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Angelina Gallardo

Mr. Foster

English R

15 November 2018

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a fantasy novel written by Salman Rushdie in 1990. The

book is about a boy named Haroun, who goes on a magical journey to restore the poisoned

source of the sea of stories. During the adventure, he finds himself meeting many positive and

negative people, who have different opinions on the idea of story-telling. Although this novel is a

fantasy, it examines the idea between freedom of speech and censorship.

Censorship is a prohibition of anything that looks like a threat to security. In the novel,

the Chupwalas are a prime example of censorship. This represents it due to the lack of

communication that they had. In the novel, the Chupwalas are described as, “a disunited rabble.”

The battle between the Guppees and Chupwalas showed that the silent army lost and how they

fought within themselves rather than the opposing army. While the Chupwalas are unhappy and

silent, the Guppees are the opposite.

Freedom of speech is the right to express opinions on anything without censorship. In the

novel, the Gups are happy and are allowed to say anything they want. The Gups are even

allowed to say anything about their leaders without being criticized. They can do or say anything

they want without getting in trouble or breaking any rules. They never really had a lack of

communication like the Chupwalas. The Land of Gup is described as, “all excitement and
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activity.” Everyone in the Land of Gup was happy and had no problem with expressing what

they thought of something or someone. Now, the debate is between the Chupwalas and the

Guppees on which world makes more sense and seemed more responsible and fair.

The war between the Guppees and Chupwalas truly showed who was the best. The Land

of Gup definitely had more of a respectful and communicative society. Being able to win the war

was because they all actually spoke to each other and were able to figure out what to do. Unlike

the Chupwalas, who were always unhappy and never really said anything to one another. “..

Chupwalas did not stand shoulder to shoulder, but betray one another,” was a quote from the

novel describing the losing team. By remaining silent, Chupwalas lost. If they would have been

more like the Guppees, they could’ve actually put more effort into fighting instead of not really

understanding and not fighting for their side.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a novel that was written based on true events that

happened with Rushdie. This novel really focused on the attention of censorship and freedom of

speech. The Chupwalas represented censorship because they didn’t really talk to each other.

Freedom of Speech is shown by the Guppees because they all lived in a world where they were

able to speak about whatever they wanted and were happy people. That shows how two

completely different sides can show why it is important to debate on freedom of speech and

censorship.