Salmon Rushdie In The South

Expecting death to happen is a very interesting idea, because every single person is one step between life and death; right or wrong. In “In the South”, by Salmon Rushdie he creates a sense of life and death between two characters Senior and Junior. Senior being death and junior life, they both share very strong connection because of their name that could never be spoken of. Other than sharing the same name, they were the same age and they both lived in the same apartment building. “By curious chance-which they had to come to think as destiny…” or as a curse, these two old men were very much alike in their physicality and personality. Rushdie creates a deep concept between Senior and Junior, which is expecting the unexpected, and that
everything is not as it seems. Even though Senior lives a very successful life; in the end it is his fate to live the life junior had. Throughout the beginning of the story Rushdie portrays Senior and Junior as something the reader is not exactly expecting them to be.
Senior lived a very successful life even though “each morning he regretted that he not died in the night” (Rushdie). Senior was an all star track runner throughout his high school and college career. Then after college Senior “…rose to a senior position with the railroad company, and for years traveled the railroads…” (Rushdie). Not only personally was he successful, but most people believed he was blessed with the family he had inherited from his nine brother’s, cousins, and nephews. However, this family is a real headache for Senior. “If I had been sterile, how peaceful life would be” (Rushdie); this statement by senior puts a spin on the readers thinking for which senior shows a sense of negativity to his loved ones. Of the ten brothers’ he was indeed the only one left, and even his first wife had passed away too. He also showed little to zero love for his new wife, for which he only ever called her “Woman” or “Wife”. Rushdie starts by creating Senior as an interesting and fortunate, but furthermore a person who wanted death more than anybody else. Often time’s people would think with such a successful life that person would be more uplifting and passionate but senior is the exact opposite. Expect the unexpected; Maybe Senior wasn’t who he was supposed to
be.
Junior on the contrary, had a very simple life. He went to high school and college, had good grades, good test scores and landed himself a simple desk job for the rest of his life. Now even with this simple and boring life that junior had, he is still very pleased. He uses the welcoming of family and friends to adhere to his dreams and aspirations. Knowing this, people would think that Senior would be more content than junior. One day while Senior and Junior were walking to the bank a scooter speeds by and startles junior causing him to leap back. In result, he broke his ankles, hit his head on the curb, and died. This death of junior gave senior a sense of realization showing how much he enjoyed having junior around. Rushdie creates this scenario to show that maybe in the end it was senior’s fate to have lived the life that junior had. Having a simple and boring life would seem to be displeased and with Senior being so old and ready to die he should be in place of Junior. Including Junior who was killed in an accident on his way to the bank, a tsunami hits senior’s home town and kills just about everybody except for Senior. Senior survived because of his location and the tsunami never reached him. Ironically Senior is the last one and he was the only one who wanted to move on and die. This shows that not many readers would expect this, and that this story is not as it seems. Did readers think senior was going be the last one?
Senior wished upon death as if it was right around the corner. Yes, death is inevitable, though senior wanted it to come faster. Rushdie creates a deep concept between Senior and Junior, which is expecting the unexpected, and that everything is not as it seems. Senior living a very successful life but is ready to die shows a sense of irony because senior is the last one alive. Senior and Junior were close friends bonded by the same name, by the same age and by their features. Senior’s fate was to have lived the life that Junior had, and to die in his
place.