Chapter:-3

Shame (1983)

Salman Rushdie has already established himself as one of the most powerful writers
among all the modern writers. Besides being the most powerful writer, Salman Rushdie is
also one of the most controversial writers of recent times. He is remarkably associated with
many path-breaking attempts in literature. He has dazzled the literary world with his vivid
clarity of thought, lucid narration, humor, fantasy and eloquent expression of his whimsical
ideas with a tinge of magic realistic allegory.

Three years after the publication of , Rushdie again decides to

rely on magic realism in Shame. In this novel, he renders his social and political critique
of Pakistan. Apart from this, magic realism in Shame resists the charge of escapism, for it
reasserts the concept that magic is not considered as equal to withdrawal; rather it is
entangled with the lives of characters and converge towards the condemnation of
patriarchal and despotic domination. Thus, in this novel, political and social critique is
attained through the magic realist and post modern dimension.

3.1 About the novel, Shame:-

A brief, but an effective description of the novel, Shame is printed on the

back cover of the novel itself. It is phrased thus:

There can seldom have been so robust and baroque an incarnation

of the political novel as Shame. It can be read as a fable, polemic or
excoriation; as history or as fiction... This is the novel as myth and
as satire. (Sunday Telegraph)

After the grand success of , Rushdie wrote his third novel,

Shame in 1983. It is about Pakistan, the other divided part of British India since the
partition. It is a mixture of history, politics, satire and allegory - all combined in one.

71
 In fact, it runs like a sequel to in the matter of various aspects
like comic, satire, politics, myth and history. In many ways it is like ,
with the same basic concerns of the author; both are political novels, both deal with the
sub- economic problems in the same
high spiritedness of its linguistics and narrative craft. Both are magic realist novels.
The novel, Shame has been divided in to five parts. Each part contains various
numbers of chapters. In short, Rushdie has divided the theme of the novel in five parts that
is further subdivided in to thirteen chapters. This novel has won the French Prix du Meilleur
Livre Etranger (Best Foreign Book Prize). Apart from this, it was short listed for the 1983
Booker Prize and expected to win, but it did not. It is usually described as a satire and
t a well-known fact that this
book was banned in Pakistan for its religious issues.
Rushdie (as narrator) states that his inspiration for Shame stems from his reading

after learning about her affair with a white boy (117-

Shame
words;

dishonor upon her family that only her blood can wash away the

Published after the tremendous successes of , Shame

comparatively seems to be less valued and under-analyzed. It is also quite clear that Shame
is a much shorter book in which Rushdie has restricted his political range. It also covers

very beginning of the novel, but in comparison to its predecessor, its range seems to be
restricted. Yet, this novel has much to offer to contemporary audience. Critics have
different opinions about the novel, Shame. To Makarand Paranjape,
Shame offers a profound insight into Pakistani society .

Novy Kapadia regards the novel as,

free flight-

72
Cynthia Abrioux describes Shame as,

an urgent, courageous and committed act of protest against the

democratic deficit in Pakistan of the 1970s and 1980s. (48)

In this brilliant novel, Salman Rushdie has cleverly combined history, art, language,
politics, and religion. Set in a country "Pakistan, or not quite Pakistan," the story centers
around the families of two men one, a celebrated warrior and the other, a debauched
playboy engaged in a prolonged duel that is played out in the political landscape of their
country.

importance and meaning of the word comprehensively. He defines the word-as it appears
in Urdu language;
Sharam
inadequate translation. Three letters, shen re mem (written naturally,
from right to left); plus zabar accents indicating the short vowel
sounds. A short word, but one containing encyclopedias of
sharam
Shame: 38-
39)
Later in the text, Rushdie clarifies that there exists a polarity o
Shame: 117)

3.2 Plot Summary of the novel, Shame:-

In this novel, Rushdie presents the political uproar in Pakistan, basing his characters
on the real leading politicians of Pakistan; Raza Hyder (based on former President Zia-Ul-
Haq) and Iskander Harappa (based on former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto). This
novel is profusely loaded with the history of a newly born country of the sub-continent. It
also deals with the history of these two families whose destinies could not be unraveled till
the end. The story is stuffed with political upheavals, wedding scandals, debauchery,
obscenity and destruction. The canvass of narrative covers the events from the overthrow
of the President, Ayub Khan and the subsequent events like the martial law of the General
73
Yahya khan; the rise of Mr. Bhutto, the military action against the tribesmen of
Baluchistan; the coup and downfall to dictatorial regime of General Zia and his attempts
to Islamize the country are masterly woven in the structure of narrative.

The three Shakil sisters, from whom the story of the novel begins, are the

fictitious version of Quetta. Old Mr. Shakil confines his daughters- Chunni, Munnee and
Bunny- behind closed doors to prevent them from having any contact with the outside
world. As a result, the three sisters develop severe hatred for their father. They are forced
to live a cornered life. In their loneliness, they keep on fantasizing about what a man might
look when undressed. Their rebellion against such confinement finds an expression in their
which the British officers
are invited and some local public. They seduce a British officer and one of the three sisters
becomes pregnant. These are all acts of defiance against their father, and society at large.
In their rebellion they break social and moral codes of conduct. Thus, they give voice to
the silence imposed upon them.

In order to conceal the shame of an unmarried sister, the other two pretend to be
pregnant, all the sisters displaying equal symptoms of pregnancy at the same time. In this
way, they give birth to a son. They give him the name Omar Khayam. The three sisters
nurture this boy in the strict isolation from the world, in their prison like mansion. On his
twelfth birthday, Omar asks his mothers to allow him to join school as his birthday gift. In
exchange for being allowed to attend the school, his three mothers order him never to feel
shame in his life. During his schooling, Omar comes to know that he is the illegitimate
child of a British officer, but he does not know his real mother till the end of his life.

After schooling, he gets scholarship in a medical college in Karachi. He leaves his

mothers and the city of his birth at the age of eighteen to pursue medical career. Two years
later, his three mothers inform him that he now has a brother named Babar. Then, the
readers do not see him for a long time except when he has become a doctor of international
fame and a friend of Iskander Harappa who has the image of a playboy.

74
 The narrator introduces the readers with two more families, the Hyders and the
Harappa families. These two families are connected not only by politics but also by blood.
Raza Hyder (representing the historical figure of Gen. Mohammed Zia Ul Haq) is a soldier
who marries Bilquis. They have two daughters namely Sufiya Zinobia, the elder and
Naveed, the younger one. Sufiya is presented as the incarnation of shame as her parents
were expecting a boy in her place. She contracts a brain fever and, after receiving treatment
by a local Hakim, she is cured of her brain fever, but her mental growth gets almost

On the other hand, the head of the Harappa family is Iskander, representing the
Pakistani leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Iskander gets married to Rani Humayun who is Raza

olution never to marry. Arjumand is a great admirer of her

by pursuing a political career. Here, Arjumand represents Benazir Bhutto.

Omar, the peripheral hero of the novel, befriends the rich playboy, Iskander. Both
of them excessively indulge in debauchery and many other shameless acts. For many years,

en them begins from the party of Marshal Aurungzeb where both

desires her so intensely that it makes the bruise on his forehead ache, but he loses her to
Iskander, rig
join politics. In order to cleanse his image, he gives up all his bad habits and also abandons
his friendship with Omar.

Concentrating on the high profile world of international affairs, Iskander writes a

ins such wide public support that he gets

direct entry in to the cabinet of the government. When the government starts losing

75
funds out of his bottomless wealth. He becomes the first chairman of this party. Then after,
his campaign for return to democracy becomes unstoppable. He extensively travels to the
villages and promises every peasant one acre of land and a new water-well. In fact, he has
been put in jail, but the government has to release him on account of great public
demonstration.

