The Controversies Surrounding Salman Rushdie
Ahmed Salman Rushdie was born on June 19, 1947 in Bombay, now Mumbai, India. It was the same year India gained its independence from British rule. Rushdie lived a life of privileged; his father was a successful businessman. At fourteen he was sent to England to attend Rugby School in Warwickshire (Idris 1). While in England, Rushdie embraced the English culture, and even developed an English accent. In 1964, while still in England, his family migrated to Karachi, Pakistan reacting to the rising religious and political hostilities between India and Pakistan affecting Muslims. After graduating with honors, Rushdie joined his family in Pakistan. He was confronted with a high degree of racism because he valued the English ways over Pakistan and was viewed as an Englishmen and not an Anglo-Indian because of his British education (Hume 5).
As a result, Rushdie return to England to attend Kings College of Cambridge. While studying he discovered his passion for Shakespeare and theater and intensely pursed an acting career while secretly harboring the desire to be a writer (Idris 3). After no success as an actor Rushdie strictly focus on his writing and publish his first novel Grimus in 1975, a science fiction story inspired by the twelfth century Sufi poem "The Conference of the Birds." Although, Grimus was largely ignored by critics it displays Rushdie's magic realism style of writing mixing mythology, spiritually, fantasy, and word play (Rubinson 4).
In 1981 Rushdie's second novel Midnight's Children reached critical acclaimed. The story is an allegory of Indian history told through the tale of the 1001 children born after India's Declaration of Independence, each whom posses...
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...tion to the controversies surrounding The Satanic Verses and the Ayatollah Khomeini fatwa. Although, Rushdie's future publications never reached the success or the controversies of The Satanic Verses he is still an important literary icon.
The writer of this paper finds Rushdie's writing style difficult to read at times due to her lack of knowledge of the era and/or prophecies exploited in his novels. While researching for this paper she found that many critics both criticized and praised his works at the same time. She believes Rushdie to be a masterful storyteller with a unique gift of intertwining realities and fantasies. Regardless, of all the controversies around his works the writer of this paper believes his works to be astonishing, and as a result have kindle her interest to learn more about the cultures and religions that Rushdie used for his novels.
The author uses chronological structure to give a timeline on how Shanta became interested in being an imam and his purpose for coming to America. Elliott started the timeline from Shanta’s current age and reverses it back to his early childhood. This gives readers a chance to see Shanta at different stages of his life. The first section of this feature story reveals Shanta at 37 years old. Whereas, in the next section “An Invitation to Islam” the author gives background information starting back from the age of 5 years old.
Wilkinson would stray from the other two authors and effectively complicate Rushdie’s argument in his article. In “Imagine There’s No Heaven”, Rushdie is explaining how many conflicts in history, those today and those in the past, have resulted from those of different cultures and religion disagree with one another. He urges, “The victors in that war must not be the closed-minded, marching into battle with, as ever, God on their side” (Rushdie 518). Rushdie’s word choice in this particular sentence helps effectively convey his message. He chooses to have the words “war” and “God” in the same sentence, and it’s ironic because when one thinks of God and religion, they typically think of peace and harmony, and a general heaven-like setting. However, when one thinks of war, they generally think of the exact opposite, with death and destroyed surroundings all around them in a hell-like setting. Rushdie does this to convey his feelings that religion is effectively destroying society and time after time turning men against one another and creating warzones. In addition, he chooses to add “closed-minded” to the same sentence, as he implies that all those who practice religion are close minded and are not open to other ideas, which can be harmful for society, just like war is, which is why Rushdie sincerely believes religion has no place alongside humankind. On the contrary, Wilkinson would disagree with this belief. After stating to his readers that the study he conducted
This story is comparable to other stories like “Alice in Wonderland” in that it is a fairy tale, since the novel is based around this place, Kahani, the earth’s second moon, where stories are made and kept alive. Rushdie's characters and dreamlike settings are deliriously inventive. It is similar to “Alice in Wonderland” where Alice is in her own fantasy land.
