54 pages • 1 hour read
Salman RushdieA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
As well as being the title of the novel, shame is an important theme. Every character has some relation to shame as an abstract idea, even if they completely reject it. The most pertinent character in this regard is Omar. Throughout Part 1, Omar is taught to feel no shame. His three mothers recuse themselves from society rather than share the identity of his father or reveal which of them actually gave birth to him. Because their lives are shaped so dramatically by the shame that society has placed upon them, they are determined that their son will not feel the same way. As such, the sole condition for his exit from the house in which he spends the first 12 years of his life is that he should never feel shame. Omar immediately accedes to this condition and applies it quite religiously throughout his shameless (and yet very shameful) life of debauchery, abuse, and excess. Whenever other members of society attempt to place shame upon him, he refuses to bear their shame and eventually grows to become one of the most shameless men in the country. Omar’s debauched lifestyle is famous throughout the country, and his inability to feel any shame for his actions becomes an integral part of his character.
By Salman Rushdie
East, West
Salman Rushdie
Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies
Salman Rushdie
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Salman Rushdie
Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991
Salman Rushdie
Joseph Anton: A Memoir
Salman Rushdie
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
Salman Rushdie
Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie
Quichotte
Salman Rushdie
Shalimar the Clown
Salman Rushdie
The Enchantress Of Florence
Salman Rushdie
The Golden House
Salman Rushdie
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Salman Rushdie
The Moor's Last Sigh
Salman Rushdie
The Satanic Verses
Salman Rushdie
Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights
Salman Rushdie
Victory City
Salman Rushdie
Allegories of Modern Life
View Collection
Asian American & Pacific Islander...
View Collection
Colonialism Unit
View Collection
Historical Fiction
View Collection
Indian Literature
View Collection
Magical Realism
View Collection
Nation & Nationalism
View Collection
Pride & Shame
View Collection
The Booker Prizes Awardees & Honorees
View Collection