On the other hand, Raza Hyder has been observing the rise of Iskander with barely
suppressed envy. Under such uncertain political condition, Raza remains wondering which
way to jump;
reputation behind the unstable government in the hope of being favoured. At that time, he
receives a proposal to accept Haroun as the husband for his daughter, Naveed. Raza takes
it as his trump card as Haroun is the son of Mir Harappa and nephew of Iskander. So he
becomes ready to accept Haroun as his son-in-law. Thus, Raza gets an opportunity to
ed
with the rulling party namely, Public Party while his uncle, Iskander is the chairman of the
another party called Popular Front. But, unfortunately this marriage does not take place, as
Naveed on the eve of the wedding declares her intention to marry Talvar-ulhaq and not
Haroun. It gives all the family members a terrible shock. Raza becomes so furious with
anger that he thinks of killing her. But, after much weeping and persuasion from Bilquis,
Raza becomes ready to let Naveed marry Talvar. On the other side, the disappointed

whom Arjumand has loved.

government of the President A is toppled and Gen. Shaggy Dog replaces the President A.
In the following days, Iskander becomes the Prime Minister through the process of election.
Raza goes to Iskander to apologize for the wedding fiasco. Here, Iskander, taking the
political stance not only forgives Raza, but also promotes him to the rank of General and
places him in command of the army. He also favors Talvar by making him the police chief.

Along with the political narration, the novelist keeps on informing the readers about
the hero of the novel, Omar Khayam Shakil who is a peripheral man, a marginal man and

76
not a central figure in the novel. He and his wife, Sufiya Zinobia represent the people of
Pakistan on different levels. They enter in to the world of broken dreams, shattered
illusions, religious fanaticism and a shameful atmosphere. Sufiya stands for shame and
Omar for shamelessness. The shame that Sufiya feels is that of a young woman having the

Sufiya never grows up in intellect. After Sufiya is left mentally retarded by a fever, she
forever remains the child who absorbs the shame of all those around her. As the shame
builds up inside Sufiya, it becomes an inner beast that can take her over, transforming
Sufiya into the most powerful and horrible killer. The beast of shame grows stronger
-
ul-Haq, the bridegroom of her sister, Naveed.

Omar is employed for the treatment of Sufiya. During treatment, he desperately

falls in love with the patient. When Omar marries her, she is fully grown-up woman of
twenty one, but she has the mind of only a seven year old child. In fact, Omar is thirty one

Shahbanou threatens Omar to kill him if he tries to do anything improper with his wife.
Thus he is forbidden to have sexual relation with his mentally retarded wife. But, after a
few days, the ayah, Shahbanou offers herself to Omar assuming that he may not harm
Sufiya by losing his patience. Then after, she comes to him almost every night. Despite her
mental limitation, Sufiya knows that husbands are for giving women babies. When her
husband impregnates her ayah, Shahbanou, the beast inside Sufiya again takes over and the
beauty becomes the beast.

sharam to violence. Later she becomes a dangerous woman in veil wandering at night and
killing urchins after fulfilling her sexual desires. When Omar Khayyam comes to know
about this aspect of her character, he reports it to her father, Raza Hyder who wants to put
an end to her life. Here it is also a matter of shame that a father wants to kill his daughter.
But, her husband takes the initiative and resolves to keep her chained so that she may not
be a danger to others. On the other side, Iskander, the Prime Minister, is arrested on the

77
he is terribly tortured before his death sentence. The architect of this event is Raza Hyder,
the chief commander in army. He takes benefit of the situation and becomes the President
and dictator of the country. He rules over the country by establishing Islamic law. He is
haunted by the ghosts of Iskander and Dawood till the last day of his life.

After some days, the beast in Sufiya takes complete charge, breaks the iron chain

shocked to learn that her chained daughter has escaped while Omar feels proud of his wife,
Sufiya for acquiring her ultimate freedom. The beast in Sufiya creates havoc all over the
country by killing a number of innocent people and animals.

On the other side, Raza is overthrown by a military coup the same way as he did
with Iskander. After a few days of house arrest, Raza flees for life with his wife, Bilquis
and Omar disguised as women in burqas. Omar takes them to his childhood house,

second son, Babar, in their web. At first they become the victims of malaria and Bilquis
dies a pathetic death. The Shakil sisters compel Raza to enter their specially designed
dumb-waiter along with the dead body of Bilquis. Here, the three sisters push the buttons
and the eighteen-
Thus, the Shakil sisters take the revenge by killing the murderer of their son. And finally,

In this way, almost all the major characters of the novel are destined to die their
tragic death. It is shown by Rushdie that the worldly tyranny of Raza Hyder is defeated by
the otherworldly power of the Beast.

3.3 Manifestation of Magic Realism in the novel, Shame:-

In order to claim the novel, Shame as a work of magic realism, it becomes necessary
to examine analytically whether the major characteristics of the genre under consideration
are imbibed in the novel properly. There are many features related to the genre, magic
realism like fantasy, hybridity, historical and political references, expatriation, social
critique, uncertain ending, etc. Now, each of these characteristics will be taken up to study
and verify whether they are used suitably in the novel. Therefore, it would be more suitable
78
to consider first the most important and essential feature of magic realism, that is to say,
the combination of magical elements with the normal, unusual with the common i.e.
fantasy with fact. The whole novel is marked with such incidents.

3.3.1 Fact and Fantasy:-

Fantasy is an inseparable element of magic realism. In fact, it has always been an

important part of literature. Without fantasy, literature is unimaginable. Almost all the
novels of Rushdie are marked with fantasy, but particularly his third novel, Shame is also
vents in the novel start from realism, pass through
a gradual change and finish with complete fantasy that remains beyond the perception of

statement;

The country in this story is not Pakistan, or not quite. There are two
countries, real and fictional, occupying the same space, or almost
the same space. My story, my fictional country exists, like myself,
at a slight angle to reality. (S: 29)

One such fantastic event takes place, in the beginning of the novel, Shame, in the

line, the novel presents a usual fairy tale syndrome of three mothers and a child. In fact it
happens that of the three Shakil sisters, one becomes pregnant without being married. In
order to protect honor and conceal shame, the other two sisters pretend to be pregnant at
the same time. The feigning on part of two sisters is so much perfect that they display,
uniquely, the entire range of symptoms of pregnancy that the third is obliged to display;

They began to weigh the same, to feel exhausted at the same

moment, and to awake together, each morning, as if somebody had
rung a bell. They felt identical pains; in three wombs, a single baby
and its two ghostly mirror-
of them -
the forthcoming child. (S: 20)

79
 The three of them begin, simultaneously, to thicken at the waist and in the breast;
when one is sick, the other two begin to vomit in such perfect synchronized sympathy that
it becomes impossible to tell which stomach has heaved first. Their wombs, too, ballooned
er in to the labor at the same time
and a male child is born behind the doors. No doctor has been summoned to the house
during the entire term of pregnancy. The most fantastic description follows the child birth;

They were all wearing the flushed expression of dilated joy that is

breast, and none of the six was dry. (S: 21)

It is quite common matter for any woman to be a pregnant, but to display all the
symptoms of pregnancy without being pregnant, in case of other two sisters, is really
fantastic. It indicates the fusion of fact and fantasy, an important characteristic of magic
realism.

It is general practice of the doctors to hold the baby by the ankles at the time of
birth, but in the case of Omar Khayyam, such type of practice causes in him a sense of
inversion, a sense of a world turned upside down. And by this, he gets afflicted by the fear
that he is living at the edge of the world, so close that he might fall off at any moment. This
sense of inversion stretches throughout the novel. Everything in the world of Omar is
inverted. He has three mothers and no father, marries Sufiya as an old man and sleeps with
her servant (ayah), Shahbanou. It is again very fantastic to note that Omar cuts down his

in order to avoid dreams of falling off the edge of the world.

