Reading the novel Haroun and The Sea Of Stories a second time gave me the opportunity to open my eyes more to the true purpose. I could further understand the underlying, more mature themes that came to light once I digested the story after my second reading. At first, I read the novel like the children’s book it is labeled to be without giving much deeper meaning to it. It seemed like it really was meant for a younger audience. However, as I read it again, I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed as if Rushdie wrote this story with no target audience. There were complex ideas and themes all within the silly names and plot of that of a children’s book. But there were also bit and pieces of the plot that didn’t feel like they fit at all.
On page 23, Salman Rushdie wrote, “After his mother left home, Haroun found that he couldn’t keep his mind on anything for very long, or, to be precise, for more than 11 minutes at a time.” This bit of information confused me a bit because it turns out to not hold much importance towards the plot. The fact that this statement is so specific leads you to believe those 11 minutes will have some great significance or impact throughout the plot of the book. But in the rest of the book the whole concept of Haroun losing his focus after the certain amount of time seems to get lost. That is until the ending of the book when Haroun swallows the wish water and wishes that Kahani would rotate and after 11 minutes his wish comes true. This is really the only other time that it appears.
Throughout our two Socratic Seminar discussions, the discussion point I had continued to think about was the point brought up about the irony of the ending and how Rushdie could’ve purposely portrayed the misconception of “Hollywood” endings. The ending was very “fairytale” as someone described it because all conflict was resolved. Haroun’s mother returned and they became a happy family again. Because of Rushdie’s comments on how happy ending do not really exist, he could have been trying to attempt to show how abrupt and odd they are with how it seemed off when everything went back to normal so quickly. This can be seen in movies as well, where conflicts are resolved very unrealistically and seem forced, which I believe he is trying to show by ending the story this way.
Salman Rushdie used satire in a variety of instances throughout the story. For example, satire peeks through on pages 42 to 43 during the encounters with Snooty Buttoo. Buttoo was a local politician that booked Haroun’s father, Rashid, a gig to tell stories in order to endorse him as a political figure for the upcoming election. Haroun was frustrated at the comments Buttoo was making such as “There are plenty of fish in the sea” (Rushdie 43), when referring to Rashid’s wife leaving him. I believe Rushdie is trying to have Snooty Buttoo portray a modern day politician who cares about no one but himself, his wealth, and his campaign. Also, the author’s use of the word “butt” in many of the character’s names throughout the book may be viewed as more comic relief that is geared more towards the children supposed to be reading his book.
My first thoughts on Haroun and The Sea Of Stories were not very positive. I did not like it and I could not understand why we were reading a children’s book in a high school English class. However, the story posed a very interesting question that made me think: “What’s the use of stories that aren’t even true?” Now at the end of the book, I still stand by the answer I had as a beginning. Telling stories that aren’t true allow for an escape from reality. We can live vicariously through the characters and they can help fuel our imaginations towards creating even more stories. I could be wrong, but it’s just what I believe. I tried to think of a reason why humanity is so prone to what we referred to as “morally good lies”, and it really puzzled me. I’m still pondering this statement, but I think reading the novel helped push me in the right direction.
It was not until the second time we dove into Haroun and The Sea Of Stories did I begin to understand the bigger meaning. Rushdie’s book is not just about a journey that a boy and his father take, it is also about how we portray ourselves in our own stories. He also emphasizes how important stories are despite the fact that they are not real throughout the duration of the plot. I was pleasantly surprised because of my first impression that it was just going to be a silly children’s story.
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