The Prophet's Hair

How important is this writer in the history of British literature? Why? What is the most interesting thing you learned about him or her?
Salman Rushdie did not hold back in contributing his unique style. His ability to bring magic and fantasy into his stories and mix it with a vitality that makes it feel real made him recognized by many. The story that got him the most recognition was his novel Midnight’s Children, which was about India’s Independence and partition in 1947. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2007 for his contribution to literature. The interesting thing about Rushdie was that once he was knighted there was much uproar in many Muslim communities. This is due to the fact that he was recognized as an influential and popular author after publishing a very controversial book Satanic Verses, which at moments described the prophet Muhammad in unfavorable ways. This insulted many and the book was banned in 11 countries. A fatwa, a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority, was ordered on Rushdie by the spiritual leader of Iran calling for his execution. Rushdie received many death threats and was almost assassinated at his hotel; however, the bomb went off prematurely and killed the bomber instead of Rushdie. For years, Rushdie was in hiding and had to be protected by the British Secret Service.

What is the importance of the setting of your story?

It helps sets a sense of place and lifestyle. It also establishes the countries customs and beliefs. This story was set in India but was fused with customs of English, Persian, and Arabic. The importance of this being set in India is that India has been influenced by so many different groups of people and Rushdie himself described his India as a hybrid.

What stands out most about this story? Its subject matter? Style? What are its most and least interesting aspects?

The thing that stands out most is its supernatural tone. The effects the relic had on its subjects were powerful and intense. Sheikh himself was a supernatural being (shape-shifter) who could turn into a bird. This could be the reason why he was such a good thief and was termed the Thief of Thieves. Its subject matter was very interesting. The two main components in the story was money and religion and how it will ultimately destroy its subjects. This can easily be said about the greed for money but with religion it’s a bit more complicated it just shows one way of how religion can be corrupting. When Hashim makes the abrupt switch from money to religion, the effect it had on him is like an alcoholic trying to detox and is having many withdrawal symptoms. The whole story was very interesting. The only thing I might critique about is that it was a little predictable of what was going to happen and how things were going to unfold. The only thing that was not predictable was the wife getting her eyesight back and her children cured of their ailments.

Three important sentences and why are they important?

1) -“They say there are American millionaires who purchase stolen art masterpieces and hide them away—they would know how I feel. I must, must have it!”

-"The flower-vendor moored his craft and by stooping over the mouth of the injured man was able to learn the poor fellow's address, which was mumbled through lips that could scarcely move; whereupon, hoping for a large tip, the hawker rowed Atta home"

-"He was set upon by two men whose faces he never saw, robbed of the substantial bank-roll which he had insanely brought on this solitary excursion, and beaten within an inch of his life."

-"So in the extraordinary commission he had accepted from the moneylender's daughter he saw his opportunity of amassing enough wealth at a stroke to leave the valley forever"

What all these quotes have in common is greed for more money. With all these cases the people had to be persuaded or motivated by money to do something. The greed for money also showed its destructive effects it had on its subjects: Hashim went crazy and then killed himself, Sheikh Sin was fatally shot in the stomach, and the flower-vendor didn’t care that Atta was on the brink of death all he cared was getting paid for the long trip home. A prime example is Sheikh Sin, he’s known as the Thief of Thieves. He is greed. Sheikh even has the word “sin,” engraved on his face.

2)-“From then on, he began to pray five times daily for the first time in his life.”

This quote of Hashim not only shows the power of “the prophet’s hair” but also the power of religion.

-“The moneylender looked swollen, distended. His eyes bulged even m ore then they always had, they were red-rimmed, and his knuckles were white. He seemed to be on the point of bursting! As though under the influence of the misappropriated relic, he had filled up with some spectral fluid which might at any moment ooze uncontrollably from his every bodily opening.”

For Hashim, the thing that drove him every day was money. He was driven by money so badly that he charged over a 70% interest rate to his customers. Also he was not considered by other people to be a religious man. Once in possession of the relic he started praying five times daily, which he had never done before in his life. Hashim ended up burning all his books except for the Qur’an, which he tried to follow devoutly, until a debtor arrived at his house to tell Hashim he hadn’t paid the latest installment of interest owed and reminded Hashim of the Qur’an’s strictures against usury, which Hashim had basically done his whole entire life until in possession of the relic. Hashim then goes on to say that the debtor was a thief of other people’s money while Hashim himself is a thief of other people’s money by charging a 70% interest rate.

3) “Hashim was fond of pointing out that while he was not a godly man he set great store by ‘living honorably in the world’.”

What’s interesting about this quote of living honorably in the world is that no one this book lived honorably in this story except for Sheikh’s wife.

-Hashim and his entire family was driven by the greed for money--"In their children, Atta and Huma, the moneylender and his wife had successfully sought to inculcate the virtues of thrift, plain dealing, and a healthy independence of spirit."

-Sheikh was also driven by money. His four sons were partially driven by money and partially driven by religion. The four sons were said to be devout men but it wasn’t until the end that it was revealed that when they learned their father had died they lost 75% earnings and were ruined.

-Sheikh’s wife in the end actually regained her eyesight and her four sons were cured of their ailments that they had endured as children. The children were rewarded but also punished because they were brought half-and-half.