In fact, it is Sufiya Zinobia who provides a greater element of fantasy than any other
character in the novel. Even the writer shares the same opinion about Sufiya in the
following words;

Except for the character of the girl Sufiya Zinobia, Shame is

somewhat less fabulated than . (Int. 246)

80
 Sufiya Zinobia is associated with magic realism the moment she is born to
disappointed parents who were expecting a son. Her father, Raza Hyder, refuses what is
unquestionable and wants to argue that the newborn is a son and not a daughter, whereupon

because of her gender. Not only her father rejects her for being born a girl, her own mother
does the same. Her mother, Bilquis, also gives a shameful statement to Rani over telephone;

He wanted a her
birdbrain, that mouse! I must accept it: she is my shame. (S: 101)

deeds and blushes for the guilt that others should, but refuse to feel. Her blushing is
presented in a very fantastic way. In fact, blushing becomes a habit in the child and it is
carried further precisely in a magic realistic way. Her blushing is so intense that she burns
riamma when she kisses her. It is described in the
following words;

her lips had been mildly burned by a sudden rush of heat to Sufiya
ate twice-daily
applications of lip salve for a week. (S: 121)

she gave Sufiya Zinobia a bath the water had scalded her hands, having been brought close
to the boiling point

The role of fantasy in the character of Sufiya goes beyond these incidental unnatural
blushing and resultant heat; likewise, the grotesque is not limited to the comic effect only.
Sufiya, like a sponge, soaks up the invisible shame and shamelessness resulting from
military, political, ethnic, sexual and religious repression. She becomes the embodiment of
shame. The shame is then transformed in to a deadly magical power. Despite her frail body,
Sufiya develops supernatural strength and roams the country, hypnotizing her victims and
wrenching their heads with her bare hands. This magic realist transformation of Beauty in

81
to a Beast is really fantastic as well as horrible. The most surprising matter is that Sufiya
remains oblivious to the crimes she has committed.

In the beginning, Sufiya is presented as an innocent and mentally retarded girl to

whom nobody pays any attention till the first outburst of violence in which she slaughters

idiot. (S: 138)

In this episode, the turkeys belong to Pinkie Aurangzeb, the woman responsible for
the rivalry between Iskander and

(S: 134) and expresses her anger in the presence of both her daughters, whereupon the elder
daughter, Sufiya begins to blush. The next day marks the first violent outburst in the
twelve-
narrated in the following words;

Sufiya Zinobia had torn off their heads and then reached down in to
their bodies to draw their guts up through their necks with her tiny
and weaponless hands. (S: 138)

nscious self the

hidden path that links sharam
of Naveed when the beast in Sufiya emerges the second time. On hearing about the
collective shame of her family and the wedding guests who are appalled that Naveed has
refused her arranged match for a love marriage, the beast takes over Sufiya. The narrator
puts this supernatural event in the following words;

O dear, yes. I regret to have to inform you that the somnolent demon
of shame that had possessed Sufiya Zinobia on the day she slew the
turkeys emerged once more beneath the mirror-shiny shamiana of
disgrace. (S: 170)

82
him by the head and begins to twist so hard that he screams at the top of his voice because
his neck is on the point of snapping like a straw. In order to protect her husband, Naveed

passion which scorches her fingers. Then, Omar Khayyam, Shahbanou, Raza Hyder and
even Bilquis join to protect Talvar Ulhaq. The combined effort of the five desperate people

then she gets her teeth buried in his neck;

Talvar was squealing like a pig, and when they finally dragged
Sufiya Zinobia off him she had a morsel of his skin and flesh in her
teeth. Afterwards when he (Talvar) recovered, he was never able to
move his head to the left. (S: 171)

The possession of Sufiya by the beast prevails at all the major junctures of her life.
On the eve of her wedding with Omar, her mother Bilquis advices her about husband-wife
relationship:

You must think of yourself as the ocean, yes, and he, the man,
imagine him a sea creature, because that is what men are like, to live
they must drawn in you, in the tides of your secret flesh. (S: 199)

But, her ayah, Shahbanou paves the way for the further outburst of the beast in
Sufiya by denying Omar to have sexual relation with his wife, Sufiya. In fact, she wants to
protect Sufiya from any harm. Then after, with a view to protecting Sufiya, she offers
herself to Omar and sleeps with him almost every night and becomes pregnant. Sufiya at
twenty-eight has advanced to a mental age of approximately nine and a half and begins to
understand what has happened. She has also heard the night-time noises, his grunts and her
birdlike cries. She also wonders;

There is a thing women do at night with husbands. She does not do

it, Shahbanou does it for her. I hate fish. Her husband does not come
to her at night. (S: 215)

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been described in very fantastic words;

There is no ocean but there is a feeling of sinking. It makes her sick.

There is an ocean. She feels its tide. And, somewhere in its depths,
a Beast, stirring. (S: 215)

Despite her many attempts to divert her thoughts to fine things, Sufiya cannot
suppress her internal cravings. The narrator prepares the readers for another outburst of the
beast in the following words;

She is a tide rising towards flood, she feels something coming,

roaring, feels it take her, the thing, the flood or perhaps the thing in
the flood, the Beast bursting forth to wreak its havoc on the world,
and after that she knows nothing, will remember nothing, because
it, the thing, is free. (S: 219)

frenzy, she (the monster) rises from the bed and walks the street in the night. She gets four
youths in the slums and transfixes them by her appalling eyes and then satisfies her sexual
hunger with all the four boys. After fulfilling her desires, she kills them. The entire event
is described in the following words;

Shame walks the street of night. In the slums four youths are

is finally done to Sufiya. Four husbands come and go, four of them

others stand still and wait their turn. And heads hurled high, sinking
into the scattered clouds, nobody saw them fall. She rises, goes
home. And sleeps; the Beast subsides. (S 219)

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 In this passage, Sufiya is portrayed as a vampire, a temptress who seduces men in
order to kill them. It is nothing but brutality which is born out of excessive repression.
Suppression, especially of sexual desires may result in extreme cruelty as is seen in the
case of Sufiya. This episode justifies the fact that extreme repression would erupt like a
volcano in the form of the deadly beast. The author seems to be of the same opinion when
he states;

Repression is a seamless garment; a society which is authoritarian

in its social and sexual codes, which crushes it women beneath the
intolerable burdens of honour and propriety, breeds repression of
other kinds as well. (S: 173)

Omar and Raza come to know about this secret expedition of Sufiya, so they keep
her chained and unconscious with the medical doze. After some days, the beast in Sufiya
takes complete charge, breaks the iron chain and runs away. Raza is greatly shocked to
learn that her chained daughter has escaped while Omar feels proud of his wife, Sufiya
thinking that she is now free for the first time in her life. The beast in Sufiya kills a number
of innocent people and animals all over the country. In a very short time, Sufiya ceases to

She turns in to a myth of destruction.

Murders of animal and man, villages raided in the dark, dead

The description clarifying the aim for such killing creates horror in the
novel;

The killings continued: farmers, pie dogs, goats. The murders

murders without rhyme or
reason, done, it seemed, for the love of killing. (S: 260)

exactly in the same bed where his grandfather died. Her hands reach out to him and behead
him. At the same time, the shell of Sufiya Zinobiya is cast off as,

85
 the power of the Beast of shame cannot be held for long within any
one frame of flesh and blood, because it grows, it feeds and swells,
until the vessel bursts. (S: 286)

In this way, the character of Sufiya is more fantastic than any other character in the
novel. Jenny Sharpe has observed about the presentation of Sufiya Zinobia in the following
terms;

The fantastic element of her character demonstrates how monstrous

o look at, if only it were something that could be
seen. Through Sufiya Zinobia, Rushdie introduces the imaginative
-pride rather
than embarrassment and family honor. By creating a magical
character that plays with the gendering of izzat [honor] and sharam
[shame], he breaks down the taken-for-grantedness of female
modesty. (Sharp: 2)

incidents which present the elements of fantasy. For example; the multiple pregnancies of
rth to
children whose number keeps on increasing every year. It is presented in the following
words of the narrator;

later Good News became a mother again; this time she produced
cisely twelve months later Good News brought forth a

rose to twenty children in all, and by that time everyone had lost
count of how-many-boys-how-many-girls. Twenty seven children

86
 no fewer th -226)

It is common for any woman to give birth, but twenty-seven children and still some
more in the womb leads the readers in to the area of fantasy.

