AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillments of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
STELLA SOEHARDI
Student Number: 074214039
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2012
i
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillments of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
STELLA SOEHARDI
Student Number: 074214039
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
EVER TRIED.
EVER FAILED.
NO MATTER.
TRY AGAIN.
FAIL AGAIN.
FAIL BETTER
.
-Samuel Beckett-
If you want to be happy
,BE!
-Anonymous-
aÉà à{x uxáà? uâà? àÜç àÉ à{x uxáàA A A
-Anonymous-vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank to Jesus Christ for giving me all the blessing.
Thank you for all the process and things that I went through and finally get me into.
Thank to my parents, Poppa and Momma, my sister and brothers Tuafie,
Fencus, and Rydud for the supports.
To my advisor Elisa Dwi Wardani S.S., M.Hum., thank you so much for
being patient, for giving me guidance, suggestions, and corrections. I would never be
able to finish this thesis without you. To Masinting, thank you for the novel you
introduced me. Thanks to Masji the person who gave me knowledge about the literary
theory. For all people in Lidahibu, thank you to push me to always write and read.
I also would like to thank Azibo Nurul Laily, Adolphus Satria Mumu
Kurniawan, Umek Lestari, Robertus Jujud, Laurencya Popong, and Enyan Fabri
Hartanto, the persons who technically helped my thesis and borrowed me books. To
some friends who that in so many times support me through short message service or
wall on Facebook, or tweet mention on twitter.
To whom always motivate me in finishing my thesis, Lita Talitong Anggelina,
Cicilia Cicscong Laury Lintong, HannyBling, Cahyarini Abro, Lidwina Wichan, and
Ardhina Acoy Trisila S thank you very much for always motivating and supporting
me.
vii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH…..……….. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... vi
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ……… 6
A. Review of Related Studies ………... 6
B. Review of Related Theories………... 9
1. Theories on Plot ……….... 9
2. Theories on Narratives …………... 12
C. Theoretical Framework ………. 14
viii
c. Crisis ……… 38
d. Climax ………. 40
e. Resolution ……….……….. 43
B. The Narrative Structure in Haroun and the Sea of Stories………. 45
1. Narrative Structure in the Main Plot Haroun and the Sea of Stories ……… 45
2. Narrative Structure in the Subplot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories ……… 48
C. The Meaning Constructed through the Narrative ………. 53
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …….……….. 57
A. Concluding Remark ………... 57
B. Suggestion and Recommendation ………. 60
ix
ABSTRACT
STELLA SOEHARDI. Tale Plot Structure in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.
Why does the building stand firm? It is because the building has framework or foundation. In fiction, story can be said as a building, it also has a narrative framework which constructs the story. In a story, there is a plot that has significant contribution in presenting all events in a story. The aim of this research is to find out the frameworks of the work through the plot structure.
Based on the chosen topic, the writer formulates three problems: First, how is the plot formed in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories? Second, based on the plot analysis, how is the narrative of Haroun and the Sea of Stories structured? And the last, what is the meaning constructed through the narrative?
Since this research is a library research, then the first source used is the novel itself, Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. The secondary sources include several theories and criticisms taken from books and internet. This research use Narratology approach, in which the writer analyzes the narrative structure and the narrative itself. The theory used in this thesis is theory of plot which is used as a tool to analyze the whole stories that can help the writer to find the details from every single event in the novel. The other theory used in this thesis is theory of narrative which is about the method of Vladimir Propp. This theory is used to expose the framework of the work, which is the novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
x
ABSTRAK
STELLA SOEHARDI. Tale Plot Structure in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2012
Mengapa sebuah bangunan dapat berdiri tegak? Bangunan dapat berdiri tegak disebabkan karena adanya kerangka atau fondasi. Di dalam karya fiksi, cerita dapat dikatakan sebagai sebuah bangunan, cerita pun memiliki sebuah kerangka cerita yang dapat membuat cerita terbentuk. Di dalam cerita terdapat plot yang mempunyai kontribusi penting yang berperan dalam menghadirkan semua kejadian-kejadian di sebuah cerita. Tujuan daripada penelitian ini adalah menemukan kerangka-kerangka yang terdapat pada karya lewat struktur plot.
Berdasarkan topik yang telah dipilih, penulis menciptakan tiga masalah: Pertama, bagaimana plot dalam novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories terbentuk? Kedua, berdasarkan analisa plot, bagaimana naratif Haroun and the Sea of Stories
terstruktur? Dan yang terakhir, apa makna yang terbangun lewat naratif?
Karena penelitian ini merupakan penelitian perpustakaan, maka sumber utama yang digunakan adalah novel itu sendiri, Haroun and the Sea of Stories karya Salman Rushdie. Sumber-sumber sekunder meliputi beberapa teori dan kritik yang diambil dari buku dan internet. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan Naratologi, dimana penulis menganalisa struktur cerita dan cerita itu sendiri. Teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teori plot yang digunakan sebagai alat dalam menganalisa keseluruhan cerita yang dapat membantu penulis menemukan detil-detil dari setiap kejadian di dalam novel. Teori lain yang digunakan adalah teori naratif tentang metode Vladimir Propp. Teori ini digunakan untuk membongkar kerangka daripada karya, yaitu novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Some literary works are composed and consumed by readers in silence, but
some others are designed to be read aloud, such as some which are designed to be
cited and acted out by live actors. Literature is usually classified into three genres,
being prose fiction, poetry, and drama (Roberts, 1989: 1-2).
The subject of this study is one type of prose fiction, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a novel written by Salman Rushdie’s novels. This novel is written when Rushdie hid from the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who wanted him
dead because of his previous controversial novel The Satanic Verses. The Satanic Verses was published in 1988. Its story revolved around two Indian actors who struggled with religion, spirituality, and nationality. It won the Whitbread Award, but
on February 14, 1989, the novel was banned in India when Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, an Iranian leader, announced that the writer, Salman Rushdie, and also all
of the publishers and translators of The Satanic Verses should be put into death because of their contribution in the production of the novel. Not only in India, this
novel was also banned and burned in many countries. Several major bookstores in
the shelves of America’s largest book selling chains
(http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Salman_Rushdie.aspx).
Published in 1990, Haroun and the Sea of Stories was Rushdie’s first novel after his fleeing. It is dedicated for his son by first marriage, Zafar
(www.notablebiographies.com, 2010). Haroun and the Sea of Stories is written as means of explaining his situation to his son.
The writer is interested in this novel as the work to be analyzed in this study
because Haroun and the Sea of Stories is different to other novels Rushdie has written. It is a children’s story and is written on purpose by Rushdie for his son. The
writer also gives special attention to the fact that Rushdie wrote Haroun and the Sea of Stories while he lived in exile and was far away from his son. Underground life is not easy to face, but Rushdie was able to come up with a piece of literature which is
heavily laden with imagination.
The novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories is about the adventure of Haroun to an imaginary world to bring back his father’s ability of storytelling. It begins with
Rashid Khalifa, a story-teller and father to Haroun, who loses his ability to make up
and tell stories when his wife, Soraya, leaves him for Mr. Sengupta, a man who
always complains to Haroun and Soraya about the uselessness of storytelling.
Haroun, the only child of the Khalifa family, blames himself for the breakup of his
parents and his father's disability. Then, Haroun sets off to Kahani, the Earth’s second
moon where stories are fabricated, on one mission: to bring his father’s ability back.
to save the ocean of stories and the princess of the Guppes by defeating Khattam
Shud, the villain of the story.
When reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the writer noticed that the plot of the novel has a particularly important role. Stanton in How to Read Fiction, said that plot is the backbone of the story (1965:15). Plot has the major contribution to the
whole story. This thesis will be focused on the analysis of the plot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories. The writer intends to analyze the work’s plot formation by using method postulated by Vladimir Propp in his The Morphology of the Folktale: tale plot structure. A bit of information about Propp’s map of tale plot, it is based on a study of
a ‘corpus’ of a hundred tales, from the analysis of which comes up the conclusion that
all these tales are constructed by selected items from a basic repertoire of thirty-one
‘functions’ and these ‘functions’ are the frameworks of the narrative. The ‘functions’
means possible actions that could appear in such tales (Barry, 2002: 218-220).
The plot in Haroun and the Sea of Stories has not yet been given much attention to since it seems to be clear that the usual immediate interest of researchers
when studying the novel is the intricate characterization of the dramatic personas
involved. However, this is not the writer’s primal reason for her specific interest in
the plot of the novel. It is because the writer sees the plot in Haroun and the Sea of Strories as a prominent tool to weave the narrative of the story. A descriptive analysis of the plot will give a firm foundation for the writer to go deeper into mapping out the
structure of the narrative itself; in other words, explaining how the narrative is
essential meaning of the novel; or in other words, what the author is trying to say.
The structure of the narrative is crucial to the production of meaning.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to be able to reach the end-point this study is aiming at, the writer has
prepared three problems whose answers would serve as benchmarks of the analysis.
Those three problems include:
1. How is the plot in Haroun and the Sea of Stories formed?
2. How is the narrative of Haroun and the Sea of Stories structured? 3. What is the meaning constructed through the narrative?
C. Objectives of the Study
The study aims to answer the problem formulation stated previously. As in the
first problem, the analysis will demonstrate the formation of the plot of the novel. In
the second problem, the analysis will go further to presenting the structure of the
narrative. Finally for the third problem, the writer will come up with an answer about
the meaning constructed through the narrative, first of all by showing how the
narrative itself is constructed and how it contributes to the production of primal
D. Definition of Terms
To provide a clear understanding on the terms that will appear frequently in
this thesis, the writer presents their definition below.
1. Plot
In Forster’s Aspect of the Novel, plot is defined as a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality (1974: 60).
2. Story
In Aspects of the Novel, Forster has defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time sequence (1974: 60).
3. Tale
The term Propp used, tale, refers to the folktale. In A Glossary of Literary Terms, tale is defined as a short narrative in prose of unknown authorship which has been transmitted orally; many of these tales eventually achieve written form.
Folktales are found among peoples everywhere in the world, they include myths,
fables, tales of heroes, and fairy tales. Many peoples called ‘fairy-tales’ which are not
stories of fairies but of various kinds of marvels (Abrams, 1999: 101).
4. Narrative
In A Glossary of Literary Terms, a narrative is a story, whether told in prose or verse, involving events, characters, and what the characters say and do (Abrams,
6 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is the review on related
studies conducted on the novel. The second part is the review on theories used to
define the analysis. The last part is the theoretical framework. It explains the
contribution of the theories in solving the problems of this study.
A. Review of Related Studies
This part contains three studies conducted by different literary critics. These
studies are related to the work and could be used to help the writer develop the thesis
and to show that the thesis is different from other previous studies done to Rushdie’s
Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
The first article reviewed focuses on all names in Haroun and the Sea of Stories.The article is written by Aron R. Aji entitled ‘All names mean something’: Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Legacy of Islam. It is taken from Contemporary Literature, Spring 1995, vol. 36. This article presents the names of the book’s main
characters and settings that have relationship with the legacy of Islam. Aji explains
legacy. In his article, he explains the opening verse in the novel that the first letters of
each line spell Z-A-F-A-R, the name of Rushdie’s son (which means “triumph” in
Arabic), and the middle line voices the caution “Fairy lands are fearsome too.” The
verse encapsulates the spirit of the fairy tale about the little boy Haroun and his
dream-journey to the moon Kahani, an adventure which involves as much fear as it
does fantasy. Aji firmly says that the narrative abundantly draws from doctrinal and
cultural Islam in shaping both the main characters and the entire milieu of Haroun’s
journey. The names are Haroun and Rashid Khalifa, Khattam-Shud, and Kahani
(1955: 107).
Haroun is the Arabic version of Aaroun, Moses’ brother, who in Islam plays a
special role with regard to God’s revelation. Meanwhile, the name Rashid means
“The Guide” (also one of the ninety-nine names of God). In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Rashid serves as a guide to Haroun. Furthermore, Aji also explains the name of Khattam-Shud, the villain of the Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Khattam-Shud resembles Iblis or Shaytan, the Satanic figure in Islam. Aji also showed that the name of Khattam-Shud is shaped from Islam concepts (1) khatm either means (a) “seal,” or refers to (b) the ultrapious act of reciting the “complete” Koran; (2) shuhud means (a) “consciousness” or refers to (b) the Transcendental Self, the Omniscient; (3) khata
also Khatm-Shuhud (1a and 2b), an antiprophet, because he wants to seal the Wellspring, the very source of all stories (1995: 114-115).
The next article is written by Suchismita Sen entitled Memory, Language, and Society in Salman Rushdie’s “Haroun and the Sea of Stories”. This article is also taken from Contemporary Literature in Winter 1995, vol. 36. Sen argues that in
Haroun’s story, Rushdie provided a child’s-eye view of the intricacy of interpersonal
communication. Sen specifically focused on Rusdie’s use of the South Asian variety
of English and how this language evokes a lost childhood for Rushdie. Sen in his
article mentions that,
Rushdie accurately captures a child’s astonishment at the meaningless way in which adults often behave as he tell us the story of the great battle between the Guppees and Chupwalas from Haroun’s perpective. In so doing, he calls up his own childhood vision to look at the world in which the adult Rushdie exists. Readers of Rushdie are aware that the author has an almost obsessive interest in the power of words to recollect and re-create past experiences (1995: 655).
In the article, Sen wants to show that through Haroun, Rushdie has managed to
re-create his Indian childhood through images and language. Rushdie’s style in Haroun and the Sea of Stories shows that the language and perspective of the story resound with associations that can evoke memories in individual readers according to personal
experience and world-view.