In 1958, when King was eleven years old, the family moved to Durham, Maine. This was where King discovered that he had something in common with his father. In the attic of his aunt and uncle’s garage he discovered an old trunk that contained a box of his father’s books, including some by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and some of his father’s attempts as writing short stories. King’s teachers reported that one of his greatest passions was writing stories of his own, which he started doing at age six (Hoppenstand 8; Stephen King). Stephen King’s life has influenced his works and served as an important source of inspiration, which is evident in his education and early writing experiences, his pseudonym Richard Bachman, and his near-fatal acc...
Critics have already begun a heated debate over the success of the book that has addressed both its strengths and weaknesses. The debate may rage for a few years but it will eventually fizzle out as the success of the novel sustains. The characters, plot, emotional appeal, and easily relatable situations are too strong for this book to crumble. The internal characteristics have provided a strong base to withstand the petty attacks on underdeveloped metaphors and transparent descriptions. The novel does not need confrontations with the Middle East to remain a staple in modern reading, it can hold its own based on its life lessons that anyone can use.
There are many stories that follow Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, and tells the tale of a Heroic character. These fables introduces us to heroes that begin their journey in an ordinary place, then receive a call to enter an unknown world full of bizarre powers and peculiar events. These heroes often display great traits, such as bravery or intelligence, that defines their character. One of these heroic's tales is Haroun and the Sea of Stories, telling the adventures of a young man named Haroun. This essay will prove that Haroun from Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie is a hero, because he possess heroic qualities. Haroun shows his heroic qualities by overcoming obstacles, helping his friends, and having good intentions.
...learly that Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Van Gogh and Bouyeri had indeed highly divergent understandings of several issues including the relation between Church and government and gender equality. Bouyeri, for instance, a Muslim immigrant unable to assimilate to a western, secular nation seemed to fail to identify either with his original or with his host culture. His fanaticism, therefore, was apparently more a remedy to his feeling of isolation than real identification. Ironically, the country that is supposed to host the most tolerant civilization of the entire world was home of a prime example of intolerance – Van Gogh’s murder. Clearly, the three characters’ clashing perceptions, added to the effects of globalization pointed out by Huntington (economic modernization and social change) made them – even if Bouyeri more visibly – fall into the “trap” of civilizations’ clash.
Rushdie, Salman. `Outside the Whale' Imaginary Homelands: Essays and criticisms 1981-1991 Penguin Books Ltd. (1992)
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children employs strategies which engage in an exploration of History, Nationalism and Hybridity. This essay will examine three passages from the novel which demonstrate these issues. Furthermore, it will explore why each passage is a good demonstration of these issues, how these issues apply to India in the novel, and how the novel critiques these concepts.
...nary man. His revolution existed and succeeded during his time. The prophet's revolution is still in progress today.
In his short story, “The Prophet’s Hair,” Salman Rushdie make use of magic realism, symbolization and situational irony to comment on class, religion, and the fragility of human life. The story is brimming with ironic outcomes that add to the lighthearted and slightly fantastic tone. Rushdie’s use of the genre magic realism capitalizes on the absurdity of each situation but makes the events relevant to readers’ lives. In addition, the irony in the story serves as a way to further deepen Rushdie’s commentary on class and religion. Finally, his use of symbolization focuses on the concept of glass, and just how easily it can be broken.
I have been somewhat critical of the author at times, but this is only because he opens the door for the reader to think. I would not be able to formulate opinions if he hadn’t questioned whether Muhammad was being a fair and effective leader. After all, he greatly changed the course of history as we know it. Cook’s objective way of looking at Muhammad’s life allows one to attain a clear view of just how deep of an impact he made.
The Prophet is a book of short essays by Kahlil Gibran on a variety of themes ranging from love and marriage to pain and death presented by a character named Almustafa. By using a variety of rhetorical devices such as metaphors, similes, and imagery, he enhances the ideas presented in each section and makes them easier for the reader to comprehend and put into practice. Although written in 1923, all of the themes are still very relevant in today’s world, perhaps even more so.
Hamid’s fiction deals with varied issues: from infidelity to drug trade in the subcontinent and, in the light of contemporary developments, about Islamic identity in a globalised world. His first novel, Moth Smoke (2000) won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award in 2000. His other novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Decibel Award and the South Bank Award for Literature. This book serves as a testament to his elegant style as he deftly captures the straining relationship between America and Pakistan.