One more female character named Bilquis also represents some traits of fantasy.
The bomb-
neurotic. From that moment, she has developed a sense of horror for the after-noon heat
and Loo (hot wind). In fact, hot wind has awakened strange terror in Bilquis that she used
to lock all the doors and windows of the house. When the Loo begins, she shouts at the
servants to come and hold down the furniture in case the wind may blow it away. She also
screams at her daughters to cling tight to something heavy, something fixed, lest the fire
wind bear them off in to the sky.

angel before he dies. This incident is described as,

f a yellow light;
the little buds of new wings were visible on shoulders. It was a
transformation familiar to the denizens of the Impossible
Mountains. (S: 132)

It shows that metamorphosis is quite an ordinary event for the countrymen. It is

the best example of fusion of ordinary and extra-ordinary element.

Captain Talvar Ulhaq is blessed with clairvoyance, a magical trait on account of

which Talvar gets the hint of events that are to take place in near future. With the help of
divine where crimes were going to be committed before the

Apart from this, there is a man named Edurado Rodrigues who has the ability to
speak in capital letters. It seems to be comic fantasy, but it has nothing to do with the main

fantastical nature of the novel. The whole region of the mountains in the town of Q suffers

87
f

profusely made use of fantasy throughout the novel, but at the same time holds mirror to
the certain evils of the society and politics of the concerned period of the subcontinent.
This can easily be termed as fusion of fact and fantasy.

In fact, the novel Shame is about Pakistan and particularly about the ruling class of
the country. Here, Rushdie has fictionalized the real and justified his imaginative treatment
of history. His frequent reminders to the readers that he is writing only a sort of fairy-tale
are worth quoting;

But suppose this were a realistic novel! Just think what else I might

have done me no good to protest that I was writing universally, not

only about Pakistan. The book would have been banned, dumped in
the rubbish bin, burned. All that effort for nothing! Realism can
-70)

Then immediately an authorial statement follows,

Fortunately, however, I am only telling a sort of modern fairy-tale,

seriously. No drastic action need be taken, either. (S: 70)

Rushdie artfully reflects upon the real political situation in Pakistan by creating a
fictional country of his own where all the kinds of magic and miracles can easily take place.
He also tries to disguise his narrative in a fairy-tale by employing a story-telling mode. For

upon a
and by claiming a part of the story set in the fifteenth century, Rushdie has tried to cover
the facts with the clock of fantasy.

88
3.3.2 Historical References:-

Presentation of history is one of the important aspects of the genre, Magic Realism.
Rushdie has profusely used historical material in his novel, Shame.

Salman Rushdie has based his novel, Shame on the history of a newly born country
of the subcontinent. At the same time, it can be said that the novel is not only a record of
historical events, but also an artistic re-presentation of history. In comparison to
Children, Shame covers rather a shorter span of history, but it presents some of the crucial

fictionalized history, it would be better to have a glimpse of the real history of Pakistan.

Though the history of Pakistan is quite short, it has seen a number of events since
the formation of Pakistan till the publication of the novel, Shame. A few major incidents in
chronological order are a democratic government, a thirteen - year military period, during
which Ayub Khan was the President for seven years, another democratic period in the reign
of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the Prime Minister (1971) who was then overthrown by his
protégé, General Muhammad Zia Ul-Haq (1977) and began another phase of military
government that would last until 1988 a period of eleven years.

In fact, Bhutto had promoted Zia Ul-Haq to the rank of Chief Martial Law
Administrator in order to keep him under his total control. But after a few years, Zia in
allegiance with the opposition, turns against Bhutto (his maker) on the charges of being a
corrupt politician and not being a good Muslim and toppled down the government,

slamization
Campaign in the country.

This entire historical scenario is fictionalized in the novel, Shame in the figures of
Iskander Harappa and Raza Hyder; the characters representing Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Zia
Ul-Haq respectively. It is one of s greatest achievements to blend history and
fiction. The rivalry between Iskander and Raza is at the center of the novel while other
events revolve around this political conflict.

89
 In the present novel, Rushdie has covered history since the time of partition of the
subcontinent to the subsequent events which have destabilized the newly born country. The
fictionalization and deliberate change in the names of characters turn out to be the story of
Pakistan. It presents the history of the country in its initial phase. The parallels between the
story and historical events are made quite clear by the narrator who is an alter-ego of the
author. He states;

the country a name. And

at the big city, I shall call it Karachi. (S: 29)

69)

following statement;

As for me: I, too, like all migrants, am a fantasist. I build imaginary

countries and try to impose them on the ones that exist. I, too, face
the problem of history: what to retain, what to dump, how to hold
on to what memory insists on relinquishing, how to deal with
change. (S: 87-88)

partition of the sub-continent. Generally, he seems to be suggesting what should have

happened rather than what has happened. He presents eminent historical persons and places
with fictitious names. The canvas of the narrative covers the events from the overthrow of
the President Ayub Khan and the subsequent events like Martial Law of General Yahya
Khan; the rise of Mr. Bhutto, the military action against the tribesmen of Baluchistan; the
coup and downfall to the dictatorial regime of General Zia and his attempt to Islamize the
country are woven in the texture of the narrative. All these events have been fictionalized
in the novel, Shame.

90
 The author has efficiently portrayed the fictional counterparts for historical events
and personages in Shame. For example; Sheikh Bismillah a
Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and his Awami League as their counterparts in history. Popular

of the major historical events like the Prime-Minister

-48 during Indo-Pak war, harsh military
action at the frontier in the seventies, dictatorial rule of Hyder (Zia) and the excesses in the
name of Islam are presented in the novel. Maulana Dawood represents the religious zealots,
who were kin on establishing Islamic government in Pakistan.

Apart from this, there are some more historical references scattered over the pages

unconditional surrender, humiliation and defeat of the Pak army in its catastrophic military
campaign, etc. have been faithfully recorded in the fictional garb.

There are some events, presented in fictional form which can easily be identified.

him in the middle of the night, cut him down

found in the narration of the problems at the Eastern Wing of the country;

The real trouble, however, started over in the East Wing, that
festering swamp. Populated by whom? O, savages, breeding
endlessly, jungle bunnies good for nothing but growing jute and rice,
knifing each other, cultivating traitors in their paddies. (S: 179)

The narrator throws light on the exploitative policy of the West Wing, which
compelled the East Wing people to fight for their rights. The real image of Iskander is
revealed by his wife, Rani when she tells her daughter, Arjumand;

Your father, whom I always loved, was world champion of

shamelessness; he was international rogue and bastard number one.
ore he became a saint.
(S: 108)

91
 By presenting different versions of the same events, Rushdie rejects the singularity
of any given version of history. In-fact, history-telling can be manipulative, depending on
the interest of the teller. Then, the question
answered by Rushdie in the following words;

History has natural selection. Mutant Versions of the past struggle

for dominance; new species of fact arise, and old, saurian truths go

loves only those who dominate her: it is a relationship of mutual

enslavement. (S: 124)

Rushdie has imposed an imaginary story of a mythic land called Peccavistan upon
the actually existing Pakistan as it records only the history that is excluded from the official

Swiss Bank Account: or about the bandits on the trunk roads who are condemned for doing,
as private enterprise, what the government does as a public policy; or about genocide in

smuggling the boom in heroin exports, military dictators, venal civilians, corrupt civil
servants, bought judges, news-papers of whose stories the only thing that can confidently

In juxtaposing the real with the fantastic, Rushdie -

Shame could be any country that has been ruined
by dictatorship and corruption.

