Shame: Analysis of Major Characters
The analysis of major characters in the work "Shame" delves into the complex lives and relationships of several key figures, set against a backdrop that mirrors the socio-political landscape of Pakistan. Central to the narrative is Omar Khayyam Shakil, an antihero who feels detached from his own life and is shaped by the influences of those around him, including his three mysterious mothers and his friend Iskander Harappa. Iskander, a charismatic and ruthless prime minister, rises to power through manipulation and social programs, only to be overthrown by his rival, General Raza Hyder, who symbolizes the transition to an Islamic theocratic state.
Sufiya Zinobia Hyder, Raza's daughter and Omar's wife, embodies innocence and purity but is also a vessel for suppressed rage, leading to violent outbreaks that reflect the turmoil of the society around her. The characters of Bilquis and Rani, the supportive yet sidelined wives, highlight the personal failures of their husbands and the consequences of their political ambitions. The narrative explores themes of power, shame, and the tragic outcomes of political aspirations, offering insights into the consequences of personal and societal conflicts. Through these characters, "Shame" presents a poignant critique of the interplay between individual lives and broader socio-political dynamics.
Shame: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Salman Rushdie
First published: 1983
Genre: Novel
Locale: Pakistan
Plot: Magical realism
Time: c. 1920 through the early 1980's
Omar Khayyam Shakil, a physician friend of Iskander Harappa and son-in-law of General Raza Hyder. Omar is an antihero who describes himself as peripheral to his own life. He grows up in a secluded, crumbling palace on what seems to him like the edge of the world, in an unnamed country that has all the attributes of Pakistan. His mother is one of three sisters who reveal to no one, including Omar, which of the three gave birth to him or who his father is. At the age of twelve, he leaves home for school. He becomes a physician and engages in a life of debauchery with Iskander Harappa. He becomes obsessed with and marries Sufiya Zinobia Hyder, the retarded daughter of General Hyder. His life is always shaped by other actors—by his three mothers and by Iskander, Raza, and Sufiya. He is finally executed when he is about sixty-five years old, accused, wrongly, of having killed General Hyder.
Chhunni (CHEW-nee), Munnee, and Bunny Shakil, Omar's three mothers. They live walled off from the world, receiving supplies into their mansion through a dumbwaiter. After Omar leaves, they have another son, Babar. Babar is killed by General Raza Hyder. Years later, the three women execute General Hyder, an act that results in Omar's death.
Iskander Harappa, the prime minister, a character based on Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Iskander is a rich playboy until his friends and relatives begin to gain high positions in society. Out of competitive sense, not social concern, he becomes serious, giving up his playboy life. He uses his charm and a radical program of “Islamic socialism” to gain power, based on mass support. Cynical and ruthless, he becomes prime minister and places his friend and competitor, General Raza Hyder, in command of the army. Iskander rules for four years, is jailed for two, and is then executed after Raza takes over. He returns as a ghostly adviser to General Hyder, reading to him from Niccolo Machiavelli's works.
Raza Hyder, a general and president. Raza, based on Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq, is a short, mustachioed, proud man with impeccable manners and a deceiving air of humility. His forehead is marked by the gatta, a permanent bruise stemming from fervent praying with his forehead on the floor. After he overthrows Iskander, he rejects the prime minister's social program and creates an Islamic theocratic state. When he loses power, he flees, dressed as a woman, with Omar. Omar's mothers kill him.
Sufiya Zinobia Hyder, the daughter of General Raza Hyder and wife of Omar Shakil. Sufiya, called Shame by her mother, is retarded, symbolizing purity and innocence. She is a saintly figure who absorbs the shame of those around her who commit brutal acts. Shame, internalized, emerges as rage and violence, in nations or individuals. At the age of twelve, the shy, quiet girl kills 218 turkeys, pulling their heads off and their entrails out. After Omar marries her, she erupts in violence again, killing several men, pulling their heads off after having sex with them. Omar keeps her sedated and chained for months before she breaks free and turns into a legendary white panther, killing people all over Pakistan, creating part of the uproar that leads to the overthrow of her father and, indirectly, leads to his and Omar's deaths. The white panther then disappears, never to be heard from again; it is perhaps, the narrator says, a collective fantasy of an oppressed people.
Maulana Dawood (mah-LAHN-ah), an Islamic divine, a serpent, the narrator says, who becomes a spiritual adviser to General Hyder. When Dawood dies, he joins Iskander as a ghostly presence sitting on General Hyder's shoulders. He pours Islamic fundamentalism into the general's right ear while Iskander reads Machiavelli into his left.
Bilquis Hyder and Rani Harappa, the wives of Raza and Iskander. Both are publicly honored but privately ignored as their husbands begin their rise to power. Both accept their subordination quietly. Bilquis sinks into eccentricity and madness. Rani knits shawls, recording the memory of her husband, who achieves quasi-sainthood after his death. Her shawl shows him as he really was: a philandering, authoritarian, ruthless man, determined to obliterate his opponents rather than merely defeat them. The wives symbolize their husbands' failures as statesmen. Men cannot create democratic societies, as Iskander wanted, or moral theocracies, as Raza wanted, if they cannot tolerate freedom and justice in their personal lives.