The Importance of Stories In Haroun And The Sea Of Stories

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The Importance of Stories In Haroun And The Sea Of Stories
To many people stories are just a way to pass time, to escape from reality, that they do not serve any real purpose. However in Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie If there are no stories then many of the characters lives would be changed drastically
Fictional stories are important to the Khalifa family since they rely on them for a career and emotions to their lives. The stories that Rashid tells make many people trust in him and like him because he always “admitted that everything he told them was completely untrue and made up” (Rushdie 20) and, because people had trust in him the politicians would want him to tell a story at their rally which would provide him a job. This is apparent when the narrator says, “…the politicos needed Rashid to help them win the people’s votes. They lined up outside his door with their shiny faces and fake smiles and bags of hard cash” (Rushdie, 20). Rashid is usually hired by politicians to tell good stories about them so that they will win their elections and he will get paid. If Rashid was not known for his stories he would not have had a job, there would be no ocean of notions or shah of blah he would be a jobless man. For Rashid stories are more than just a hobby or entertainment. Moreover stories affect Soraya Khalifa by making her get upset and unhappy with her husband (Rashid Khalifa). As Rashid would leave to tell his stories Soraya would become more and more miserable and sad because Rashid paid little to no attention to her. Soraya loved to sing but:
Then something went wrong. (Maybe the sadness of the city finally crept in through their windows.) The day Soraya stopped singing in the middle of a line if someo...

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...protection. The effect of not having stories would be absolutely destructive because they would be lost without the stories.

Within the fictional worlds of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the characters realize that stories are not mere entertainment, but are crucial to their lives. Fictional stories are crucial pieces to Rashid Khalifa since he relies on them for a career and brings him enjoyment. They are also important to a politician because storytelling is a critical part of a politician’s survival and livelihood since they rely on the storytellers to persuade and convince people to vote for them. Most importantly they are important to Guppees since they depend on stories to be the source of all there speaking, and the pages of Gup (the army) they depend on stories to help them fight. All in all stories can

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