Why Does Salman Rushdie's Use Of Censorship

He uses the characters in the story as examples of censorship to relate to what happened to him when a fatwa was placed on him by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran since he released a book called The Satanic Verses which went against Islam. One character he uses is Khattam-Shud and the other is Mr. Buttoo, they both show censorship in different ways. He even shows the difference between Land of Gup and the Land of Chup to show free speech and censorship and the conflicts between them. Censorship in Haroun and the Sea of stories is a representation of Rushdie’s life and how he was censored in his life.

Khattam-Shud is an allegory for censorship because he tries to control how much the people of Chup communicate or talk in general. The people of Chup referred to Khattam-Shud as “the Arch-Enemy of all Stories, even of Language itself.”(79) Khattam-Shud symbolizes Ayatollah since he forced the people of Chup to not speak just like Ayatollah placed a fatwa on Rushdie for writing The Satanic Verses. He didn’t even allow people to speak that often. Salman Rushdie writes, when describing the doors: “Two tall black doors bearing the Zipped Lips symbol of Khattam-Shud.”(153) The zipped lips are a symbol of censorship. The zipped lips are the symbol of Khattam-Shud.

Iff claims that “all Guppees love to talk”(85).Gup is a word that means “gossip” which is why its on the light side. In the Land of Gup its considered rude to not talk. “Chup is silent as a shadow”(125). Chup is a word that means “quiet” which is why its on the darker side. In the Land of Chup its considered abnormal to speak using words so people communicate using hand gestures called Abhinaya. The people in the Land of Gup have names that have something to do with speech and communication while in the land of Chup it’s the