Cadet Killian Buckley's Blog

The Novel 

The Satanic Verses starts with a ‘fall’.  The opening chapter discusses the ‘fall’ of two characters, Gibreel and Saladin.  Saladin, prior to the fall, is a Western educated, Indian born man who works in radio provided different kinds of ‘voices’.  While, Gibreel, prior to the fall was a famous Indian film star who is known for his role as the portrayal of Gods.  The fall occurs when the plane they are both on is hijacked by terrorists.  The two men fall several thousand feet to only land safely in 1980’s Great Britain. From the beginning, it is already clear that this novel is a fantastical novel, with magical elements.  In order to proceed further into the novel, the understanding that the impossible can occur and that the physical real world does not apply but be accepted at this point.

From this point forward, the novel alternates between the tale of Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha in 1980’s Britian and the story of the development of a religion in Mecca.  The story of the development of the religion are, in fact, the dream sequences of Gibreel.  Gibreel, throughout the novel, is in the process of losing his mind.  Therefore, the dream sequences offer the interpretation of a religion based off of a man losing his mind.

In the 1980’s British section, we find the characters lost and wandering throughout 1980’s Britain.  Gibreel develops a halo around his head and is the process of losing his mind.  While, on the other hand, Saladin, the former proper Englishman, is developing horns and hoofs.  Saladin becomes grotesque and is found to be a dangerous outsider by the culture that once accepted him.  Saladin discovers what it feels like to be an outsider in this Western culture and how dangerous this can be.

In the dream sequences, we find “Mahound” to be on the break through of a new religion.  The portrayed religion is extremely similar to the religion of Islam.  In these sections, we find a man “Mahound” struggling to find followers and dealing with the politics of the society that he is in, Mecca.  Mecca is portrayed as a economic center that derives money from the various idols and gods that host there.  Therefore, there is great fear of “Mohound” and his religion.

The two sections, while different, overlap in theme.  The novel discusses racism and the strife between the classes.  However, it mostly discusses the simultaneous fear that people have with the unknown and the strong attraction they have towards that same unknown.  Rushdie’s novel is typically only read in parts.  I urge you to read it in its entirely in order to gain the full picture of Rushdie’s message.

Article Reviews

http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/04/18/specials/rushdie-verses.html

In this article, in The New York Times, is a review of the Satanic Verses.  The article is from a Western viewpoint and praises Rushdie for his novel, The Satanic Verses. The article relates the novel to Martin Scorsese’s film ”The Last Temptation of Christ,” in the fact that both Rushdie’s novel and Scorsese’s novel were the subject of controversy, particularly of religious controversy.  This article argues that much of this controversy stems from groups or people that have never even read the novel or seen the film.  Therefore, this article urges people to read the entirety of the novel in order to understand the full plot of the novel and the intention of the writer, Salman Rushdie.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/14/looking-at-salman-rushdies-satanic-verses

This article offers a British viewpoint to the controversy and The Satanic Verses as a novel.  The article offers personal perspectives from readers, public personalities, friends of Salman Rushdie, religious leaders, and other novelists of that time.  The article mainly discusses the popular controversy regarding the ‘fatwa’ and Salman Rushdie.  However, like The New York Times article, this article urges people to read the entire book before offering judgement and implies that most people, particularly those against the novel, have only read particular excerpts.

http://search.ebscohost.com.vmiezproxy.vmi.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=34455125&site=ehost-live

This academic journal article discusses the role that ‘blasphemous speech” plays a role in The Satanic Verses and the controversy that surrounds it.  The article specifically discusses how there is a difference between the intentions of  a reader and how subject matter is judged.  The article suggests that what the people, readers, perceive the writers intention to be may be far more important than what the writers intentions actually are.  The article also discusses the role of blasphemous speech and how it is thought of in literature.  The article uses Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses as an example.