Salman Rushdie was born in India in 1947. He was raised Muslim, but he does not consider himself a religious person. He went to school in England and his parents made him go to Pakistan. Rushdie never felt welcomed where he lived. In England he was thought of as different. When he went back to India he was mocked because of the English accent that he acquired and what they referred to as the behaviors of the "materialistic West."
In 1989, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini put out a fatwa on Rushdie. The $2.5 million bounty did not disappear when Khomeini died 2 months later. Rushdie went into hiding in London. The way in which Rushdie illustrated the profit ,Muhammad, offended and outraged many Muslins. It also caused the suffering of a Japanese translator ,Hitosni Igarashi, who was killed, and an Italian translator ,Ettore Capriolo, who was stabbed. The director of Norwegian publishers was shot, but he did not die of the wounds.
The feeling of never belonging anywhere is apparent in Salman Rushdie's books. In his book, The Satin Versus, "Rushdie aims to give the power of description to the migrant, a personage who is often described into a corner by those around him." It is ironic that this book caused Rushdie to move yet again.
Rushdie's distorted sense of self can be seen in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. It is especially apparent in his use of double characters, like Mudra,the shadow warrior, and Rushdie's parallel universes. In the universes of Gup and Chup, everything is opposite. Gup is talkative and lively, while Chup is silent and deathly. The leader of the Chupwalas is the ultimate threat to stories and to happiness. He is the only Chupwala who has actually dared to break away from his shadow which doubles the threat that he poses to Chupwalas freedom. Mudra, the Shadow Warrior,is the is the only Chupwala who is brave enough to attempt to stop what Khattam-Shud is trying to accomplish.
Over a year ago, the Iranian government withdrew their support of fatwa. When Rushdie was asked how he felt about this decision,Rushdie responded: "Normality is a very simple thing, and yet it is the thing that I have been denied.Spontaneity, to do the things at the time you feel like doing it, like taking a walk. I am very pleased just to go back to being a writer. It is all I ever wanted." It is not surprising that Rushdie craved the dull everyday experiences that most of us, especially in the United States take for granted.
Rushdie believes that artist should be able to create worlds which express trier feelings:"the act of the novel, the freedom of imagination,overarching issue of free speech, the right of a human being to walk down the street of their own country without fear." Rushdie's strong feelings of what should be in a novel can be see in Haroun and The Sea of Stories.The major themes throughout the book are the importance of the rights of the individual , standing up to those in power, and the ability to tell stories. The Chupwalas are too scared to stand up their leader , but Mudra has the courage and in the end with the help of Haroun and various other characters they are able to restore Rashid's ability to tell stories.