Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1-211)

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie is a fantastical tale of a young boy who lives in "a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name." (15) Haroun's father is the greatest storyteller in the land, but grief steals this gift away from him after his wife leaves for another man. Haroun then travels to the Sea of Stories to petition on his father's behalf, that he may once again spin the fables that he was once famous for. The story is an allegory for problems with society in India today and, indeed, much of the world. Following is a quotation regarding that allegory:

'[...] -Because it's true what you have heard rumours of: the Land of Chup has fallen under the power of the "Mystery of Bezaban", a cult of Dumbness or Muteness, whose followers swear vows of lifelong silence to show their devotion. [...] In the old days the Cultmaster, Khattam-Shud, preached hatred only towards stories and fancies and dreams; but now he has become more severe, and opposes Speech for any reason at all. In Chup City the schools and law-courts and theatres are all closed now, unable to operate because of the Silence Laws. -And I heard it said that some wild devotees of the Mystery work themselves up into great frenzies and sew their lips together with stout twine; so they die slowly of hunger and thirst, sacrificing themselves for the love of Bezaban...' (101)

Although obviously an example of fiction, this passage is a representation of what may happen and has happened should ignorance, intolerance and fanaticism take hold of a people. "Schools", "law-courts", and "theatres" symbolize intellectualism and the liberal arts, whereas the "'Mystery of Bezaban'" stands for any force or action opposing them, such as censorship, book-burning, purges, etc. The author himself was subject to such forces when, after the publication of his earlier novel, The Satanic Verses, a fatwa was issued concerning Salman Rushdie's life.

Rushdie, Salman. Haroun and the Sea of Stories. London: Granta Books, 1990. Print.

The Haunted Looking Glass (75-272)

Gorey, Edward, ed. The Haunted Looking Glass. New York: The New York Review of Books, 1959. Print.

The Haunted Looking Glass: A Visitor from Down Under (35-74)

"A Visitor from Down Under" by L. P. Hartley is yet another ghost story in Edward Gorey's The Haunted Looking Glass. The story is set in London on a wet and foggy night. In the following passage, the conductor of a bus is attempting to hand a man his ticket.

The conductor felt reluctant, he did not know why, to oblige the passenger in this. The rigidity of the hand disconcerted him: it was stiff, he supposed, or perhaps paralyzed. And since he had been standing on top his own hands were none too warm. The ticket doubled up and grew limp under his repeated efforts to push it in. He bent lower, for he was a goodhearted fellow, and using both hands, one above and one below, he slid the ticket into its bony slot.

"Right you are, Kaiser Bill." (57)

The quotation describes the gaunt and scrawny hand of the passenger. The "stiffness" is reminiscent of rigor mortis, or the rigidity of the joints and muscles after death, obviously hinting at the man's identity. And of course, the joke at the end is a reference to Kaiser Wilhelm (William) II of Germany during WWI who was know to have an infirmity of the arm.

Hartley, L. P. "A Visitor from Down Under." The Haunted Looking Glass. Ed. Edward Gorey. New York: The New York Review of Books, 1959. 57. Print.