At its heart, Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a love letter to stories and a celebration of the craft of storytelling. It calls for a greater appreciation of ancient stories, stories in other languages, and stories that are just plain fun. It rebukes mediocre stories and storytelling with a political agenda. In the great Ocean of the Streams of Story, story streams twine and flow as colorful ribbons. The Source of Stories, located in the Old Zone, issues forth a continuous flow of stories like a bright current of light. The nature of stories is to weave in and out of one another, to combine in new ways, and to retain their connections to the source stories from which they came.
In the novel, Haroun begins his quest to get his father's stories back and make his father happy again. Later, he comes to love the stories for themselves and undertakes a dangerous mission to save the Ocean of the Streams of Story. Once he sees the Source of Stories, he is amazed by its beauty and realizes it has the power to heal the world.
Rashid, Haroun's father and a famous storyteller, stands in for the author in the novel (who also addresses the audience a few times in the novel, in storytelling fashion). Through him, Haroun learns about the craft of storytelling. He learns it is like juggling. A storyteller keeps all the story threads in the air until the end, when they are caught one by one. He learns it takes charisma and a strong voice. A storyteller mesmerizes with his skill and takes the audience on a joyful ride. Haroun also learns it takes courage. A great storyteller reveals truth even when it is not popular to do so.
To support and develop this theme, Rushdie connects his story to other stories, both ancient and modern, in ways large and small. He draws on ideas from diverse cultures and times, including The Thousand and One Nights, an ancient collection of Middle Eastern stories such as "Sinbad the Sailor," "Ali Baba," and "Aladdin" connected by a frame story; Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, which involve the journey of young Alice into the magical land of Wonderland. L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its film adaptation; and J.M. Barrie's play Peter Pan, in which Peter's shadow separates from his body and gains a personality of its own. These and other references and allusions help structure the story and add to its humor and style.
Language and Meaning
Closely tied to the theme of story and storytelling is the theme of language and meaning. The novel is a celebration of language and its power. Every word has meaning. Names of characters and locations all have meanings that reveal something important about characters or locations. Striking images and similes are used in the opening paragraphs: "Smoke poured out ... of the sadness factories and hung over the city like bad news" and "Old zone of ruined buildings that looked like broken hearts." Rushdie is an equal-opportunity writer—using elevated, poetic language alongside silly jokes and sentimental song lyrics.
When Haroun sees the volumes of The Ocean of the Streams of Story on the houseboat on Dull Lake, he finds they are in a language he does not understand, but his father shows an ability to understand ancient and obscure languages. Rashid is able to translate the Abhinaya language spoken by Mudra—"the most ancient Gesture Language of all." This proves to be essential to the quest's success. Language must convey meaning; otherwise, it is useless. Among other points, Rushdie seems to be making the case for maintaining ancient language and old writing.
Explanation:
Opposites
Opposites occur frequently in the novel. The Guppees enjoy arguing. General Kitab, in particular, enjoys arguing one side and then its opposite. Gup is a land of light, while Chup is always in darkness—even the white and dark parts of the eyes of the Chupwalas and the Guppees are reversed so they are able to see in their respective conditions. Gup is warm, while Chup is cold. The Guppees are noisy and constantly talking, while the Chupwalas remain silent. The Guppees love the Ocean and the Princess Batcheat, while the Chupwalas, led by Khattam-Shud, want to kill the princess and all stories.
Names
The novel contains a section titled "About the Names in this Book" in which the names of places and people in the book are shown to be derived from Hindustani words. Rushdie wanted his names to carry meaning, and he wanted readers to know these meanings because they develop and enhance the identities of the people and places they name. For example, "Batcheat" means "chit-chat." "Khattam-Shud" means "completely finished," which is fitting because his desire is to end, or finish, stories. "Gup" can mean "nonsense," which is what many of its citizens speak. "Kahani"—the name of the Moon with the Ocean of the Streams of Story—means "story.
