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Haroun
and the Sea of Stories - Chapter 8
by Asya Gyurjan and Gailey Walters
::SUMMARY::
In
chapter 8 Bolo, Blabbermouth, and Haroun, etc. all meet the Shadow Warrior:
Mudra. Mudra can only speak with a language of gesture called Abhinaya.
He twitches his eyebrows, and rapidly moves his feet and hands to communicate
with Rashid who is the only one who can understand his language. The shadow
warrior had rebelled against Khattam Shud and escaped his leadership.
He reveals to the group that not all people follow Khattam Shud or worship
his Bezaban. He begins to explain to the group that all Chumpwallas have
a shadow as equal as themselves with the same amount of power (with one
advantage). The shadows have the power to change their shape or form.
Also, Khattam Shud has found the skill to separate himself from his shadow;
meaning there are two Khattam Shuds to defeat!!!
After
a while of discussion they begin to make a spy party. Surprisingly Haroun
volunteers to be the leader of the party, picking Iff the Water Genie,
the Plentimaw Fishes (Goppy & Bagha), Butt the Hoppe, and Mali the
Gardener. When they get to the place where the waters have been poisoned,
all are captured and Haroun has been taken prisoner (the Plentimaw Fishes
have been left behind because of the poisoned water). Mali the gardener
cleared the way for them to get to the Dark Ship.
::ANALYSIS::
In
this chapter Mudra has been shut up for so long that he has lost his power
to speak. He has the understanding of what he wants to say but cannot
express it in an understandable form. This is symbolic of the writer's
block Salman Rushdie experienced. He realizes that he is up against a
very powerful force to regain his power to write freely without the threat
of his life on the line. All of the people that want to kill Rushdie are
forcefully keeping his words inside so that he can not express them. Mudra
is in the same situation but with Khattum- Shud against him. He is poisoning
the water keeping his words inside so that he can not express them freely.
When Khattum-Shud realizes that he can separate himself from his shadow
it is symbolizing that someone can separate what Rushdie writes away from
himself. That shadow is the darker side to someone, symbolizing though
darker beliefs, that can be separated from the person. The shadow and
the person play different roles.
© Smelli Notes 2001
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