3.3.3 Socio-Political References:-

Magic Realism contains an implicit criticism of society and particularly that of

political atmosphere of the country. Generally, a magic realist text has a specific historical,
political and cultural setting.

92
 The novel, Shame holds a mirror to the contemporary society and exposes the
totalitarian powers of anarchy that put forth and establish their own voices, dogmas, rules
and regulations suppressing all other voices which are ultimately ruinous.

Rushdie makes use of satire effectively to expose the Pakistani ruling class. In the
presentation of Pakistani society, satire is also used in a very effective manner. Rushdie
exposes the falsehood and pretentions of those, whose actions appear to be virtuous and
innocent. The double mindedness and the hidden cruelties are revealed in a very powerful
manner, using satire as the weapon. Deterioration in values is seen everywhere, especially
in case of the government officials. Bribery is something that the bureaucrats expect and it
is accepted as a fact of life. The custom officer at the frontier receiving bribes is a part of
life. Nobody sees it any longer as a crime.

A custom officer depends, for a decent income, on traffic. Goods

pass through, he not unreasonably impounds them, their owners see

gets new clothes. Nobody minds this arrangement (S: 51).

Bribery, which is actually a shame, is accepted as a way of life where principles

have no value at all. The interest of the society and the land are sacrificed for the sake of
personal well- being and luxury. The gradual degradation of the society is presented.

The meaning of democracy is fulfilled, when just elections are held and popular
candidates are elected by people. Force and coercion should not have any role in this
process. But election in Pakistan is a farce. Force, partiality and unjust means influence the
result of an election as proved when Iskander Harappa came to power as the ruler. Great
voter manipulation took place. It is narrated by the author in the following words;

Large numbers of men and women were swept away by the ocean
of bewilderment, unable to locate ballot boxes or even ballots and
failed to cast their votes. Other stronger swimmers in those seas,
succeeded in expressing their preferences twelve or thirteen times
(S: 178).

93
 In certain places where the result may not be compatible with the expectation of the

stations large number of democrats assembled, many holding burning brands above their

Wild justice becomes the face-mark of Pakistan. The playboy, Iskander Harappa is
d any man ever sacrifice more for his
people? He gave up cock-fights, bear-fights, snake and mongoose duels, plus disco
dancing, where he had watched special compilations of the juiciest bits excised from

ill-treatment of the ambassadors is one more black spot not only on his
character but also on the political history of the country. Iskander makes their lives hell by
cutting off their facilities and luxuries and humiliating them gravely, as a result of which
old ambassadors left the country at the earliest and new ones never turned up. This aspect
is effectively revealed by Rushdie;

constantly be subjected to power cuts. Isky would open their

diplomatic bags and personally add outrageous remarks to the

incoming calls (S: 185).

This torture came from a man who appeared to be a saint in front of the people.
With all contempt and anger, Rushdie shows the unseen face of Harappa who was hailed
as the protector of the people. The element of satire is strong here. Through Harappa, the
double mindedness and cruelties of the reckless politicians are revealed.

Through his novel, Shame Rushdie severely criticizes the political conditions of
Pakistan. At the same time, he does not spare social life of the nation. The concept of

extends itself in the field

94
 Repression is a seamless garment, a society which is authoritarian
in its social and sexual codes, which crushes its women beneath the
intolerable burdens of honor and propriety, breeds repressions of
other kinds as well (S: 173)

It means that if one member of the family makes a mistake, shame will befall the entire
family. In such a pattern, woman is the worst sufferer. It is effectively expressed in the
words of Bariamma, the matriarch, to Bilquis when she cannot conceive a child;

you know that shame is collective? The shame of any of us sits on

us all and bends our back. (S: 84)

The novel mainly deals with two opposite elements shame and shamelessness and
how they affect the society and the individual. The narrator expresses his views about it as;

Between shame and shamelessness lies the axis upon which we turn;
meteorological conditions at both these poles are of the most
extreme, ferocious type. Shamelessness, shame: the roots of
violence. (S: 115-116)

These two contradictory concepts are seen in the case of three Shakil sisters
Chhunni

order to secure their honor and to maintain the family free of shame. When Mr. Shakil dies,
the three sisters arrange a grand party in which alcohol and food is served with music. The
sisters seduce a Britisher in that party and as a result of which one of the sisters becomes a
pregnant. This party is, in fact, a reaction of repressed feelings and emotions. It shows a
clash between shame and shamelessness, a point that is made throughout the novel.

ideas on the planned marriage between his daughter, Naveed and Haroun Harappa. Even
in the matter of marrying his child, Raza takes it as a perfect strategy to gain favour of

95
 uncle. Thus, the marriage would bring
Raza to a privileged position and many desired benefits from the rulers. Raza plays politics
even in match making of his own daughter without any sign of shame. He is not concerned,
s, or he pays no attention to the bad reputation of
Haroun, but he thinks only about his own political gain.

Then after Rushdie criticizes the way Raza makes use of religion (Islam) in order
to gain respect and acceptance of the general public as well as conservative political forces.
He also accuses Iskander for not being a true Muslim and with that charge he succeeds in
becoming the President. It becomes the main purpose of Raza to lauch Islamization process
in the country. As a part of it, he appears on television in the following way;

Kneeling on a prayer mat, holding his ears and reciting Quranic

verses; then he rose from his devotions to address the nation. (S:
223)

There is no doubt that such a seen can have enormous influence and religious appeal
on the public. Rushdie criticizes the misuse of religion mainly through two characters, Raza
and Maulana Dawood. The later is presented as the embodiment of religious fanaticism.
Raza, under the guidance of Maulana, implements the Islamization campaign. As a part of
it, he takes some severe actions which include; to ban alcohol, reduce TV programmes only
to those of theological lectures by the mullahs, and to arrest people who do not stop to pray

Then, the narrator informs that the beggars take advantage of this process of
Islamization by demanding the law that would oblige donation to be made at a minimum
of five rupees as the Koran favours giving of alms. This results in to imprisonment of one
hundred th
demand seems to be valid as it is presented to the government which intends to be religious.
if they
come from common men. Such contradictory attitudes indicate that there is surely a
political agenda behind the Islamization campaign.

96
codes, presided over by divines
was in charge, and just in case anybody doubted it He gave little demonstration of this
power: he made various anti-

By strengthening religiosity, and posing themselves as religious people, the rulers

gain support from the public. In fact, religion is interpreted in such a way that remains the
most suitable to the rulers. The narrator states in the novel;

So- in Pakistan,
from the people. It is imposed on them from above. Autocratic
regimes find it useful to espouse the rhetoric of faith, because people
respect that language, are reluctant to oppose it (S: 251).

-
to Islamize the country is antithetical to the more tolerant spirit of sub continental Islam.
He quotes;

It needs to be said repeatedly in the West that Islam is no more

Ch

In Shame, Rushdie attacks and satirizes such zealous fundamentalist Islam. He also
suggests that if honest and sincere Islamic sentiments were heard, Pakistanis would be
better able to fight authoritarianism. Unfortunately, these voices are silenced before they
have a chance to change things for better. The writer exposes such type of tendency of the
rulers in the novel as;

There were a few voices saying, if this is the country we dedicated

to our God, what kind of God is it that permits - but these voices
were silenced before they finished their questions, kicked on the
shins under tables, for their own sakes, because there are things that

be permitted to be true. (S: 82)

97
one, that it in no way reflects the Quranic insistence that God is merciful. The author
punishes the fundamentalism of Dawood and Raza by ridiculing and terrifying them with
hallucinations and horrors the elements which are derived from the very religion they
promote.

