Salman Rushdie by Jonathan Noakes

Author:Jonathan Noakes [Margaret Reynolds and Jonathan Noakes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2003-02-06T05:00:00+00:00

PART IV: IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

CHAPTER NINE

(pp. 177–96)

Focus on: key sayings

CRITICALLY EVALUATE . . .

— Note the number of phrases in this chapter which are set in small capitals or in italics: phrases like ‘A NEW MAN FOR A NEW CENTURY’ (p. 177), or ‘Rough justice . . . but justice all the same’ (p. 179). Write each of these phrases out as you come to them and assess their value and relation to the chapter and to the novel as a whole.

Focus on: ‘clairvoyance’ and irony

DECIDE . . .

— On p. 184 we are told a story about Talvar Ulhaq’s ‘clairvoyance’ and his ability to read what criminals are up to before they have even committed the crime. What do you make of this? Can he really see into the future? How does irony work in this passage?

Focus on: xenophobic jokes

ASK YOURSELF . . .

— Iskander plays jokes on the international ambassadors by working with their national stereotypes. How does this short episode relate to the themes of the novel as a whole? Also, ask yourself how many xenophobic jokes you can think of. What do they suggest about the attitudes of one country or group to another?

Focus on: the image of the embroidered shawl

RESEARCH . . .

— Rani’s many embroidered shawls tell the various stories of her husband’s crimes. Do some research and see what you can find out about places where weaving or embroidery was used to tell some important tale, and then compare those legendary or historical circumstances with those that surround Rani. Examples that you could look for include the story of Penelope or the story of Philomela in Greek legend, the story of the Norns in the Ring Cycle, the story of the Bayeux tapestry.

Focus on: narrative structure

LOOK BACK AND LOOK FORWARD . . .

— Read the passage on p. 187 about Iskander’s death and the return of his body to his wife. Then look forward to p. 238 where we are told the same story of the same episode again, but with more detail and from a different perspective. Consider how many times Rushdie (or his narrator) has used the same technique so far in the novel. How many times have you had to look back to find a – slightly different – account of an episode you have already heard about? What effect does this have on your attitude to the text and your reactions to events and characters?

CHAPTER TEN

(pp. 197–220)

Focus on: narrative structure

LOOK BACK . . .

— On pp. 198–9 Bilquìs attempts to explain to Sufiya Zinobia the facts of events on her forthcoming wedding day. Think back over the story of the novel so far and work out the connections that are there in Sufiya’s claim ‘I hate fish’ (p. 199), and her voice being that of the ‘disguised voice of the latent monster’ (p. 199).

— How many such narrative connections can you make between events and images described in this chapter and events and images that have gone before?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

(pp.

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