Literary Usage in Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie Essay

Throughout Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie provides a fundamental, yet intricate variety of literary usage. These instances of literary usage provide and framework of support for the text which is to follow and to further accentuate the smaller and unnoticeable details of the story in to vital parts which are necessary for better comprehension and understanding of the meaning of the upcoming events. Symbolism is the most commonly used and most imperative literary device used by Rushdie. 'With the land of Chup, on the dark side of Kahani?This looks like the doing of the leader of the Chupwalas, the Cult master of Bezaban.'(H.S.S. Pg 75) This statement from the text has a very symbolic meaning behind it, both in terms of the society featured in the book and of reality during the time, the book was written. This statement is symbolic in the respect that it is a statement, which confirms the presence of the antagonist and the force that is being opposed. The story states that Haroun has traveled to a world in a seemingly other dimension, known as Kahani where there are a people known as the Guppees, from the land of Gup who are very talkative and have a great amount of passion toward speech and words. However, the Chupwalas in the land of Chup are a people who live completely in the darkness, and do not speak as often or at all. It is symbolized as a gloomy place where sadness dwells in the hearts of every citizen. The leader of the Chupwalas, is symbolized as the ?evil? character or antagonist in the book and he is the reason which the protagonist of the story, Haroun, and the Gup, who are symbolized as ?good?, must fight back the evil of the cult master. The presence of a dark side of Gup itself is symbolic by itse... ...ard the other through misinformation or no information at all. This is also same within a single society. A person may put up mental barriers against other people or information on others, and they may judge others even though they have never met or even seen them before. In the book thus far, this metaphorical concept of a wall, has been the single reason for war between the Chup and the Gup. If they had not created this both mental and physical barrier between each other, cultural diffusion would have solved the problem of understanding whom each of the society?s are and how they function. It would have also given both societies a chance to gain a better understanding of the customs of the other side of Kahani, therefore creating more tolerance toward each other. Rushdie, Salman. Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Delhi: Penguin, 1990. Second paperback edition 1996.