Rushdie presents Maulana Dawood as making a fool of himself by prostrating

-shops as if they were the holy pla

-206)

tracks him to Nishapur where Shakil sisters cut him in to pieces in their elevator of many
blades.

3.3.4 Narrative Technique:-

The narrative technique used by Rushdie in Shame differs from the conventional
mode which requires an exposition, development of plot, crisis, downfall and the final
climax. But contrary to this, Shame is a mixture of events often coerced and twisted out of
shape. This type of narrative is
narrative combines many strategies like fantasy, realism, play upon the reader, parody,
satire, the linguistic experiments in the use of language and so on.

narrator. It presents the true state of the

author which proves the fact that the narrator is the alter-ego of the author himself. His
narration in Shame flows in a zigzag pattern quite similar to that of in .
The events are not presented in chronological order; instead they are presented in fragments
and in a disorderly manner. In the midst of the present, the readers are taken to the past and
the future. Even in such type of narrative, the author has complete command over them and
holds them together.

98
 From the story of Omar Khayyam, the narrator begins to tell about Babar Shakil.

long enough now, and must get my narrative out of the sun, before it is afflicted by the
mirages or heat-

Another example of his fragmented narrative can be found in his narration of Omar

the story of Babar Shakil. After mentioning the birth of Babar, the next news the readers
hear about him is his death. Here, Rushdie arouses the curiosity of readers by stating;

128)

The identity of the murderer is revealed only after presenting all the details about

Rushdie presents fragmented and subverted narrative. The entire narration is

episodic, loose, historical and circumlocutory. The narrator also uses the Indian oral
tradition of storytelling. For example,

There once lived three lovely and loving sisters (S: 11). Once upon

there was a retarded daughter. (S: 135) Once upon a time there were

Rushdie also uses authorial intrusion in order to intensify his presentation and
clarify his concepts. In fact, throughout the novel, he presents the true picture of Pakistan,
but at the same time, pretends that it is another country in the 14 th century as per the
Hegerian calendar.

Throughout the novel, the narrator keeps on reminding the reader through authorial
my fairy story, because

take anything I say too seriously. No drastic act

99
 At times, Rushdie acts like a magician and plays tricks upon the readers confusing
them with his shifting of the narration like;

A plague on this disobedient time! I command this death scene back

in to the wings at once: Shazam! (S: 23)

that we have named him (Omar) Peeping Tom, we should also say that he was never

Rushdie creates the impression of unreliability of his narration when he makes his
narrator confess;

The elections which brought Iskander Harrappa to power were not

(it must be said) as straight forward as I have made them sound. (S:
178)

ver
lived there for longer than six months at a stretch. I have learned Pakistan in slices. I think
what I am confessing is that, however I choose to write about over-there, I am forced to
myself to the

Such remarks confuse the reader and make the narrative doubtful, but in fact, it is

are scattered all over

as the protagonist throughout the first three chapters, the readers come to know at the

would be more accurate, if also more opaque; to say that Sufiya Zinobia is about this

Again Rushdie makes the readers wait to learn about Sufiya, the heroine of the
49). She is hardly
mentioned up to the Fourth Chapter of the text and she is finally born at the end of the fifth
chapter.

100
on his sleeping time, the narrator is about to reveal the end, but somehow controls his free
but no, ends must not be permitted to precede beginnings and

statements is found from the beginning of the novel. To provide reason for the

second cousin by marriage of the step uncle of somebody who might

or might not have shared a flat with someone who was running guns
to the guerrillas in Baluchistan. (S: 28)

Throughout the novel, Rushdie keeps on mixing up different tales in his narrative
by leaving some incomplete, he starts another tale. It makes Shame, a memory novel. While
presenting Bilquis talking over the telephone about her loneliness, the narrator, all of a

ause I can no
longer avoid the story of my poor heroine. (S: 100)

Another example of such digression is seen about Iskander. On page no. 107,
Iskander has just invied Raza to Mohenjo, and the narrator takes the reader to the scene
after the death sentence of Iskander;

After the death of Isky Harappa, Rani and Arjumand Harappa were

This drama reaches its height at the end of the ninth chapter when the narrator
states;

Time to turn back the clock, so that

(S: 196)

101
permission to take one more digression;

May I interpose a few words here on the subject of the Islamic

long. (S: 250)

narrator.

Rushdie is a master craftsman who knows how to combine fact with fantasy and
present linear stories disguised as nonlinear narration. He consciously uses ingredients of
fiction that interest readers everywhere: mythical and grotesque characters, vampires,
demons and witches, magic and miracles, murders and suicides, physical fights and
bloodshed and satirical treatment of historical personages familiar to readers.
Such type of fabulous narrative technique undoubtedly places the novel, Shame in
to the category of Magic Realism.

3.3.5 Theme of Alienation:-

Theme of alienation is one of the important characteristics of Magic Realism. There

are different features of alienation like isolation, meaninglessness, rootlessness, loss of
identity, powerlessness, formlessness, and self- estrangement. In fact, there are two kinds
of alienation social alienation and self-alienation. The novelist has used both the forms
in the novel, Shame.

Rushdie himself feels alienated like his characters and suffers from a sense of loss
and estrangement. It is highlighted in Shame as;

I, too, know something of this immigrant business. I am an

immigrant from one country (India) and a newcomer in two
(England, where I live, and Pakistan, to which my family moved
against my will). And I have a theory that the resentments we,
mohajirs engender have something to do with our conquest of the
force of gravity. We have performed the act of which all men

102
 anciently dream, the thing for which they envy the birds; that is to
say, we have flown. (S: 85)

Rushdie further intensifies the plight of ro

We have floated upwards from history, from memory, from time. I may be such a person.
-87)

In the novel, Shame the author presents the confusion and plight of migrancy at the
time of partition. He says;

I must tell you what things were like in those early days after the

independence, by being told to think of themselves, as well as the

country itself, as new. (S: 81)

half acquaintances and total strangers who poured in from the East, to settle in the Land of

Like Saleem in , Omar, the peripheral hero of Shame, also faces

the problem of identity. Though born of and brought up by three mothers, he is the
illegitimate son of an Englishman and one of the three Shakil sisters, but till the end of the

The plight of a migrant is again highlighted through the character of Bilquis. Her
life is blown-up by the suicide of her fathe
dupatta
of modesty around her and with the sense of congealed blood oozing from many cuts and
scratches represents the plight of an uprooted migrant. Madhusudan Rao shares the same
opinion;

103
 Bilquis belongs to the two pairs of contrasting men and women,
representing the political and domestic history in their simultaneous
reality. Her drift to an anonymous country renders her as an
immigrant. (115).

Rushdie has presented the pain from the loss of identity through the character of

The maiden n
The readers are constantly reminded of this loss in the novel, as the narrator mentions
-
sens

Then after, the theme of isolation is manifested by Rani Harappa in the novel. On

mistress, she is sent away to live alone at the Estate of her husband. She is ignored not only

nicely analyzed by R.S. Pathak in the following words;

ey, in varying degrees, a sense

of unhappy frustration resulting mainly from their social milieu. He
has ruthlessly presented their social tragedy and psychological
-
psychological ethos, Rushdie is concerned with an unimpassioned
portrayal of the problem of alienation and does not bother to suggest
any solution to it. (Pathak: 167)

104
3.3.6 Theme of Incest:-

One of the most important manifestations of Magic Realism is the appearance of

incest in the pl
obsession with theme of incest is observed in most of his works. In his present novel,
Shame, the protagonist Omar Khayyam does not sleep with his mentally retarded wife,
Sufiya, but hi
he makes her pregnant.

