character arcs in the prophet's hair

8/12/2019 Character Arcs in the Prophet's Hair

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Ian IrachetaLetras Inglesas, Colegio de Letras Modernas

UNAM

Types of Characters in The Prophets Hairby Salman Rushdie

Without a doubt, one of the aspects that is most emphasized in Salman Rushdies The

Prophets Hair is the transformation the character of Hashim undergoes because of the

peripetea Mohammeds ancient relic engenders; However, by virtue of the abundant

attention paid to it, or rather, as a consequence of it, another feature that is illuminated is

the very schism between the two types of personages with whom the story deals.

In very blunt terms, we can see that every character in the story can be easily pigeonholed

into one of two categories: Either they are forced to endure vicissitudes regarding their

modus vivendi, thatis to say, the change they suffer is external, or they are compelled to

undergo an internal metamorphosis which can even change their personality. Hereafter

the former characters will be referred to as static and the latter as dynamic. This essay

is to analyse and contrast the characters of Atta and Hashim and illustrate the way in

which they fit into the aforementioned categories.

Even though that, by definition, static characters are intrinsically more flat than

their dynamic counterparts, this by no means entails that their role in a short story is

devoid of any action; however, often the turmoil they endure has the sole purpose of

advancing the plot. In blunt terms, their only reason to appear in the story at all is to

function as the literary contrivance that affects other characters. This quality is perfectly

crystallized in the persona of Atta. In fact, his character arc is so unimportant that his story

is told almost in its entirety in the first two paragraphs of the text. At first he is introduced

as a young man upon whose cold-pinked skin there lay, like a frost, the unmistakable


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sheen of wealth, [who is seen] entering the most wretched and disreputable part of the

city. Just a few lines after that we see him suffering terribly from exposure as well as a

broken skull [and entering] a coma which [causes] the citys finest doctors to shrug

helplessly.

The fact that his whole story is told so abruptly is the way the author has of

implying that it is not by any means transcendent in terms of itself. Even though Atta

actually loses consciousness and eventually dies, he does not under any circumstances

undergo a meaningful transformation, when compared to that of, for example, Hashim.

This is taken to its most laughable zenith when, even after he almost gets killed, Atta is

still described in similar terms, as evidenced in this quote, and on whose now deathly

pale skin the sheen of wealth could still be made out dimly beneath an actual layer of

frost. The reason this character is developed in such a perfunctorily manner, and

throughout such a measly portion of the text is that his only purpose is to influence his

sisters future actions. Far from being a human being, he only serves as a bad exa mple

from which Huma can profit. Rushdie uses Attas calamity as a way to teach Huma that

indiscretion and imprudence are not the way to go about hiring a thief.

Sitting at the other end of the scale is the character of Hashim, who is the most well-

developed character out of the entire panoply. Even before he undergoes his

transformation we can see his psychological complexity. He is described as a character

that makes a priority out of living honourably in the world, yet is severely unscrupulous

when it comes to doing his job. The way Rushdie solves this contradiction is by bestowing


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upon the character of Hashim a heavily convoluted psyche that is capable of rationalizing

the biggest indiscretions and, through loops and alibis, is able to justify his most amoral

behaviour. He states that the only reason the moneylender asks for an interest rate of 71

per cent is to teach these people the value of money. Hashim also adds that if they

were to only learn that, they will be cured of this fever of borrowing, borrowing all the

time. From this, we perceive that, completely unlike the psychological treatment Atta

receives, Hashims psyche is so thoroughly developed that, at least in his own mind, he is

able to convincingly disguise greed as altruism, or at the very least convince his wife about

it.

In conclusion, it is important to notice that the character development that a personage

receives is not proportional to the immensity of the events that he is forced to endure. We

can see how Atta goes from being young and vibrant to being in a coma, to actually dying,

without so much as his wealthy complexionchanging. And even though he suffers

through all these events, the changes he goes through tell us a lot less about him than

what we learn about the character of Hashim, even without taking into account his

transformation into a religious fanatic.

character arcs in the prophet's hair

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