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Haroun
and the Sea of Stories - Chapter 9
by Peter Szweczyk, Kristen Erickson, and Joe Tierney
::SUMMARY::
The
group is captured by Chupwalas in the web of night. They are being drawn
into the dark side of Kanani. A sudden rush of sadness comes over them
as they look upon the Stream of Stories and its polluted content. Haroun,
Butt, and the Water Genie are concerned with the absence of Mali.
They
are then surrounded by armed Chupwalas. The Chupwalas are on the backs
of what appear similar to large seahorses. They finally arrive at a large
ship. Haroun realizes that this ship belongs to Kattam-Shud. The Chupwalas
attack Butt and disconnect his brain. In the midst of the struggle, Iff
presents Haroun with an emergency light tool, "Bite-a-lite."
Then, they are led up the ship. As Haroun is being escorted up the dark
ship he realizes its enormous size. It was made of dark tanks, pipes,
and cranes that stretched over a mile long! Haroun also notices what is
the unfinished plug for the streams of story, but he does not realize
what it is yet. Haroun comes to the conclusion that the ship is made of
shadows.
The
Chupwalas come up to the adventurers once again and Haroun notices their
weakness, they will obey Kattam-Shud and do anything he says, whether
it makes sense or not. The first appearance of Kattam- Shud is made in
this chapter. He has a very calm, deep voice that makes everyone gets
the chills. He explains to Haroun how there is no point of the stories
because they are not true. Haroun denies this fact and wonders if Kattam
is really Mr. Sengupta, and if he is hiding his mother somewhere. The
group is then later thrown into a dark dungeon.
::ANALYSIS::
Haroun
is bewildered by the Dark Ship and he exclaims, "Ark, Ark."
(Rushdie 149) "Ark" symbolizes a loss of words, a writer's block.
Rushdie, the author experienced a period of fear and block and this tale
is his first work since. The characters are especially concerned with
the absence of Mali because he is the God-like figure in the tale. He
is the character that always finds a sensible solution to the problem.
© Smelli Notes 2001
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