09/04/08 Salman Rushdie, "Haroun and the Sea of Stories"

I have never been quite as confused as I was after reading Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. One of the things that made the book interesting, however, was Rushdie’s use of intertextuality, namely the references to Alice in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. While the basic story of “Haroun” is similar to all three stories (a child finds himself in a strange land and interacts with surreal characters, much like “Wonderland” and “Oz”; the concept of “light” vs. “dark” found within “Star Wars”’ Force and Dark Side), it is the individual characters that I found to be the most interesting. My personal favorite, The Walrus, seems like Rushdie’s response to both Yoda and The Wizard of Oz. Haroun’s humorous response upon finding out the identity of the Walrus—“He’s the Walrus?!”—is similar to both Luke and Dorothy as the supposedly wise and mysterious master of each story turns out to be small, plain and free of impressive facial hair.