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Storytelling in the Information Age
When fiction tells the truth in Rushdie’s ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’
Once upon a time…
Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, when man hadn’t yet learnt to write, Flahn sat by the fire inside his cave one cold winter night wondering about life, death, and legacy.
He asked his wife, “Who do you think will remember me after I am dead? Who will ever know what a good hunter I was?”
Umhana smirked at him, amused.
“Why do you want to be remembered after death?” she inquired.
“Why, dear, how else will our sons and daughters, and their sons and daughters know how we lived?”
“Just like we know about our forefathers,” replied his wife.
“Yes, but we just know what our parents told us. And how can we be sure that they were telling us the truth about the dead?”
She was taken aback. For the first time her husband had said something that made sense.
That night, as Flahn slept soundly, exhausted from the day’s work, snoring loudly, Umhana kept thinking about what her husband had said. When she finally fell asleep, strange shapes appeared in her dreams. Flahn’s body broke into lines, and then they came together in…