Vladimir Nabokov and Salman Rushdie, two of the most controversial and
uncategorizable writers of the twentieth century, use real-world references and
metafictional games to create a series of possible communities. In the subtitle
Nabokov and Rushdie, the biographies of Nabokov and Rushdie are presented. It is mentioned there that the biography of Rushdie looks very different from Nabokov’s.
In comparing Nabokov and Rushdie’s narrative technique, unlike Nabokov who
disdained politics, Rushdie writes political fiction. Shame (1983) and Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990) criticizes Pakistani leaders. Nabokov often writes about death, generally of a beloved individual; Rushdie tends to write about migration. Besides,
critics of Nabokov’s work often classify him as a modernist and Rushdie is one of the
major postmodernists.
B. Review of Related Theories
Two theories would be explained on this part. The first explanation is on the
theories on plot. It would be reviewed from some sources. The second theory to be
review is theory on narrative.
1. Theories on plot
In Aspects of the Novel, Forster has defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis
“The king died, and then the queen died” is a story. While, “the king died, and the
then queen died of grief” is a plot. From that statement, plot clearly shows the sense
of causality. According to Forster, in a story we ask “And then?”, but, in a plot we
ask “Why?” (1974: 60).
In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton states that plot of a story is the entire sequence of events and it is also the backbone of the story. It means plot is the most
important thing in the story, that it has the major contribution to the whole story
(1965: 15). Stanton postulates that the important elements of plot are conflict and
climax. Every work of fiction contains obvious internal conflicts, which mean
conflicts between the two desires within a character, or external conflicts, which
mean conflicts between the character and his environment. The other important
element is climax, the meeting point of its lines of force and determines how their
opposition will be resolved (1965: 16).
Stanton also mentions that subplot is sequence of events, at least partly
distinct from the main plot and often the form of a subplot parallels that of another
section of the plot (1965: 14). Meanwhile, in A Glossary of Literary Terms, it is stated that Aristotle had developed the type of structural unity that can be achieved
with double plots. In this form, subplot is a second story that is complete and
interesting in its own right. The subplot which skillfully invented and managed it
serves to broaden reader’s perspective on the main plot and to enhance rather than
diffuse the overall effect (Abrams, 1999: 226). The article ‘What is Subplot’ explains
main reasons for including it is to expand the scope of the main story
(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-subplot.htm).
Another article, titled Adding Subplots to a Novel, explains subplot as precisely the same thing as a novel’s central plot, only it is much smaller in scale.
They are there to enhance and strengthen the main story, not to compete with it. This
article explains the simple analogy about the plot. It begins with the statement ‘Think
of novel like a length of rope. At one end is the beginning and at the other the
ending.’ Then it states the rope itself is actually made up of several mini-ropes
braided together. These represent the sum total of all plot lines in the novel. The point
is although the strands are all interwoven, they actually remain separate. In other
words, it should always be possible to remove in individual storyline from a novel but
it might weaken it, just as removing a strand from a rope would cause it to lose
strength, but the story should still make sense
(http://www.novel-writing-help.com/subplots.html).
In addition, Roberts and Jacob in An Introduction to Reading and Writing
present five elements the backbone in plot (1989: 101-102). First is exposition.
Exposition is the laying out of the materials in the story. It presents everything
important in the story. Usually, it may appear at the beginning of the story, but
sometimes it may be found anywhere. The second element is the complication. It
marks the major conflict in the story. The protagonist and the antagonist represent
whatever ideas and values, such as good and evil, childhood and age, love and hate,
in this part, the separation between what has gone before and what will come after
should be revealed here. And it is usually a decision or action undertaken to resolve
the conflict. The fourth is the important element in plot, climax, which is the highest
point in the action or the point when all the rest of the actions become firmly set. In
other words, climax is the point of inevitability and no return. The last is resolution,
or denoument, which is the set of actions bringing the story to its conclusion. It
usually managed as quickly as possible that the conflict or conflicts are over, the
major conflicts are resolved, and for keeping readers’ interest (1989: 101-102).
2. Theory on Narrative
In Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms, a narrative is a story, whether told in prose or verse, involving events, characters, and what the characters say and do
(1999: 173). Meanwhile, according to Mcquillan’s The Narrative Reader, narrative is about the narrative as a story and the way in which they are told. This separation is
known by the terms story, what is told, and discourse, how it is told (2000: 4-5).
One of the theorists of narrative, Vladimir Propp, focused on identifying
structures and situations in such tales. His book The Morphology of the Folktale, is about structures and plot formations of tales. Vladimir Propp’s system provides data
to consider some of the surface specifics of plots. Propp concludes that all tales are
constructed by selected items in his thirty-one ‘functions’ lists. The ‘functions’ means
narrative frameworks used in this thesis. Here, the complete lists are quoted as
follows (Barry, 2002: 218-220):
1. One of the members of a family absents himself from home. 2. An interdiction [that is, a prohibition] is addressed to the hero. 3. The interdiction is violated.
4. The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance. 5. The villain receives information about his victim,
6. The villain attempts to deceive his victim in order to take possession of him or his belongings,
7. The victim submits to deception and thereby unwittingly helps his enemy.
8. The villain causes harm or injury to a member of a family/ or, 8a. one member of a family either lacks something or desires to have something.
9. Misfortune or lack is made known; the hero is approached with a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched.
10.The seeker [that is, the hero in ‘questor’ mode] agrees to or decides upon counteraction,
11.The hero leaves home.
12.The hero is tested interrogated, attacked, etc., which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper,
13.The hero reacts to the actions of the future donor.
14.The hero acquires the use of a magical agent [that is, an object, and animal, etc.].
15.The hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search.
16.The hero and the villain join in direct combat. 17.The hero is branded.
18.The villain is defeated.
19.The initial misfortune or lack is liquidated. 20.The hero returns.
21.The hero is pursued.
22.Rescue of the hero from pursuit.
23.The hero, unrecognised, arrives home or in another country. 24.A false hero presents unfounded claims.
25.A difficult task is proposed to the hero. 26.The task is resolved.
27.The hero is recognised.
31.The hero is married and ascends the throne
Tales do not contain all the items in Propp’s list function, but all are
constructed by selecting items from it. Then, the selection of items from these
functions will always occur in the order listed. Propp proposed four theses, claiming
that (1) the functions are stable, constant elements no matter which actor carries them
out; (2) the number of possible functions is limited to 31; (3) the sequence of
functions is always identical, though no tale contains all the functions; and (4) all
fairy tales are of one structural type (Keen, 2003: 84)
C. Theoretical Framework
There are two group of theory used in this study. Those are theories on plot
and theory on narrative. The theories on plot, based on the book of Roberts and
Jacobs, are used by the writer to analyze the movements of the story. The theory on
narrative is used to reveal the narrative structure of the work. It helps the writer show
what the author is trying to say. The using of these theories is to identify the meaning
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter is divided into three subtitles. The first subtitle describes brief
data or information about the work. The second subtitle is the explanation of the
approach used in analyzing the work and the reasons why the approach is used. The
last subtitle of this chapter is about the way taken in analyzing the work.