Omar, the peripheral hero of the novel, symbolizes shamelessness and without any
sense of guilt for his wrong doings. For example, he takes advantage of women by the

. (S: 128)

Then after, Rushdie presents theme of incest through Shakil sisters who are kept

they would indolently

After the death of their father, they arrange a grand party in which they seduce an
Englishman; satisfy their sexual hunger as a result of which one of the three sisters becomes
pregnant.

Sufiya Zinobia, the mentally retarded wife of Omar, is neglected by her husband.
When her basic physical needs are not satisfied by her husband, she walks out in to the
street and mesmerizes four young boys. She has sexual intercourse with all the four youths
and then kills them.

The arrangement made by Bariamma, the matriarch of the Hyder family, for the
sexual intercourse of husbands and wives is really confusing and shameful. She sleeps in a
very big hall with all the women from the family, including the married ones. Here,

-clear and giving

105
necess -family set-up is not only inefficient but
also shameful, as Rani remarks;

Who would know if her real husband had come to her? And who
could complain? I tell you, Billoo, these married men and ladies are
having a pretty good time in this joint family set-up. I swear, may

And, finally what Rani asserts is eye-

arrangement which is supposed to be made for decency etcetera is just the excuse for the

Apart from all these, Rushdie also presents incest that is against the law of nature.
Babar and his gang-members are shown to have sex with animals like goat and sheep
during their hide out in the Impossible Mountains. Such type of perversion becomes
obvious from the following narration;

There were guerrillas who preferred the passivity of sheep; for

possible to resist. Many
-legged

Such a marvelous treatment to the theme of incest places the novel in the category
of magic realism.

3.3.7 Use of Language:-

Heightened language and linguistic techniques are the hallmarks of the works of
Magic Realism. Rushdie has used both the things in this novel, Shame. It is nicely reflected
in the words of M.L.Raina;

106
 No Indian novelist has had the courage to handle English language
with the gaiety and joyousness as Rushdie (172).

In fact, Rushdie has established such a style of language that can only be labeled
as- Shame has earned a significant place in the
literary history. The readers can easily find nasty and crude expressions of cynical

). Then,

Such a scandalous and foul language that marks the blend of Hindi, Urdu and English is
used every now and then.

(S: 238) The entire novel is loaded with felicitous

A legitimized voyeur, a stranger whom

we permit to poke fingers and even hands into places where we
would not permit most people insert so much a finger-tip, who gazes
on what we take most trouble to hide; a sitter-at-bed sides, an
outsider admitted to our most intimate moments (birthdeathetc.),
anonymous, a minor character, yet also, paradoxically, central,

Many of the characters have strange descriptions. Bilquis has her nickname

107
 Rushdie has a very large and effective vocabulary to deal with the wide range of
his subject matter. The gentle touch of humor makes it more touching. Though he is not a
humorist, but he often uses slight humor even in describing serious matters. For example,
when a British reporter asks Raza about his barbaric punishment like cutting of hands and
flogging, Raza replies back:

people to stick out their hands, like this, and go fataakh!, with a

conditions, with proper medical supervision, use of anesthetic

plucked out of the wind. These are the holy words of God as
revealed in sacred texts. Now, if they are holy words of God, they
cannot also be barbaric. It is not possible. They must be some other
thing. (S: 245)

Describing characters with the marvelous use of language is the bench mark of
Rushdie. His description of Bilquis remains outstanding. He describes her as;

be a girl as well, and whose man of men, her Razzoo or Raz-Matazz,

was himself obliged, in the end, to put on the humiliating black

Rushdie has established a wider ethnocentric base for the English language by
creating a magical and humorous Indian blend of English. It takes the form of
lish language using several devices such as the use of Hindi,
Urdu and Hindustani words, phrases, and expressions in Shame. Such words, phrases and
-
a-fut, Khansi ki Rani, Aansu-ki-wadi, hubshee, mohajir, takallouf, bazaar, ayah, tobah-

Then, bilingual echoic formations like -

-

108
M

and shows his mastery over the English language.

This type of heightened use of language is the benchmark of magic realism.

3.3.8 Feminist Critique:-

For the first time in his literary works, Rushdie takes up the issue of gender politics
so evidently and intensively in his third novel, Shame. It is acknowledged by Rushdie in
the novel itself;

I had thought, before I began, that what I had on my hands was an

almost excessively masculine tale, a saga of sexual rivalry,
ambition, power, patronage, betrayal, death, revenge. But, the
women seem to have taken over; they marched in from the
peripheries of the story to demand the inclusion of their own

Here, Rushdie has given voice to the silenced stories of the much oppressed class
of the Pakistani society i.e. women. The novel presents the misery, suffering and indignities
heaped upon the women and its adverse effect in a very suggestive way. The lives of
women are presented as a perpetual struggle between the natural instincts and desires of an
individual, and the restrictions imposed upon it by the rigid and orthodox society. This kind
of situation ultimately leads to mental breakdown and degradation.

In Shame, Rushdie has presented women characters that are forced to live cornered
lives in closed doors. The author has given expression to the plight of these women who
are unwilling and mute victims of repression. It is effectively expressed by Seema Bhaduri
as;

109
 Shame, the women are confined in prison like mansions in the
name of purdah, while their husbands indulge in libidinal orgies and

The women are confined to the narrow walls of domesticity and chained in the
shackles of honour and shame, while male characters like Iskander, Omar and even Raza
are shown
alone to uphold the honor of the men and family. The women characters in the novel like
three Shakil sisters, Sufiya, Bilquis, Rani and Arjumand are pushed to an inferior position
by the society.

These female characters bear the burden of shame and honor throughout their lives
.Their confinement behind the closed doors is not only physical, but also psychological as
well. Unable to express their feelings and emotions, they find out some kind of an outlet to
give vent to their suppressed emotions. Their silence is broken through their specific
actions.

Old Mr.Shakil keeps his three daughters imprisoned in his palace like mansion in
order to maintain family honor. The three sisters foster a hatred for their father and their
rebellion against such a confinement finds an expression after his death. Their gala party
and later the pregnancy of one of the sisters are the acts of defiance against their father,
and the society. Thus, they give voice to the silence imposed upon them.

The two major characters of the novel, Sufiya and Bilquis turn out to be neurotic
due to the repressive patriarchal society. Sufiya Zinobia, an unwanted child due to her
gender, is a victim of years of repression and neglect. She breaks free in an outburst of
violence. Her repression unleashes a demon (beast) from inside her that rapes, kills and
mutilates (beheads) her victims. Her terrible violence ends with the killing of her final
victim-her husband, Omar Shakil. Through the character of Sufiya, Rushdie shows that
when repression crosses all limits and is so intense, it is quite natural that the reaction it
will generate will also be equally intense.

110
 Another character is Bilquis whose course of life is devastated by the suicide of her

frightening shadows of her past, groping for love and security, but achieves only silence.

We again find callous treatment meted out to a woman in the character of Rani
Harappa. She is kept away by her husband, Iskander to live a life of isolation at his Mohenjo
Estate. She does not get love or respect from her husband. Her pain and suffering find
expression through her embroidery. She reveals the political exploits and cruelty of her
husband, Iskander through eighteen shawls embroidered by her. She entitles her collection

rebellion, she liberates her identity from the shadows of her husband by signing her

Arjumand lives under the great impression of her

and goes to a great extent to disguise her l

old shirts and the trousers, wears no cosmetics or perfumes and binds her breasts tightly in
linen bandages. Her rejection of her own gender is an act of repression imposed upon her
own character. It deforms her mentally, alienating her from normal life as well as from
herself.

Naveed Hyder feels that marriage brings freedom and power. She is of the opinion

stead, ek dum, fut-a-fut,

(S: 155)

Here, Naveed fails to realize that after marriage power shifts to husband from
father. Finally, her illusion is shattered completely and she commits suicide as she finds
herself unable to cope up with unending pregnancies.

