"The devil made me do it"

ENL4014

“The Devil Made Me Do It”
Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses is a complex novel exploring identity. With its opening lines “To be born again…first you have to die,” sang by the character of Gibreel Farishta as he and Saladin Chamcha fell towards the English Channel, the novel sets the scene for an erratic journey through religion and individuality. (Versus 3) Rushdie draws upon multiple plots, cultural diversity, wavering religion tolerance, and personal liberties to bring about questions within the minds’ of readers. It is by no means a definitive stance supporting or opposing a particular religion or political viewpoint. Literary critics Bennet and Royle explain that “literature has an evil streak” and The Satanic Verses takes full advantage of the demons in literature. (B& R 154)
It should not be mistaken; Rushdie’s novel is not 500 pages of demonic language supporting Satanism. It is highly complex, composed of verbose metaphorical langua...