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. The novel was published in 1990 by Granta Books, in association with Penguin
Books. It contains 218 pages, divided into 12 chapters. In 1992, Rushdie was
awarded The Writer’s Guild Award for best children’s book because of this novel.
Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories is about Haroun’s adventure to fantasy world. The story begins with the fact that Haroun’s mother, Soraya, leaves
him and his father, Rashid Khalifa, with a clerk, Mr. Sengupta. Because of that,
Rashid Khalifa loses his ability as a story-teller. The story then moves from the real
world to the Earth’s second moon, Kahani. Kahani is the fantasy world that was
created by Rushdie. The adventure of Haroun happens in Kahani. In addition to the
Haroun should help the Guppees defeat the Chupwalas. By defeating the leader of
Chupwalas, Khattam-Shud, Haroun and Guppees win. Then, Haroun and Rashid
Khalifa finally come home and surprisingly find that Soraya is already at home
asking for mercy. Soraya is back, the ability of Rashid is also back. At the end of the
novel, it is mentioned that Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a tale that Rashid tells.
B. Approach of the Study
This thesis uses narratology as the approach. Narratology is a branch of
structuralism and it is the study of narrative structures (Barry, 2002: 214).
Meanwhile, in A Glossary of Literary Term, Abrams postulates that narratology concerns with the general theory and practice of narrative in all literary forms,
dealing with types of narrators, the structural elements, the modes of combination,
recurrent narrative devices, and how a narrative is told (1999: 173). Similar to
Abrams, in Culler’s Literary Theory, it is stated that narratology relies on theories of narrative structure, which is on notions of plot, of different kinds of narrators, and of
narrative techniques (1997: 83).
The writer will apply narratological approach by focusing the analysis on the
plot structure of the literary work. In this case, the literary work being analyzed is the
novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
Narratology has developed to phases in its history of study and concepts until
decisive impulse for the formation of narratology as a methodologically coherent,
structure-oriented variant of narrative theory
(http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/index.php/Narratology). From 1966 to 1972, narratology focused
mainly on the former which influenced by structuralist Barthes, Eco, Genette,
Greimas, Todorov and film theorist Metz. In this phase three traditions had informed
the new structuralist approach toward narrative which is Russian Formalism and
Proppian morphology, structural linguistics in the Saussurean tradition as well as the
structural anthropology of Levi-Strauss, and the transformational generative grammar
of Chomsky. And according to Radu Surdulescu a Professor of English and Cultural
Anthropology at the University of Bucharest, in his article Form, Structurality in Critical Theory, in the 1960s and 1970s, the structuralist narratology made significant steps toward refining the concepts already introduced by its predecessors, establishing
new formulae and distinctions. The narratology of this age analyzed the insides of
both ‘story’ (fabula) and ‘discourse’ (sjuzet).
(http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/lls/RaduSurdulescu-FormStructuality/Pre-Structuralist%20and%20Structuralist%20Narratology.htm).
Meister concludes that in 1980-1990 narratology is dominated by two major
trends: a widening of narratology‘s scope beyond literary narrative and the importing
of concepts and theories from other disciplines. This phase is influenced by Chatman,
Bal, Culler, Lanser, who concern in feminist studies, and many others. As for from
1990 to today, Meister groups narratology as Post-classical Narratology and “New”
Romance Language at University of Pennsylvania, the tension between structuralist
narratology’s original concern for systematicity and logical coherence and the need
for a response to calls for a more pragmatically oriented theory of narrative could no
longer be ignored (http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/index.php/Narratology).
Of these phases on history of concepts and its study of narratological
approach known, this thesis uses the beginning phase which follows the phase
in1960s that the French narratologist A. J. Greimas pursued the classification of the
elements which make a story move on by proposing a well-known actantial schema,
whose source is in Propp’s typology. From the perspective of the Russian folklorist
Vladimir Propp, the author of Morphology of the Folktale (1928), a classification of fairy tales should set out from the functions, the actions performed by characters, and
from the functional roles. There are 31 functions, defined by their significance for the
plot development, which remain practically the same in the whole corpus of Russian.
Using the theory from Vladimir Propp, certain narrative elements which construct the
work will be exposed.
C. Method of the Study
This thesis is a library research, which means that the data are collected from
biographical data, and other studies related to the approach. There are also data that
are taken from the internet.
There were several steps taken in analyzing the literary work. The first step
was collecting the data needed for the analysis. The data were collected chapter to
chapter. Then, the second step was reading the book, the data, and some sources
related to the problems formulation. It means, in chapter two of this thesis, the writer
focused on the data or the theories used for answering the problems formulation, such
as theories on plot and theory on narrative. In chapter three, the writer focused on the
approach required in this thesis: narratology. Afterwards, the writer continued to
analyzing the first problem formulation, to describe the plot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories involving the central character, Haroun. Done with the first problem formulation, the writer began to analyze the second problem formulation, to show the
narrative structure using Propp’s functions. In her effort to answer the third problem
formulation, the writer tried to get the meaning constructed through the narrative
20 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter presents the analysis and the explanation to answer the problems
formulated. It is divided into two parts. In the first part, the writer will illustrate the
plot analysis of Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Meanwhile, in the second part, the writer will show the narrative structure of the work based on Propp’s
functions and the third part, the writer will explain the meaning constructed through
the narrative.
A. The Plot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories
In this part, theory on plot in Chapter II will be used as the tool to analyze the
plot in Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. The following two sections serve as an elaboration on the division of the plot into main plot and subplot. It will be
separately explained because the plot can not be seen as a single plot. Although these
main and subplot are related, each of them has its own story which needs separated
explanation to describe.
The main plot of this work takes place in “the earth”, precisely in the country
of Alifbay, Town of G, Valley of K and the Dull Lake. On the other land, the subplot
be analyzed using theory from Robert and Jacob who theorize that plot consists of
five elements: exposition, complication, crisis, climax, and resolution or denoument.
Therefore, this part is divided into sub-sections.
