Haroun and the Sea of Stories Themes

Haroun and the Sea of Stories Themes

Power

Haroun and the Sea of Stories appears to be a tale of classic dualism: light versus dark, with light having the characteristics of goodness, creativity, and prorogation, and dark being poisonous, destructive, and vindictive. The story is more nuanced than that however.

First, those who live in perpetual darkness have no say in their fate. Generations before the novel begins, the genius Guppee scientists of "Processes Too Complicated To Explain" (P2C2E) House unilaterally decide to stop the moon Kahani from rotating on its axis, casting those in the opposite hemisphere, the Chupwalas, into perpetual darkness. The Chupwalas have adapted to pitch darkness, biologically and technologically, and would appear to have nothing negative about them until an evil ruler, Khattam-Shud, appears. He seizes power, rules by instilling fear, imposes a regimen of silence, and establishes the cult of Bezaban, a tongueless deity. Khattam-Shud cares only about power and control. What he...
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