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Haroun
and the Sea of Stories - Chapter 12
by Nick Theodosakis and Pierce Han
::SUMMARY::
Haroun
is asked to see the Walrus and present himself to the house of the P2C2E.
A wild party was being thrown to celebrate their newfound peace between
the Chups and Gups. Haroun searches for his friends to be witnesses for
his meeting with the Walrus, but they all refuse to go with him. He enters
the house of the P2C2E and makes his way to the office of the Walrus.
When he enters he finds the Walrus, along with King Chattergy, Prince
Bolo, Princess Batcheat, the Speaker of the Chatterbox, President Mudra
of Chup, his aid Miss Blabbermouth, General Kitab, Iff, Mali, and Rashid
Khalifa as well. On the wall is a video monitor through which he sees
the plentimaw fishes, Goopy and Bagha, with Butt the Hoopoe. The Walrus
tells Haroun that as a reward for bringing peace to the moon, he may have
any wish that he wanted. Haroun asks for a happy ending for his sad hometown.
After this they return to the dull lake. They awaken the next morning
with nothing changed except their memories. He finds on his pillow an
envelope containing Butt the Hoopoe, once again miniaturized, and a letter
from all his friends telling him to visit whenever he likes. When Rashid
appears on stage to tell an appraising story for Snooty Buttoo, he instead
tells the story of his recent adventures on the moon. This made evident
the fact that Rashid's storytelling gift had returned. The audience really
enjoyed the story and began to associate Snooty Buttoo with Khattam-Shud.
The audience began to hate Snooty Buttoo, and he fled from the stage.
After this, Haroun and his father returned back to their sad city without
pay. It was still raining in the city, but something was very different;
everyone was happy. Throughout the whole city you could see people dancing
in the rain and enjoying themselves. A policeman approaches Haroun and
tells him that they remembered the city's name, Kahani. When they reach
their home, they find Miss Oneeta happy because she had finally forgotten
Mr. Sengupta. They then find that their long-lost wife and mother, Soraya,
had returned. They exchange greetings and Haroun goes to bed. When he
awakens, he remembers that today is his birthday, and thinks to himself
that everything will be alright.
::ANALYSIS::
This
chapter brings all the loose ends together and provides closure to the
book. The war is over and there is finally peace. Haroun ends up in the
Walrus's office, where he is asked what he desires. Haroun asks for a
happy ending for his sad city. At this point Haroun and the Walrus have
an important debate about happy endings. Haroun argues that happy endings
are rare and says that he wishes he could have one, but admits that it
isn't possible. The Walrus agrees that happy endings are rare, but that
is precisely the reason that P2C2E is able to create them. Haroun asks
for a happy ending for his sad city, the city where sadness is manufactured.
When he returns home, he finds all is right in the city and that it's
name means "story." We think that the author is trying to hint
that your endings and life are what you make them. Just like endings are
manufactured in the book, you can make your own life or endings sad or
happy, depending on how you live your life. Throughout the book, the lives
of Rashid and Haroun resemble the life of the author, Salman Rushdie.
Haroun and his friends win the war of censorship and thus making the happy
endings. This resembles the life of Salman Rushdie who was in a war against
censorship and is finally out of hiding just like Haroun and his family
come out of another world and return to the real world. If you beat censorship,
society will be better and happier as a whole. This is shown in the book
when, after the defeat of the Chups, Haroun returns home to find that
his sad city is finally happy.
© Smelli Notes 2001
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