1. The Main Plot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Basically, plot clearly shows the sense of causality. The main plot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories takes place on earth and it starts with the exposition, which provides the background information.
a. Exposition
Exposition is the laying out of the materials in the story. Exposition provides
the background information which is needed to understand the story properly, such as
the problem in the beginning of the story. It is also about the information of the main
characters and their backgrounds. In other words, this element presents everything
that is going to be important in the pattern of actions. In this part, Salman Rushdie
begins with the introduction of the condition of Alifbay, a sad city, the saddest of
cities that it has forgotten its name, a place of living of the main character and his
families. Haroun, the central character, is the son of the storyteller, Rashid Khalifa
and his wife, Soraya. In the beginning of story, the narrator explain the job of Rashid
Khalifa as a storyteller that has two nicknames, “to his admirers he was Rashid the
Ocean of Notions, as stuffed with cheery stories as the sea was full of glumfish; but
The narrator also clearly tells the reader the condition of the Khalifas’ house,
The Khalifas lived in the downstairs part of a small concrete house with pink walls, lime-green windows and blue-painted balconies with squiggly metal railings, all of which made it look (in Haroun’s view) more like a cake than a bulding (1990: 18).
The Khalifas has neighbors that live upstairs, Mr. and Mrs. Sengupta. Mr.
Sengupta is a clerk at the offices of the City Corporation and he is sticky-thin and
whiny-voiced, while, his wife Oneeta is generous and loud and wobbly-fat. Haroun
accepts more attention from Oneeta because they have no children at all. Mr.
Sengupta, who hates stories and storyteller, hates Rashid and ignores Haroun. He
only cares about Soraya. The conflict is rising up by this time, that is, Haroun’s
mother, Soraya, leaves with Mr. Sengupta.
This description reflects what is meant by the laying out of the materials. It
provides the background information of the main characters and their backgrounds
and also the important thing which is revealing the problems in the beginning of the
story. The plot develops to the next element as the problems start and continue to
develop.
b. Complication
The conflict develops in this complication phase. This phase is constituted by
various problems or obstacles that frustrate the main character: it also depicts the
The problem that Haroun faces is his father’s losing his ability of story-telling
and he has no idea to get it back. The leaving of Soraya causes effect toward Rashid.
Rashid has run out of stories to tell, he loses his ability in telling stories. When they
are going to Town of G, in a politic performance, Rashid Khalifa can not tell a story.
Then the thing happened, the Unthinkable Thing. Rashid went out on the stage in front of the vast jungle of a crowd, and Haroun watched him from the wings—and the poor storyteller opened his mouth, and the crowd squaled in excitement—and now Rashid Khalifa, standing there with his mouth hanging open, found that it was as empty as his heart. ‘Ark.’ That was all that came out. The Shah of Blah sounded like a stupid crow. ‘Ark, ark, ark.’ (1990: 26).
In ‘The Dull Lake’ chapter of the novel, a conflict between Haroun and the
environment is presented. Here, Haroun fights with the condition in the Dull Lake.
Mr. Buttoo, the Boss who invites Rashid to the election, makes Haroun and Rashid to
stay in a houseboat before the time to perform in next day. Rashid and Haroun need
to pass the Dull Lake; they climb up into a swan boat to reach the house boat. Here
comes a story about the Moody Land in Dull Lake. The Moody Land is one of Rashid
Khalifa’s stories, the story of a magical country whose condition can change
constantly according to the moods of its inhabitants. The conversation among them is
so temperamental that the condition of the Dull Lake becomes so uncomfortable. It
starts with the greeny-yellow mist with the toilet stink, the hot wind, and the anger of
the water which makes it slopping over the side of the swan-boat. The condition
becomes worse when one of them gets angrier; the anger will be an insult for them.
The point is that they have to control their feeling to control the Dull Lake. The
Haroun understands why his father says like that. Yet, Haroun decides to solve this
problem by putting the Moody Land theory into practice. He wants to prove it to his
father that it is not only a story, so, Rashid can still believe in his story. It also shows
the attempt of Haroun to help his father to get the ability back.
Haroun decided there was nothing for it but to put his Moody Land theory into practice. ‘Okay,’ he shouted into the mist. ‘Everybody listen. This is very important: everybody, just stop talking. Not a word. Zip the Lips. Dead silence is very important, on the count of three, one, two, three.’ A new note of authority had come into his voice, which surprised him as much as anyone, and as a result the oarsmen and Buttoo, too, obeyed him without a murmur. At once the boiling breeze fell away, the thunder and lightning stopped. Then Haroun made a conscious effort to control his irritation at Snooty Buttoo, and the waves calmed down the instant he cooled off (1990: 49-50).
Haroun and Rashid stay in the houseboat, which is called Arabian Nights Plus One, for resting and preparing of the next day performance. In this houseboat, the readers are informed to the conflict between the central character, Haroun, and the
new character The Water Genie named Iff. The conflict is about Haroun who does not
want to give the tool of Iff and insists on going to Kahani, Iff’s world, to get Rashid’s
ability back. Iff, on the other hand, neglects it.
‘I am the Water Genie, Iff,’ he said crossly, ‘from the Ocean of the Streams of Story.’
Haroun’s heart thumped. ‘Are you trying to claim you’re really one of those Genies my father told me about?’
The non-sense explanation from Iff makes Haroun feels curious to know more about
Iff’s world. Iff says that Rashid has cancelled the subscription. It means the
subscription of “Water Supply” so that Rashid still can tell stories. Haroun does not
permit Iff to cancel the subscription. He wants his father to be able to tell stories still.
Yet, Iff himself has to stop the subscription because it is an order from his world,
from Processes Too Complicated To Explain House in Gup City, Kahani. In other
words, Rashid will still be able to tell stories if Iff does not turn off the supply of
Story Water and, to make Iff does not do that, the order from Kahani must be stopped
(1990: 58).
Haroun should stop the order so his father can tell story again and the next
performance in Valley of K will be successful. However, Iff forbids him to go to
Kahani.
Iff shook his head and spread his arms wide. ‘Impossible,’ he said. ‘No can do, it’s off the menu, don’t even dream about it. Access to Gup City in Kahani, by the shores of the Ocean of the Streams of Story, is strictly restricted, completely forbidden, one hundred per cent banned, except to accredited personnel; like, for instance, me. But you? No chance, not in a million years, no way, Jose.’ (1990: 59)
The evidences the writer has put advanced above demonstrate the
development of conflicts, the difficulties or the obstacles Haroun faces to cheer up his
c. Crisis
The Crisis is the separation between what has gone before and what will come
after. And it is usually a decision or action undertaken to resolve the conflict. Crisis
usually provides the moment of decisions of the main character when the character
realizes that he must make a decision. The decision is the fact that Haroun should
leave the earth to go to Kahani. He needs to meet Walrus for cancelling the order to
stop Rashid’s Subscription of Water Supply.
In this part, while Haroun and Iff are still debating about what Iff talks about,
Haroun insists that he will not let Iff stop the Supply of Water. Haroun does not get
what Iff talks about his world.
‘Feel here,’ said the Water Genie, pointing to a patch of empty air six inches above the basin. ‘Take the Disconnecting Tool, and just tap it against this space where you imagine nothing to be.’ Dubiously, suspecting a trick, and only after instructing the Water Genie to stand well back. Haroun did as he was told. Ding went the Disconnecting Tool as it struck something extremely solid and extremely invisible.
