile the Guppees were still busily arguing over every little detail. Every order sent down from the command hill had to be debated fully, with all its pro's and con's..." (Rushdie, 184). This quote shows that expressing your ideas and thoughts leads to victory. Rashid Khalifa was confused that, with all of the Guppees chatter, how it was possible to fight a battle. To Rashids surprise, the Chupwalas...

Words: 778 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Aesthetics of Representing Cultural Paradigms in Rushdie

...In the contemporary century where the world is metamorphosed to a global village, the concept of national culture and national literature is certainly belied. The World literature, today, simultaneously represents an important multicultural perspective within individual national literatures as well as more global perspective taking in the phenomena of transculturalism and diaspora confluence. Centripetal and centrifugal forces can be discerned as both antagonistic and complementary forces in cultural development. Raymond Williams develops a theory of relation between culture at large and cultural products like literature. Culture is manifested in human artifacts and activities such as music, literature, life-style, food, painting, sculpture, theatre and film. It can be said that arts and the world of science with their moral systems come to form culture. These are constantly in a spatio-temporal flux that renders an inexhaustible range of meanings and a catalogue of the elements. In this process of evolution a particular aspect dominates or fades off at some space-time coordinate. The pattern of human activity and the symbolic structures give such activities significance and importance. Rushdie, like other postcolonial writers not only reflects upon the political aspects of history but also deconstructs the interrelationships between history and individual to delve into the moral and psychological tensions of the native homeland. His novels are the fine example where ethics of...

Words: 6746 - Pages: 27

Premium Essay

Allusions In Carlos Fuentes A Midsummer Night's Dream

...Shakespeare used the Venus allusion to show Hermia’s devotion to Lysander. Shakespeare used an allusion to Tartar’s Bow to show that Robin’s hasty and frivolous ways could obstruct other’s well being. As for Titania, Shakespeare used an allusion to Neptune to prove that Titania was a good friend, who was selfless and caring towards other, and that she ultimately deserved to continue having “sole custody” over the Indian Boy, as opposed to her husband. On closing thought, Salman Rushdie reveals that “A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones. Nothing comes from nothing” (Haroun and the Sea of...

Words: 1028 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

The Three Ghost Stories

...Three Ghost Stories Charles Dickens This eBook was designed and published by Planet PDF. For more free eBooks visit our Web site at http://www.planetpdf.com/. To hear about our latest releases subscribe to the Planet PDF Newsletter. Three Ghost Stories THE SIGNAL-MAN ‘Halloa! Below there!’ When he heard a voice thus calling to him, he was standing at the door of his box, with a flag in his hand, furled round its short pole. One would have thought, considering the nature of the ground, that he could not have doubted from what quarter the voice came; but instead of looking up to where I stood on the top of the steep cutting nearly over his head, he turned himself about, and looked down the Line. There was something remarkable in his manner of doing so, though I could not have said for my life what. But I know it was remarkable enough to attract my notice, even though his figure was foreshortened and shadowed, down in the deep trench, and mine was high above him, so steeped in the glow of an angry sunset, that I had shaded my eyes with my hand before I saw him at all. ‘Halloa! Below!’ From looking down the Line, he turned himself about again, and, raising his eyes, saw my figure high above him. ‘Is there any path by which I can come down and speak to you?’ 2 of 97 Three Ghost Stories He looked up at me without replying, and I looked down at him without pressing him too soon with a repetition of my idle question. Just then there came a vague vibration in the...

Words: 21786 - Pages: 88

Premium Essay

1234

...Issues of Concern in the Study of Children’s Literature Translation Elena Xeni Teaching Staff – Language Pedagogy Department of Education, University of Cyprus Summary The present paper focuses on issues of concern in the study of Children‟s Literature Translation (ChLT). Attempting an overview from the years when ChLT was much ignored in the academic and non-academic world to the years that attention is paid to ChLT as a scientific field in its own right, the present paper illustrates issues that have generated intense and ongoing discussions. Issues such as the missionary role of ChLT, the theoretical framework of ChLT, the translator‟s invisibility, low status, profile and royalties, translatability vs. untranslatability, ideology, censorship, manipulation, and ambivalence are visited in this paper. These issues have had a deep impact on key ChLT actors, processes, and products: the child-reader, the translator, the translated text, the translation process, the author, the publisher, etc. The present text is a modest attempt to join efforts with the international community of scholars, translators, authors, children readers, publishers and other parties with an interest in ChLT, so as for the field to be given its merit in Translation, Comparative, Literary and Interdisciplinary Studies and for the translator –who had for long been much invisible and undervalued –to gain the place s/he deserves in history and society. 1. Introductory note It is widely accepted that Children‟s...

