Magic
Realism: “Haroun and the Sea of Stories”
Magic realism is a style of fictional literature in which magical
elements blend with the real world. These magical/fictional elements could be
used to explain realistic events. This form of writing can also be used to
cover up unsettling images by creating a fictional story to cover it up. Magic
realism may also help the reader understand these events in a deeper meaning,
instead of the event being written realistically and the reader misses the
meaning completely. A great example of magic realism in the story “Haroun
and the Sea of Stories”, is when Haroun goes on a fictional journey to try and
bring back his dads story telling ability.
Haroun often wonders where his father Rashid gets his stories since
“stories can’t simply come out of thin air.” His father will only say that all
his stories come from the great Story Sea. Later on Haroun’s mother runs off
with Mr. Sengupta. In a fit of anger, Rashid breaks every clock in the house,
stopping them at 11 o’clock sharp. The letter that Haroun’s mother leaves accuses
Rashid of having no room for facts in his mind. Haroun becomes angry with his
father and yells at him, “What’s the point of it? What’s the use of stories
that aren’t even true?” Haroun realizes immediately that he should not have
said that, and he blames himself when, soon afterwards, Rashid stands up in
front of an audience to tell a story and no words come out. With his son and
wife criticizing his story telling he is unable to think of any words to make
up a story. This isn’t good seeing as Rashid is often hired by politicians to
tell flattering stories about them so that they will win their elections. They
go to the Town of G, which “is not so special,” to tell the stories. When
Rashid goes out to perform, he again finds no words to tell his story. He can
only say, “Ark, ark, ark.” The politicos are angry and tell him that he must go
to the Valley of K and tell stories there or else they will cut out his tongue.
Haroun knows he must do something because he feels this is all his fault.
When they arrive to the valley of K they rest the night in Mr. Buttoo’s
houseboat. Haroun and Rashid both find it difficult to sleep in their
respective beds and so they decide to trade. Rashid is mostly worried that he
will get up on stage the next day and have nothing to say but “ark.” In the new
room, Haroun dozes off and then hears some commotion in his bathroom. He wakes
to see an astonishing figure, it has “an outsize onion for a head and outsize
aubergines for legs.” It holds a toolbox and mumbles. Haroun sneaks over to the
bathroom and listens to his mutterings. The figure is an old man wearing a
purple turban and baggy silk pajamas. He is muttering about how he is being
forced to uninstall something at the last minute because a subscription ran out
and how he does not have time for such things. Haroun accidentally steps on a
creaky board and the old man looks up, spins around several times, and
disappears. As he leaves, he drops a wrench on the floor. Haroun grabs the
wrench. It is a strange tool, “it had the general outline of a wrench, but it
was somehow more fluid than solid.” Slowly the old man rematerializes in front
of Haroun. The old man demands the wrench back, but Haroun refuses. The old man
tells Haroun that he is the Water Genie, Iff from the Ocean of the Streams of
Story. He is there to turn off the Story Water from the Great Story Sea because
“the gentleman no longer requires the service; has discontinued narrative
activities, thrown in the towel, packed it in.” Haroun is shocked at the
thought that his father has shut off the Story Stream and asks how the genie
knows his father is quitting. Iff tells him it the news was sent by a “P2C2E”
(Process Too Complicated To Explain) involving Thought Beams.
Haroun asks how the order can be reversed and Iff tells him to take the
issue up with the Grand Comptroller at P2C2E House, Gup City, Kahani. All
letters must be addressed to the Walrus. Iff explains that many brilliant
people, the Eggheads, are employed at Gup City but that only the Walrus is the
Grand Comptroller. Iff reveals the invisible story water tap to Haroun and
Haroun then makes the “most important decision of his life.” He asks Mr. Iff to
take him to Gup City to see the Comptroller. Iff initially refuses, but when
Haroun threatens to keep his wrench, he relents and tells Haroun they must
leave that night. They travel on a bird called a Hoopoe, the “bird that leads
all other birds through many dangerous places.” They travel at a speed so fast
“that the Earth below them and the sky above both dissolved into a blur.”
Looking at the Hoopoe, Haroun cannot help but think it looks much like Mr. Butt
from the mail coach. Hearing Haroun’s thoughts, the Hoopoe turns around and
telepathically speaks to him. Haroun gives the bird the name of “Butt.” Haroun
sees a moon in the distance and Butt tells Haroun that this is Kahani, the
Earth’s second Moon. Kahani is only visible because of “Speed” which “brings
light to reveal” but can also be used to conceal. Kahani travels so fast that
Earth’s instruments cannot detect it; the moon moves in various trajectories to
make sure that Story Water is evenly distributed throughout the planet. Butt
glides in for a landing on Kahani in the middle of a giant sea.
Haroun wonders why they land in the middle of an ocean, and the Water
Genie tells him it is to facilitate a bureaucratic shortcut. By drinking
Wishwater from the sea, Haroun’s desire for his father’s storytelling to return
can be accomplished without having to see the Walrus. They find the water and
Haroun takes a gulp. He feels a golden glow all around him and tries to wish
for his father’s storytelling to come back. When he does, however, he only sees
an image of his mother. He hears his father crying to help him, but he cannot
fully concentrate on the wish. After eleven minutes, his concentration is
broken and the golden glow goes away.Butt decides that Haroun needs a “cheering
up procedure.” The sea is full of a thousand different currents, the Streams of
Story. These are “all the stories that had ever been told and many that were
still in the process of being invented.” Iff dips into the Ocean and produces a
golden cup with a story inside. Haroun drinks the water and finds himself
looking through the eyes of a young hero in a land full of monsters and strange
things. There is a princess in a tower and Haroun watches as the hero dispenses
with the monsters and begins to climb the tower. Haroun is in “Princes Rescue
Story Number S/1001/ZHT/420/41(r)xi.” Halfway up the tower, the hero begins to
turn into a spider and when he reaches the top, the princes begins to hack away
at the horrible creature until the hero falls to the ground.Haroun wakes from
the story and tells his friends of the awful ending. Iff tells Haroun that the
Ocean has become polluted by the leader of the Land of Chup, “on the Dark Side
of Kahani.” The leader’s name is Khattaam-Shud.
This fictionally story helps the reader to understand what going through
Harouns mind. In reality instead of Haroun going on a long journey, the author
would have blatantly stated that Haroun wants; his dads story telling ability
to come back and he misses his mom. If the author had chosen to write about it
realistically, it wouldn’t have made the story interesting and it wouldn’t make
the reader see the deeper meaning. From the fictional story I got that Haroun
really cares for his parents, as he would go through any journey to bring back
his dads storytelling, and while on the journey he still has thoughts about his
mother. Not only does he think about his mother, but he thinks about her at the
most critical time. His thought interrupted him when he was about to wish his
father could tell stories again. In his journey he could have easily helped his
father. From this we can see that Haroun cares equally about both his parents.
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