‘There she blows,’ cried the Water Genie, grinning widely. ‘The Story Tap: voila.’
‘I still don’t get it,’ Haroun frowned. ‘Where is this Ocean of yours? And how does the Story Water get into this invisible Tap? How does the the plumbing work?’ He saw the wicked glint in Iff’s eye and answered his own question with a sigh. ‘Don’t tell me. I know. By a Process Too Complicated To Explain.’ (1990: 58-59).
This condition pushes Haroun to make a decision. He needs to go to Kahani to
meet Walrus, who can cancel the order. Haroun make an important decision, he asks
Iff politely to take him to Gup City to see the Walrus.
take me to Gup City to see the Walrus, so that I can get this stupid blunder about my father’s Water supply reversed before it’s too late.’ (1990: 59).
The decision reflects what crisis part means. It shows that Haroun realizes that he
should make a decision so that he can get Rashid’s ability back.
d. Climax
Climax is the highest point of actions, the point when all the rest of the actions
become firmly set. In other words, climax is the point of inevitability and no return.
Climax is about what the main character does to solve the problem or conflict he
faces. This element is about the turning point, about bad to good for the protagonist
or it can be about good to bad for the protagonist. In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, this part is reflected as Haroun leaves the earth to the Kahani to see the Walrus to
solve the problem he faces. The problem is that Rashid loses his ability of
story-telling and Haroun needs to see the Walrus to solve it, but Iff the Water Genie forbids
him to go to Kahani. So, Haroun makes a deal and wins the conflict. He goes to
Kahani.
‘In which case,’ Haroun said sweetly, ‘you’ll just have to go back without this’—and here he waved the Disconnecting Tool in the blue-beard’s face— ‘and see how They like that.’
There was a long silence.
By going to Kahani Haroun assumes that he will be able to his father’s ability
back. There, Haroun goes to Kahani with Iff the Water Genie and Butt the Hoopoe
the Imaginary Flying Organism which will transport them to Kahani.
Haroun ran to the window, and saw the Hoopoe floating on the Dull Lake, grown large, as large as a double bed, easily large enough for a Water Genie and a boy to ride upon its back.
‘And off we go,’ caroled Iff, much too loud for Haroun’s liking; and then the Water Genie skipped up on to the window sill and thence to the Hoopoe’s back—and Haroun with scarcely a moment to reflect on the wisdom of what he purple patches, and clutching the Disconnecting Tool firmly in his left hand, followed. As he settled down behind the Water Genie, the Hoopoe turned its head to inspect him with a critical but (Haroun hoped) friendly eye.
Then they took off and flew rapidly into the sky (1990: 64-65).
After several days in Kahani, Haroun goes back to the earth, precisely in the
night at a houseboat. No doubt, Haroun thinks that he and his father miss the
appointment in K and an angry Snooty Buttoo waits for them. While, in the morning
he gets up and finds Rashid Khalifa sitting on the balcony at the front of the
houseboat. Then the Snooty Buttoo comes to take them to the election. ‘Can it be that
you and your son are still in your nightshirts, when I am coming to fetch you for the
show? Crowds are waiting tardy Mr Rashid! I trust you will not disappoint’ (1990:
203). It seems that several days in Kahani have passed off in less than a single night
of earth’s time. Haroun thinks, ‘But that’s impossible,’ (1990: 204). They go to the
election and what happens is Rashid Khalifa can tell a story, he has got his ability
back.
Haroun watched from the side of the stage as Rashid went smiling to the microphone amid generous applause. Then he gave Haroun a real shock, because his first words were, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, the name of the tale I am going to tell is Haroun and the Sea of Stories.’ (1990: 205).
Climax provides the actions of the main character after making the decision
and the result of the actions. The leaving of Haroun to Kahani, as an act after he
makes decision which he needs to go to there, has resulted in his getting back his
father’s ability of story-telling. This explanation reflects the climax in the main plot.
e. Resolution
The resolution is the set of actions bringing the story to its conclusion. It is
usually managed as quickly as possible. Conflicts or problems are over, the major
conflicts are resolved. In short, it is about the conclusion of the story.
Haroun and Rashid Khalifa are back to their town after the election and all of
local people there are happy. Haroun’s journey to Kahani not only effects on his
father’s ability but also toward his environment. The local people in his hometown
remember the city’s name.
‘I’ll tell you what to be happy about,’ said a policeman who chanced to be floating by on an upturned umbrella. ‘We remembered the city’s name.’
‘Well, out with it, tell us quickly.’ Rashid insisted, feeling very excited.
The most important thing is, that, while they arrive at home, the front door of
the Khalifas’ apartment is open and there Soraya stands. Soraya is back to the
Khalifas,
Soraya had come out to join them in the rain. ‘What Walrus?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know any Walrus, but I know that I made a misatake. I went; I don’t deny. I went, but now, if you want, then I am back.’
Haroun looked at his father. Rashid couldn’t speak.
‘That Sengupta, I swear,’ Soraya went on. ‘What a skinny scrawny, sniveling, driveling, mingy, stingy, measly, weaselly clerk! As far as I’m concerned he’s finished with done for, gone for good.’
‘Khattam-shud,’ Haorun said quietly.
‘That’s right,’ his mother answered. ‘I promise. Mr Sengupta is
khattam-shud.’
‘Welcome home,’ Rashid said (1990: 210)
Haroun, Rashid Khalifa and Soraya fall into one another’s arms. Haroun believes that
what is happening to him is because the Walrus’s work.
These are about the conclusion of what happens to Haroun after he passes
difficulties. Finally he can get what he wants. His father gets his ability back and his
mother returns to them. He also gets a happy ending to his environment.
2. The Subplot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Subplot is the sequence of events which are distinct from the main plot, it is
usually as a second story that is complete and interesting in its own right. Subplot
serves to broaden the reader’s perspective on the main plot and to enhance and
In this part, the subplot of Haroun and the Sea of Stories will be described in sub-sections.
a. Exposition
As already explained before, exposition is the laying out of the materials in
the story and it provides the background information needed to understand the story
properly. The exposition of the subplot takes place in Kahani, the Earth’s second
Moon. In this subplot, the readers are also informed to more new characters.
It starts in Chapter 4 ‘An Iff and Butt’, the chapter title reveals the meeting
between Haroun, Iff, and Butt. Iff is a water genie from Kahani who comes to Earth
to cancel the subscription of Rashid; while, Butt is a bird or Imaginary Flying
Organism as a ride to go to Kahani. As Haroun soars into the night sky on the back of
Butt the Hoopoe with Iff the Water Genie as his guide, the setting moves to Kahani
then.
In the Earth’s second Moon, there are so-called the Ocean of the Streams of
Story, the Land of Gup, the Land of Chup, the Old Zone, and the Twilight Strip. The
condition is explained as follow,
Another creature that Haroun meets in Kahani is Mali the Floating Gardener,
and what the Floating Gardeners do is maintenance. They untwist twisted story.
