In The South By Salman Rushdie

Humans rarely wish to discuss the deaths of themselves or others. “In The South”, written by Salman Rushdie, focuses on said topics, using the irony of the tragedy of death to emphasize the feelings that come with old age. Senior and Junior are two almost completely alike old men in the story, that do not particularly get along, even though they are neighbors and share much in common. The short story elaborates on the thoughts of the lives of these two old men, following mostly the thoughts of Senior. “In The South” expresses how life does not always go as planned or as wanted through irony and tragedy. Senior and Junior, although sharing the same name, physique, eyesight, and nearly the same birthday, are two very different men. “…Senior had lived by far the fuller life” (Rushdie), Rushdie writes, followed by several things making up Senior’s life experiences. He married a wife he loved, and had several children with her, and, in turn, his children each had several children, and so forth. Senior’s family was large, and he loved all of them. He also had several friends he enjoyed a
Earthquakes and tsunamis wreaked havoc in the city meant to be a beach paradise, further proving the irony of death Rushdie attempts to portray. The earthquakes came first, only being a minor and short term inconvenience. Soon after, however, tsunami after tsunami took the lives of many that were unable to get away. The tsunamis, to his dissatisfaction, did not even reach Senior’s street. Senior fell even further into his depression and bitterness at the loss of so many who wanted to live, and at the loss, either dead or escaped far away, of D’Mello. Senior wallowed in the irony of his situation, as, “he, Senior, was the one who had asked for death. Yet Death had left him alive, had taken so many others, had taken even Junior and D’Mello, but left him untouched”