The Shamelessness of the Elite and the Fury of the Repressed: A Study of Salman Rushdie’s Shame

Abstract

The present article relates how Rushdie blends the personal and political, fictional and realistic strands to portray how shame affects individuals in many forms on many occasions in their lives. Rushdie tries to prove in his inimitable and mesmerizing style that the antonym of shame, in the context of Pakistani politics has been not honour but shamelessness on the part of the elite.  The closed and authoritarian society portrayed in the novel has caused suffering and repression of women characters such as Rani, Harappa, Bilquis, Sufiya, and Arjumand who have stooped to conquer, and male protagonists like Iskander Harappa, and Raza Hyder pursued their ambition ruthlessly but ended in ignominy, incarceration and tragic end. Contemporary heroes lack heroic qualities.  Democracy in Pakistan has become a football between corrupt politicians and the military. Religion has become an idiom used by both the parties in more belligerent terms when not in power to raise their credentials to be in power as an apt counter force to its big neighbour from whom it was separated. Shamelessness is the power game of the elite at the expense of the people.  Honour lies in realizing that democracy means not only the rule by the majority but also the tolerance and equal treatment of the minority, be it religious or national.