Haroun And The Sea Of Stories

Often times when we read a story we don't realize all the different approaches a writer may use to make his or her story more interesting or complex. These approaches are considered critical approaches and they allow us to dig deeper into a story and discover a whole new meaning. Author, Salman Rushdie, uses several critical approaches in his novel “Haroun and The Sea of Stories.” Upon reading this story we can find there are several of these approaches to consider. However, what really stands out throughout this story is Rushdie’s use of the cultural/differential approach. This approach is used to look closely at relationships or differences between groups. Rushdie’s use of cultural/differential focuses mainly on gender and the differences
The story begins with a young boy named Haroun living happily with his parents, Rashid and Soraya. However, it isn't long before Haroun’s world is quickly turned upside down and his happiness is stripped away, as he comes home one day to discover his mother had left with their neighbor leaving him and and his father alone. “Haroun’s mother, Soraya, had run off with Mr. Sengupta (21).” The moment that Soraya runs away with Mr. Sengupta is the first instance in the novel when we can recognize the cultural/differential approach as we see Soraya’s struggle for equality through her questionable actions against Rashid and Haroun. She is quickly labeled as an unfaithful wife and a bad mother. This moment is a major turning point in the story as it causes Haroun’s father, the famous Ocean of Notions and the great storyteller, to become depressed as he is no longer able to tell stories. We are quickly able see the effects of a women's betrayal and instead of asking ourselves why Soraya had
We notice the next example of cultural/differential approach through Mr. Sengupta’s wife, Miss Oneeta. Right away Miss Oneeta is shown as a larger women who has a hard time speaking properly. This leaves us readers thinking that she is very dumb and uneducated when this is not necessarily the case. When Mr. Sengupta leaves Miss Oneeta, her first reaction is to cry and become very upset, a stereotypical reaction of women. While Rashid becomes angry and depressed that his wife left him, it is Miss Oneeta who truly breaks down and cries. A women is often made out to be very emotional and sensitive, while a man is made out to be very tough. That seems to be true until we look a little deeper and see that Miss Oneeta later comes to terms with Mr. Sengupta leaving her and begins to tell people she is no longer to be addressed as Mrs. Sengupta. “No more Mrs. Sengupta for me! From today, call me Miss Oneeta only (23).” This shows Miss Oneeta is becoming independent and deciding she did not need Mr. Sengupta to be happy and it is Rashid who was most traumatized by the affair. The fact that the book focuses mainly on what Soraya did to Rashid and how he felt and not necessarily what Mr. Sengupta did to Miss Oneeta and how she felt, shows that it didn't always matter that there was two marriages ruined during these affairs. It didn't