Words: 10035 - Pages: 41

Free Essay

Novel

...Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children First published in 1981 Excerpts from the Koran come from the Penguin Classics edition, translated by N. J. Dawood, copyright (c) 1956, 1959,1966,1968,1974. for Zafar Rushdie who, contrary to all expectations, was born in the afternoon Contents Book One The perforated sheet Mercurochrome Hit-the-spittoon Under the carpet A public announcement Many-headed monsters Methwold Tick, tock Book Two The fisherman's pointing finger Snakes and ladders Accident in a washing-chest All-India radio Love in Bombay My tenth birthday At the Pioneer Cafe Alpha and Omega The Kolynos Kid Commander Sabarmati's baton Revelations Movements performed by pepperpots Drainage and the desert Jamila Singer How Saleem achieved purity Book Three The buddha In the Sundarbans Sam and the Tiger The shadow of the Mosque A wedding Midnight Abracadabra Book One The perforated sheet I was born in the city of Bombay ... once upon a time. No, that won't do, there's no getting away from the date: I was born in Doctor Narlikar's Nursing Home on August 15th, 1947. And the time? The time matters, too. Well then: at night. No, it's important to be more ... On the stroke of midnight, as a matter of fact. Clock-hands joined palms in respectful greeting as I came. Oh, spell it out, spell it out: at the precise instant of India's arrival at independence, I tumbled forth into the world. There were gasps. And, outside the...

Words: 217909 - Pages: 872

Free Essay

Essay

...eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Essays Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson Editor: Edna H. L. Turpin Release Date: September 4, 2005 [EBook #16643] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAYS *** 1 Essays Produced by Curtis A. Weyant , Sankar Viswanathan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net ESSAYS BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON Merrill's English Texts SELECTED AND EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY EDNA H.L. TURPIN, AUTHOR OF "STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY," "CLASSIC FABLES," "FAMOUS PAINTERS," ETC. NEW YORK CHARLES E. MERRILL CO. 1907 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LIFE OF EMERSON CRITICAL OPINIONS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR COMPENSATION SELF RELIANCE FRIENDSHIP HEROISM MANNERS GIFTS NATURE SHAKESPEARE; OR, THE POET PRUDENCE CIRCLES NOTES PUBLISHERS' NOTE Merrill's English Texts 2 Essays 3 This series of books will include in complete editions those masterpieces of English Literature that are best adapted for the use of schools and colleges. The editors of the several volumes will be chosen for their special qualifications in connection with the texts to be issued under their individual supervision, but familiarity...

Words: 97797 - Pages: 392

Free Essay

Sasaa

...第一册 Lesson 1 Excuse me! 对不起! Listen to the tape then answer this question. Whose handbag is it? 听录音,然后回答问题,这是谁的手袋? Excuse me! Yes? Is this your handbag? Pardon? Is this your handbag? Yes, it is. Thank you very much. New Word and expressions 生词和短语 excuse v. 原谅 me pron.我(宾格) yes adv. 是的 is v. be 动词现在时第三人称单数 this pron.这 your possessive adjective 你的,你们的 handbag n. (女用)手提包 pardon int. 原谅,请再说一遍 it pron.它 thank you 感谢你(们) very much 非常地 参考译文 对不起 什么事? 这是您的手提包吗? 对不起,请再说一遍。 这是您的手提包吗? 是的,是我的。 非常感谢! Lesson 3 Sorry, sir. 对不起,先生。 Listen to the tape then answer this question. 听录音,然后回答问题。这位男士有没有要回他的雨伞? My coat and my umbrella please. Here is my ticket. Thank you, sir. Number five. Here's your umbrella and your coat. This is not my umbrella. Sorry sir. Is this your umbrella? No, it isn't. Is this it? Yes, it is. Thank you very much. New words and Expressions 生词和短语 umbrella n. 伞 please int. 请 here adv. 这里 my possessive adjective 我的 ticket n. 票 number n. 号码 five num. 五 sorry adj. 对不起的 sir n. 先生 cloakroom n. 衣帽存放处 参考译文 请把我的大衣和伞拿给我。 这是我(寄存东西)的牌子。 谢谢,先生。 是5号。 这是您的伞和大衣 这不是我的伞。 对不起,先生。 这把伞是您的吗? 不,不是! ...

Words: 36184 - Pages: 145