An Analysis of Salman Rushdie's Haroun and The Sea of Stories

The use of shadows in Salmin Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories is complex and intricate. The shadows themselves do not solely represent evil nor do they solely represent good. Although shadows range from many shades of gray, they do not exist in the extremes of light and darkness. Instead, they are combinations of light and dark. Therefore, the duality of shadows in the novel symbolizes the careful balance of good and evil.

When the text introduces the shadows into the story, it casts shadows into a negative point of view. "But, sirs, you all know the stories about Chup!-That is a place of shadows…; of secret conspiracies and poison rings-Why should I wait near that awful camp?"[1] says Rashid. Words such as 'secret', 'poison', and 'awful' are used in conjunction to describe Chup. The negative connotations in these words indicate that all things related to Chup are somehow insidious in nature. Therefore, by stating that Chup is a "place of shadows", 'shadows' becomes just as insidious as Chup.

As Haroun approaches the Twilight Strip, Butt notices that Haroun was suffering from "a Heart-Shadow (121)", the symptoms of which are manifested in Haroun's thoughts:

'With our absurd armada,' he despaired, 'how can we ever succeed in that world…. The closer they came…the more formidable the prospect of the Chupwala Army became. It was a suicidal mission….they would be defeated, and Batcheat will perish, and the ocean be would irreparably ruined, and all the stories would come to a final end. The sky was dim…it echoed his fatalistic mood. (121)

Once again, the shadow is being associated with mayhem and doom. The Heart-Shadow's influence is has turned Haroun into a pessimist. He describes the Guppee forces as "absurd" and their mission as "suicidal". Furthermore, Haroun predicts the future with the words, "defeated", "perish", "ruined", "final end", and "fatalistic." Used in close succession, these words stress what kind of an effect this shadow has over Haroun.

Although the "Heart-Shadow" causes Haroun to feel negatively about the mission, the syntax of the text places the description of the effects before revealing the cause, thereby creating a funnel like focus on the phrase. In addition, the capitalization of the "Heart-Shadow" further intensifies the focus on the shadow. Thus it is not the effects that are important, but the power of a shadow to cause these effects. This passage explores the darker element of shadows. However, there are small hints of a transition from this negative point of view.

As soon as Butt the Hoopoe identifies the effects of the "Heart-Shadow", he continues to explain, "It happens to most people the first time they see the Twilight Strip and the Darkness beyond. (121)" By putting "Darkness" in juxtaposition with "beyond", the sentence indicates that Haroun has yet to arrive at the "Darkness". Therefore, light still exists in this area. The "light" appears in "Twilight" and counters the "Darkness" so that it creates the atmosphere in which Haroun is in between both the dark and the light. This co-existence of light and dark is where the shadows exists.

The example of a shadow presented in a positive light is the "Shadow Warrior".

The text reads, "And as they fought each other, standing toe to toe, Haroun began to think of their combat as a dance of great beauty and grace, a dance danced in perfect silence because the music was playing inside the dancer's heads (124)." Here the shadow has a life of its own, but it is no longer regarded as manifestation of evil. This transition can even be seen in Haroun's thoughts in which gruesome "combat" turns into something as beautiful as a "dance". The paradox in which outward "silence" is caused by inward "music" tears away the rules in which the appearance of an object is always a correct representation of the true nature of the object. In this case, shadows are not as insidious as they seem to be.

Haroun explains this a little further, "…the dance of the Shadow Warrior showed him that silence had its own grace and beauty (just as speech could be graceless and ugly); and that Action could be as noble as Words; and that creatures of darkness could be as lovely as the children of the light (125)." There is an implicit subversion of all that is conventional. Haroun connects two opposite things, such as Action and Words and connect them with "could be", indicating that he generally does not associate these Action with being "noble". However, it is through the Shadow Warrior, that Haroun is able to make these connections. Just a few pages before, shadows were symbols of doom, now it is through a "Shadow" Warrior that the subversion becomes possible. This in itself subverts the idea that shadows represent all that is dark and bad.

Shadows represent the balance between light and dark, goodness and evil. From the Shadow's own words,

And of course there can be quarrels between the Shadow and the Substance or Self or Person; they can pull in opposite directions-how often have I witnessed that!-but just as often there is a true partnership, and mutual respect.-So Peace with the Chupwalas means Peace with their Shadows, too (132).

There are two levels of interpretation in which shadows represent the delicate combination of light and dark. Notice that the "Shadow" is a constant while its counterpart is either "Substance", "Self", or "Person". This indicates that shadow is the common element of every match and the other half is entirely interchangeable. Thus, this is evidence that the balance of light and darkness is an important aspect of who a person is. The second level involves the later sentence. Words such as "partnership" and "mutual" shows that the "Substance" or "Self" or "Person" must contribute equally to this venture of being in order to find the proper equilibrium.

'Khattam-Shud separates himself from his shadow, thereby disrupting the equilibrium of himself and his shadow.'

He has plunged so deeply into the Dark Art of sorcery that he has become Shadowy himself-changeable, dark and more like a Shadow than a Person. And as he has become more Shadowy, so his Shadow has come to be more like a Person…that is, he has separated himself from his Shadow! He goes about in the darkness, entirely Shadowless…. (133).

"Plunged" and "deeply" both have the connotation of being extreme and aggressive. That, along with the mention of "Dark", creates the idea that Khattam-Shud has immersed himself in the extreme Darkness where shadows cannot exist. It says, "he" has separated "himself", instead of he and his shadow have separated. This provides evidence that his decision to separate from his shadow was not mutual. Indeed, Khattam-Shud is now "Shadowless" and the embodiment of the extreme "darkness". The absence of a shadow in association with extreme darkness provides support to the idea that shadows not only represent the balance of light and darkness, but its presence also what sustains the balance.

Shadows exists from a combination of light and darkness. Without either light or darkness, shadows do not exist. In such a way, shadows represent both light and dark. The duality of shadows enables light and darkness to co-exist and thus achieve equilibrium. That is a partnership in itself. Incidentally, in a place void of shadows, are there the extremes of light and darkness because there are no shadows or are there no shadows because of the extremes of light and darkness?

[1]Rushdie, Salman. Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Granata Books: Penguin Books USA, Inc. New York, NY 1990. p. 102