Imagine that the Ocean as a head of hair and the Floating Gardeners are like the
hairdressers of the Sea of Stories. It needs to be brushed, cleaned, washed,
conditioned (1990: 83).
Iff asked Mali, ‘What’s this pollution? When did it start? How bad is it?’ Mali answered the questions in sequence. ‘lethal. But nature as yet unknown. Started only recently, but spread is very rapid. How bad? Very bad. Certain types of story may take years to clean up.’ (1990: 83).
The new voices are appeared to the surface of the Ocean, they are Plentimaw
Fishes. They always go in pairs. They are also faithful to partners for life. The fishes
look unhealthy,
Haroun called to them, ‘but are you both quite well?’ The replies came swiftly, punctuated by bubbling coughs: ‘All this bad taste! Too much dirt!’
‘Swimming in the Ocean starts to hurt!’ ‘Call me Bagha! This is Goopy!’
‘Excuse our rudeness! We feel droopy!’ ‘Eyes feel rheumy! Throat feels sore!’
‘When we’re better, we’ll talk more.’(1990: 85)
The narrator sets Kahani fantastic with its geography, its ocean, and its
characters. It is not stop on it. There is a Lagoon in Gup City. The Lagoon is an
expanse of multicoloured waters, it stands between the Archipelago where most
Guppees made their homes and the Mainland where a gigantic formal garden comes
in Gup stand around the Pleasure Garden; first building is the Palace of King
Chattergy with its grand balcony. Second building, to the Palace’s right, is the
Parliament of Gup. The third building, to the Palace’s left, is the towering of P2C2E
House where there are one thousand and one machines Too Complicated to describe
which is controlled the Processes Too Complicated To Explain (88).
The readers are also informed about the army of Gup which called the Pages
of Gup. The ordinary armies are made up of platoons and regiments, but, these pages
are organized into Chapters and Volumes. Each Volume is headed by Front, or Title,
Page. The leader is General Kitab an old gent with rectangular uniform made of
finely-tooled gold-inlay leather and he stands at the balcony of the Palace of Gup
(88). Haroun also meets a Speaker of the Chatterbox, a plump fellow who talks
unstoppably and King Chattergy, a frail small white-haired gentleman wearing a
circlet of gold and tragic look. There is also Prince Bolo, the fiancé of King
Chattergy’s only child, his daughter the Princess Batcheat (89). The lastly, a person
with a hairless head of quite spectacular smoothness and shininess, bearing on his
upper lip a disappointingly insignificant moustache that looks like a piece of a dead
mouse, he is the Walrus. He is the person to whom Haroun wants to meet; the Walrus
who is not look like a walrus (90). There is one named Blabbermouth as a Page
whom Haroun interests.
Haroun adventures in Kahani, and he meets more character outside Gup City,
The exposition provides the background information and in this part it is
revealed. It reflects new characters in other setting background which differs to main
plot, in Kahani. The next element is complication; it will reveal the obstacles or
difficulties which the main character faces while attempting to meet Walrus so his
father, Rashid Khalifa, can get his ability back.
b. Complication
This part of the plot is called complication. This element provides the various
problems or obstacles that frustrate the main character’s attempt to reach his aim,
which is to meet Walrus to get Rashid’s ability back. The conflicts as the problems or
obstacles that the main character faces start to arise and continue to develop in this
part. The problem is Rashid difficult to meet Walrus, the aim Haroun goes to Kahani
to meet Walrus to get his father’s ability back turn to help the Guppees save the
Ocean and save the kidnapping Prince Batcheat.
The conflict is more apparent as Haroun begins his journey to Kahani to get
his father water’s supply back. While in Kahani, Haroun faces other problems which
are happening in Kahani. The Ocean has been polluted by the leader of Chup,
Khattam-Shud. Besides, Khattam-Shud also kidnaps the Princess of Gup, Princess
Batcheat. Haroun must defeat the Khattam-Shud to restore peace in Kahani.
In the ‘About Guppees and Chupwalas’ chapter of the novel, it is shown that
Haroun fails to meet Walrus and joins to the war between the Gup and the Chup. The
‘We have sent messages to Cultmaster Khattam-Shud,’ continued the Speaker of the Chatterbox. ‘These messages concerned both the vile poison being injected into the Ocean of the Streams of Story, and the abduction of Princess Batcheat. We demanded that he put a stop to the pollution and also return, within seven hours, the kidnapped Lady. Neither demand has been met. I have to inform you, therefore, that a state of war now exists between the Lands of Gup and Chup.’ (1990: 91).
The war is declared! The conflict is between Haroun and the society
condition. It makes Haroun feel disappointed; because of war he can not meet the
Walrus at P2C2E and Haroun has to join the Guppees fighting the Chupwalas to save
the Ocean and the Princess.
Iff the Water Genie put on his most winning expression.
‘Well, now it’s war, young Thieflet,’ he said with mock-regret. ‘That means nobody at P2C2E House will have any time for your little request. You may as well hand back that Disconnecting Tool; then, what do you say, I’ll have you taken home for nothing, completely free! There—what could be fairer than that?’ (1990: 91)
The flow of the story becomes more complicated as Rashid Khalifa, the
unhappy Shah of Blah, is in Kahani and has been accused as a spy of Chupwalas.
Haroun who rudely makes through the crowd and finally arrives under the Palace
balcony, advocates his father, “He’s not a spy” (1990: 98). Both of them are surprised
of the presence of each in Kahani.
The other problem happens when Blabbermouth says casually, “I took the
that Blabbermouth can do that. The Disconnector has been given back to Iff and
Haroun has no idea how to make Iff the Water Genie brings him to the Walrus.
When Guppee Army, Rashid and Haroun go to the Land of Chup and pass the
Twilight Strip to war, the readers are informed that the villain separates himself in
two different places. In other words, there are two Khattam-Shuds, the shadow and
the real one.
…, because Mudra’s ‘words’ were being translated by Rashid. ‘As I told you, there are now two Khattam-Shuds. One of them, at this very moment, has Princess Batcheat captive in the Citadel of Chup, and is planning to sew up her lips on the Feast of Bezaban. The other, as you should know, is in the Old Zone, where he is plotting the ruination of the Ocean of the Streams of Story.’ (1990: 135-136)
The fight between Guppees and Chupwalas becomes more complicated just
because there are two Khattam-Shuds; the real Khattam-Shud and his shadow.
Haroun, by his own will, wants to be a spy for Khattam-Shud in the Old Zone. He has
his own reason to be a volunteer. At first, Haroun’s aim in Kahani is to talk to Walrus
to give Rashid’s water’s supply back; now as it turns, he wants do something for the
Ocean.
