Haroun and the Sea of Stories: Chapter 5-8

Observations

This section of reading was much more exciting and a good change of pace compared to the introductory chapters. The chapters jumps straight into the action where haroun and the gang travel to the Gup City and embark on an adventure to save the Sea of stories. Not only does this section focus on advancing the plot, but new characters are introduced along with new conflicts. Many of the conflicts within this book are based on real life problems such as war, relationships, and rights. Unlike the last couple of chapters, where many allusion were made to other stories, this section focuses on allusions made to real life situations. I was surprised of the many innuendoes and allusion to topics only adults would understand, especially when this book was aimed towards children.

HATSOS as Allusion

Like I mentioned earlier, many of the allusions made this section were to real life problems and concerns children wouldn’t normally understand. For example, the book addresses many political issues between the Gups and the Chups, as well as an imbalance of power in both nations. The monarch of the Gups is reflected through a king, prince, and various nobles, which could have reflected the UK, where Rushdie currently lives. Also, the dictatorship of the Chups can clearly be seen as the ruler, Khattam-Shud, oppresses the people.

Not only does this book address political issues, Rushdie also uses the character Blabbermouth to depict sexism. This is because Blabbermouth is a girl in disguise as a boy to keep her job and overall title in society. Not only does this allude to imbalances of respect in the real world, but relates to an even older story, Mulan, who was in a similar situation.

On page 86 the text states, "Because when they are hungry they swallow stories through every mouth, and in their innards miracles occur; a little bit of one story joins on to an idea from another, and hey presto, when they spew the stories out they are not old tales but new ones. Nothing comes from nothing, Thieflet; no story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old—it is the new combinations that make them new."

This passage really stood out to me because it related to a video we watched in class called, “Everything is a Remix”. In this video, the speaker explains how every story created stems from previous stories, whether they are fictional or real life experiences. In addition, this excerpt can be applied to real life, and how old stories are never truly forgotten or left behind, only told in different ways.

All Stories Morally Good Lies

In class, we have a wall full of a series of questions revolving around HATSOS and the question, “Are all stories morally good lies?”. One of the questions that stood out to me was, “Aren’t all lies stories?”. From the class reading of HATSOS and my own ideas, I can say that all lies are stories. In the video, “The Storytelling Animal”, the speaker explains how a person is constantly spinning tales and reciting stories. These stories range from explanations of their day, to their dreams, worries, and so much more, including lies. Lies are told in place of a truth, meaning that the lie was made up or created. Important to note though, is all stories are a creation of something that was an idea, but then brought to life.

On the other hand, lies aren’t really touched on in HATSOS. Even so, Haroun has been in many circumstances where a story has been made up or created, similar to a lie. Although, the story was just a story. This brings us to the question, “Are all stories morally good lies?” Haroun has never believed stories were lies, he only claimed they were pointless because the stories weren’t true. In a way, maybe Haroun is feeling lied to because of the wonderful stories Rashid tells, which greatly contrast his own turbulent and far from perfect life. Although, I can tell that was done on purpose because that’s something we all can relate to.

Discussion

This weeks discussion was focused on the allusions and connections to real life situations. The end of the reading left us off at a fighting scene where the divided nations of the Chups and Gups was discussed. It was only logical the discussion focused on war and battles in our history. There were many ways the book’s political issues related to political issues currently and in the past. Mich made an interesting observation where the war between the Gups and the Chups are an allusion to WWI and WWII. At first, this concept seemed far fetched, but Mitch explained the upcoming War between the Gups and Chups was not a second war, but really a continuation of the first one after a new ruler had taken over the nation with a heart of revenge. Not only was this point interesting, but made me realize how many other stories involve wars that have been caused by previous issues not being resolved.

Another connection to war was the current affairs between the United States and communist country North Korea. The problems within the Chup city are almost a direct reference to the issues surrounding North Korea. Both nations face problems surrounding a leader who blinds the people and leads them to be full of revenge and hatred. In addition, similar to the forever darkness of the Chup land, North Korea is almost always bathed in darkness because of strict set of rules put on by the government. Many of these ideas were not something I would have thought of, which opens my eyes to the many connections to problems of the past and potentially future.

Links

https://adonnblogs.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/haroun-and-the-sea-of-stories-ch-1-4/ - Another blogger in my class that discusses allusions and their original views on HATSOS.

https://openreadingblog.wordpress.com/ - A blogger with an original voice discusses his first impressions on HATSOS.

http://vle.du.ac.in/mod/book/print.php?id=8273&chapterid=10058 - In this link, the author addresses numerous concepts in HATSOS that relate to Eastern and Western literature.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-salman-rushdie-wins-tribune-literary-prize-ae-1101-20151029-story.html - An interesting article on Rushdie’s accomplishments as a writer and his reflections of how he came to be, including what influenced him.

https://vimeo.com/139094998 - The video I mentioned earlier called, Everything is a remix.