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 Thus, Rushdie has presented a very dark aspect of Pakistani society with the
presentation of great sufferings and pain of women. Their lives are nothing but full of
unexpressed desires and emotion. Timothy Brennan opines;

Rushdie has woven the most Western of political challenges

feminism in to the fabric of Shame. (Brennan: 126)

3.3.9 Mythological Reference:-

Mythology is one of the chief characteristics of Magic Realism. It is mainly

concerned with religion which is a kind of world where magical events take place and they
the
novel, Shame, Rushdie talks about the country that is born on the base of religion itself.

There are many scattered mythological references in Shame. First of all, Rushdie
birth of Omar,

deprive the child of the Islamic ideals. The narrator state

the womb of Bilquis,

-born son.

damage

When Raza becomes the President of the country, he imposes the process of
Islamization all over the country under the guidance of Maulana Dawood. Here, Rushdie
suggests that in imposing religious system on Pakistanis, Raza assumes a God-like status.

country forms the part of mythology. On the other hand, Rushdie shows the organizers of

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the war in Kashmir, giving their soldiers illusory promises of an afterlife in a blissful other
world;

Those who fell in the battle were flown directly, first-class, to the
perfumed gardens of Paradise, to be waited on for all eternity by
four gorgeous Houris, untouched by man or djin.

their God. The irony of Sufiya Zinobia is that it is not love which governs her life; rather
it is denial of love that transforms her in to a Beast. It becomes a mythical issue when
fly, or

Sufiya whose name suggests union with the God is possessed by the satanic power.
Sufiya, in her blood-curdling murders, is projected as the Godess Kali of Hindu religion.
When Sufiya tears the heads of youths, no one knows where these heads have landed.

6). Here, it can be presumed that the heads might have been taken by Kali to
add some more skulls in to her garland of skulls as it goes with the image of Goddess

father restrains women and female sexuality

through his Islamic Laws, the more frightening becomes his
daughter, who ends as a monster wandering through Pakistan
beheading men and drawing out their entrails like a Muslim version
of the Hindu goddess Kali. (Peter: 102)

3.3.10 Hybridity:-

Hybridity is one of the most important elements of Magic Realism. The term,

113
manner that the characteristics of various element Shame is
the embodiment of hybridity, as every aspect of the novel is filled with this mixing of
various elements and characteristics. The novel employs the formal technique of magic
h and
historical events, and Rushdie simultaneously presents ordinary events along with fantastic
elements. The common reading of Shame
indigenous and realism as Western.

Duality of characters like Raza and Iskander, Sufiya and Omar and again Omar and
Babar reveal the hybrid nature of the novel. The two major rivals Raza and Iskander,
although belong to the same field (i.e. politics), they are completely different from each
other. Raza sets religious dictatorship while Iskander sets secular regime. One is a puritan
while the other is an epicure. One is shown as God, the other as devil. Rushdie takes this
conflict to the cosmic proportion by stating;

Virtue versus vice, ascetic versus bawd, God against the Devil:
tha

The central characters of the novel, Omar and Sufiya, are the best examples of
hybridity. They are husband and wife, but they are antithetical to each other in every
conceivable way. The one (Omar) is intelligent; the other (Sufiya) is an idiot. The one is
thoroughly depraved; the other is entirely pure; the one lacks all masculine spirit, the other,
all capacity for motherhood.

The two brothers, Omar and Babar, are completely opposite to each other though
born of the same mother. The reason for this difference is cited by their mother, Chunni
Shakil to Omar in the following words;

this world. But you, your maker was a devil out of hell. (S: 278)

The very title of

a word that denotes a hybrid of embarrassment,
discomfiture, decency, modesty and a sense of having an ordained place in the world.

114
 The opposite elements are found even in one person. For example, though Omar is
a highly proficient neuro-surgeon, he is a constant victim of neurotic fear of the world
up- side down. Apart from him, the heroine of the novel, Sufiya Zinobia can be considered
as the ultimate example of hybridity. She is the weakest and strongest of all women in the
novel; the purest and at the same time most criminal; the beauty turned beast.

Shame is the most political novel and at the same time, it is probably the
best example of the main feature of magic realism the mingling of reality and fiction
(magic). Rushdie artistically presents the real political situation in Pakistan by creating a
fictional country of his own where all the miracles and magic can definitely happen.

Shame
personifying an abstract concept to a human being. From all these analytical points of study
of Shame, it can easily be said that the novel consists of all the major components of the
genre - Magic Realism; therefore it can doubtlessly be categorized as a magic realist text.
Here, it would be worthwhile to quote Christopher Lehmann who fervently acknowledges
the techniques employed by Rushdie in Shame;

If Mr. Rushdie had followed the logic of realistic psychology in

Shame, he would have robbed his novel of its spectral magic, its
breakdown of narrative logic that allows time to rush suddenly
forward and reveal the end of things, or permits characters to be
reincarnated in each other. He would have robbed his novel of the
truth and precisely the truth of the parable of allegory of myth, but
the truth of a narrative that describes a world apart and is a system
accurate and logical only unto itself.
(http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=60790)

Shame serves as the best example of unparalleled narrative technique and his crafty
presentation of a linear story in the form of non-linear narrative. It is an excellent
combination of Fact and Fantasy, Mythical and Grotesque characters, vampires, demons

115
and witches, magic and miracles, murders and suicides, and satirical treatment of historical
personages. It has also been observed that the novel, Shame is imbibed with an implicit
criticism of contemporary Socio-Political atmosphere in the country. Apart from this, other
features like Rootlessness, Loss of Identity, Theme of Incest, Hybridity and Chutnification
of Language and History place the novel, Shame in the rack of Magic Realism.

116
 References

Abrioux, Cynthia. In The Name of The Shame.

Commonwealth. 1995.

Children
Salman Rushdie Critical Essays Vol.1 (ed.) Mohit K. Ray & Rama
Kundu. New-Delhi: Atlantic, 2006.
Brennan, Timothy. Salman Rushdie and the Third World: Myths of the Nation, London:
Macmillan, 1987.
Salman Rushdie Critical Essays
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(ed.) Mohit K. Ray & Rama Kundu. New-Delhi: Atlantic, 2006.
Cundy, Catherine. Salman Rushdie: Contemporary World Writers. Manchester & New
York:
Manchester University Press, 1996.
Gadelha, Larissa Maria Avelar Costa. "Shame on Them: When Culture and Politics Meet
in Salman Rushdie's Shame." 2012. https://www.duo.uio.no. Online.
<https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/34743/Finaleditionshameonthe
m.pdf?sequence=1>.

Shame Salman Rushdie

Critical
Essays Vol.1 (ed.) Mohit K. Ray & Rama Kundu. New-Delhi: Atlantic, 2006.
Hart, David W. "Making a Mockery of Mimicry: Salman Rushdie's Shame." 4 Nov 2008.
http://postcolonial.univ. Online. 2016. <http://postcolonial.univ-
paris13.fr/index.php/pct/article/viewFile/968/884>.

Hayman, Ronald. "Criticism of Shame." 2013. http://www.123helpme.com. Online.

<http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=60790>.

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Kakutani, Michiko. Critic's Notebook; Telling Truth Through Fantasy: Rushdie's Magic
Realism. 24 February 1989. Online. 2016.
<http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/04/18/specials/rushdie-realism.html>.

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The Indian Novel in English: A Study of the 1980s. ed. Vinay Kirpal.
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Allied Publishers, 1990.
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Novelists, ed. R. K. Dhavan, New Delhi: Classical Publishing Company, 1985.
Raina, M. L. History as Pantomime, New Quest, 1982.
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Rushdie, Salman. Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991, Vintage
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