This condition makes Haroun face the conflict with the shadow of
Khattam-Shud in the Old Zone. Haroun has chosen companions to reach the Old Zone, they
are the Iff the Water Genie, Butt the Hoopoe, Plentimaw Fishes, Goopy and Bagha
who bubbles along in their wake, and the old Floating Gardener, Mali, with his lilac
lips and hat of roots walking on the water on their side.
There are two separated teams now. While Haroun and the companions go to
the Old Zone, Rashid and others go to the Chup city. The battle of Guppees and
Chupwalas begins. The Pages of Gup talks everything fully, fights hard, remains
united, supports each other and all those arguments and debates, all that openness has
created powerful bonds of fellowship between them. The Chupwalas, on the other
hand, many of them actually do not stand shoulder to shoulder. They betray one
another, and they have no faith between each other. This situation makes the
Chupwalas simply throw down their weapons and run away. The Guppees win (1990:
184-185).
Back to Haroun and companions, they go to the South Pole where there is a
Wellspring or Source of Stories. On the way, the obstacles come to them, the waters
of the Ocean are growing thicker and colder. The Streams of Story are dark and it
makes the Plentimaw Fishes unable to continue their journey (1990: 140). Mali the
Floating Gardener goes forward to clear the way, but a moment later he nowhere to
be seen. Haroun, Iff and Butt continue the journey until they are caught by a Web of
Night, a weapon of Chupwalas (1990: 142). They are neatly wrapped and brought to
In ‘The Dark Ship’ chapter of the novel, Haorun faces the shadow of
Khattam-Shud in the Dark Ship. Haroun has to defeat this Khattam-Shud, who keeps
on producing the poison to ruin the Ocean. So, Haroun must prevent the deed of
Khattam-Shud to pollute the Ocean and plug the Wellspring of the Ocean. In this
complication part, the conflict between Haroun and Khattam-Shud is revealed. They
are not engaged in a direct combat, but the conflict is about the effort of Haroun
trying to release himself and Iff from the Chupwalas. It begins when Mali breaks
down the Generator of the Dark Ship, giving Haroun a chance to use Bite-a-Lite to
make a light because the light causes the Chupwalas go blind. The light also makes
the Khattam-Shud reels back from the glare (1990: 165).
All of these explanations show the conflicts as the problems, the difficulties or
the obstacles faced by Haroun, the main character. It reflects the difficulties that
Haroun is facing for getting back the ability of his father; but in the process of getting
back the ability, he should face other problems to be accomplished: to save the Ocean
and the kidnapped princess by defeating the villain Khattam-Shud.
This is the end of complication element of the plot because it moves on to the
next stage, the crisis.
c. Crisis
As already explained before, crisis is the separation between what has gone
main character. In this subplot part, the main character faces his internal conflict and
realizes that he must make a decision.
In the subplot, the crisis starts when Haroun can release himself from the
Chupwalas by diving into the poisoned Ocean.
As he hit the water, a terrible feeling of hopelessness overcame him. ‘What are you going to do, Haroun?’ he asked himself. ‘Swim all the way back to Gup City?’ (1990: 167)
Haroun, who should prevent the deed of Khattam-Shud to poison the Ocean
and to plug the Wellspring, does not understand what he should do until he finds the
Plug which is about the size of a football stadium and very roughly oval that built by
the teams of Chupwala. It is constructed to fit precisely into the Wellspring. While
Haroun wonders of wonders, he watches the unpolluted stories bubbling up from the
very heart of Kahani, and then he understands what to do with the Ocean. The
renewed Streams of Story will clean the polluted waters.
as Haroun watched, the glowing flow of pure, unpolluted stories came bubbling up from the very heart of Kahani. There were so many Streams of Story, of so many different colours, all pouring out of the Source at once, that it looked like a huge underwater fountain of shining white light. In that moment Haroun understood that if he could prevent the Source from being Plugged, everything would eventually be all right again. The renewed Streams of Story would cleanse the polluted waters, and Khattam-Shud’s plan would fail (1990: 168)
At the time he hopes that there is something that he could do. Seemingly by
chance, he feels a bulge in the nightshirt pocket beneath. Then Haroun remembers
all (1990: 168). What is in the pocket is the Wishwater and it is still half-full of the
magical golden liquid which Iff the Water Genie has offered him. He wants to make a
wish to save the Ocean and defeat the Khattam-Shud. The wish is to rotate the
Kahani. Haroun believes that this wish can defeat the Khattam-Shud.
The sequence of events presented just now show that Haroun has an internal
conflict what he should do to save the Ocean. Yet finally he realizes what he should
do when he feels something in his nightshirt pocket. He makes a decision of what he
should do is that he needs to make a wish to defeat the Khattam-Shud so the Ocean is
not polluted and the Wellspring keeps unplugged. And all of these explanations can
be considered as crisis of the story. The next phase of subplot is climax, the turning
point of the story.
d. Climax
In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, this part is reflected as the Kahani is rotating. Haroun accomplishes his mission to save the Ocean by rotating the Kahani
which is make the villain Khattam-Shud defeated.
Haroun reaches into his other nightshirt pocket, in which he finds a small
bottle made of many-faceted crystal with a little golden cap. The bottle is still
half-full of the magical golden liquid which Iff the Water Genie had offered him. It is the
Wishwater (1990: 170). Haroun drinks it and starts wishing.
to turn, so that it’s no longer half in light and half in darkness . . . I wish it to turn, this very instant, in such a way that the sun shines down on the Dark Ship, the full, hot, noonday sun.’
‘That’s some wish,’ said Butt the Hoopoe’s voice admiringly. ‘This will be pretty interesting. It’s your willpower against the Processes Too Complicated To Explain.’ (1990: 170-171)
The wish of Haroun is completely against the P2C2E House that has already
arranged Gup in light, while Chup in dark. Haroun wishes with his eyes shut tight,
concentrating. Finally, the Kahani rotates.
And then, with a mighty shuddering and a mighty juddering, Haroun Khalifa’s wish came true.
The Moon Kahani turned—quickly, because as Haroun had specified during his wishing, there was little time to be lost—and the sun rose, at high speed, and zoomed up into the sky until it was directly overhead; where it remained (1990: 171).
The Moon Kahani rotates, Haroun’s mission is accomplished. Khattam-Shud
in the Old Zone disappeared as the sunlight showers into it. The Shadows can not
remain solid in that brightness and the ship starts to melt away, so does
Khattam-Shud.
‘Look,’ yelled Haroun. ‘Look what’s happening to the ship!’
The sunlight had undone the black magic of the Cultmaster Khattam-Shud. Shadows could not remain solid in that brightness; and the huge ship itself had started to melt, had started losing its shape, as if it were a mountain of ice-cream left out in the sun by mistake (1990: 173).
No shadow could survive without someone or something to be attached to. The
Cultmaster, or to be precise his Shadow, is nowhere to be seen. The poison also
