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Part 3, Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Satanic Verses, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Fallibility of Prophets
Immigration and Identity
Religion and Blasphemy
Racial Prejudice and Xenophobia
Metamorphosis and Identity
Summary
Analysis
In the days after the police take Saladin away, Rosa begins telling Gibreel stories from her past. As Rosa is talking, Gibreel thinks about how he no longer feels in control of himself. He does not know why he did not help Saladin and regrets his inaction. Additionally, Gibreel realizes that he has completely ignored his quest to find Allie (Alleluia Cone). He wonders whether there is something wrong with him.
Gibreel’s regret over not helping Saladin and his neglect of his quest to find Allie reveal a deep internal conflict. This uncertainty suggests that Gibreel’s identity is fracturing. He starts to question his own motives and sanity, which reflects the novel’s broader theme of characters struggling with their sense of self in a world that constantly challenges their identity.
Themes
Rosa’s narrative is filled with memories of her time in Argentina, where she lived with her husband, Enrique, on their vast estate. Rosa reveals that her marriage to Enrique was more of a necessity than a love match. Enrique’s passion was reserved for birds, leaving Rosa longing for something more. She would often walk out into the plains at night, lying on her back to gaze at the stars and feel a deep sense of joy and wonder.
Rosa’s stories about her life in Argentina demonstrate her deep-seated longing for something beyond her reality. These memories allow her to reclaim a sense of joy and wonder, which contrasts sharply with the present situation she faces. Although the past is not perfect, she prefers it to the present and cannot help but return to it.
Themes
Gibreel finds himself increasingly drawn into Rosa’s stories, which transport him to the past. Rosa’s stories reveal her longings and regrets, particularly regarding her relationship with Martin de la Cruz, a man with whom she was in love. As Rosa talks about Martin, Gibreel experiences strange physical sensations, including a painful tugging in his navel. One night, Rosa tells Gibreel that he looks just like Martin, which causes him intense pain.
Rosa’s recollections of Martin de la Cruz and the love she felt for him parallel Gibreel’s own longing and lost sense of purpose. The strange sensations Gibreel feels—like the painful tugging in his navel—suggest that some force is psychically linking him to Rosa’s past. When she mentions that he looks like Martin, the intense pain he experiences indicates that Rosa’s memories are beginning to possess him, further dissolving the boundaries between his identity and hers.
Themes
A few days later, Rosa’s birthday arrives, so Gibreel takes her into a nearby village to buy her cake and champagne. Gibreel, now fully in love with Rosa for reasons he cannot explain, hardly remembers his previous life. While Rosa chats with the baker, Gibreel experiences yet another jolt of pain. Later that night, Rosa celebrates her birthday with Gibreel. They dance until dawn, but the exertion proves too much for Rosa, who collapses the next day with a fever. As Rosa lies in bed, delirious, Gibreel begins to see visions of Martin de la Cruz, as well as other figures from Rosa’s past. The visions become more intense, and Gibreel realizes that Rosa’s will is holding him captive. Gibreel compares the experience to when the Prophet Mahound compelled him to speak in his dreams.
As Gibreel becomes more enamored with Rosa, his previous life fades into the background, symbolizing his descent into her world. His mysterious love for her seems to have no rational basis, suggesting that he has fully absorbed her narrative and lost his grip on his own. The jolts of pain he feels while in the village mirror his earlier sensations, reinforcing the idea that Rosa’s memories are physically affecting him. The birthday celebration, where they dance until dawn, completes his immersion into Rosa’s reality, where time and personal history lose all meaning.
Themes
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Rosa’s fever-induced delirium brings forth more memories, including the time when Martin de la Cruz rowed her to a mysterious white island for a picnic. Rosa’s memories are fragmented, and she cannot decide whether she and Martin gave in to their desires or if she resisted him. Gibreel, now fully ensnared in Rosa’s dream world, experiences the conflicting versions of the story as if they are happening to him. As Rosa’s life slips away, Gibreel’s experience with her memories becomes increasingly intense. Then, as Rosa’s dies, Gibreel feels his own life slipping away. He worries that he might die as a result of her death.
Rosa’s fever-driven memories, particularly of her ambiguous encounter with Martin de la Cruz on the white island, blur the lines between reality and fantasy for Gibreel. He becomes fully trapped in her dream world, experiencing her conflicting memories as if they are his own. The comparison to Mahound compelling him in dreams suggests that Gibreel’s struggle with agency spans both his divine and human experiences. This entrapment highlights how powerful memories can dominate and reshape an individual’s reality.
Themes
Finally, Rosa dies and the weight on Gibreel lifts. He feels like he can leave her house and return to his life in London. However, as he heads down to the beach, he hears singing coming from an old boathouse. Inside, Gibreel finds Rosa, who appears to him as a young woman—the same version of her that Gibreel has been seeing while experiencing her memories. Rosa beckons for Gibreel to lies down next to her on the floor of the boathouse, which he does.
Rosa’s death lifts the immediate weight off Gibreel, suggesting a brief return to his own reality. However, the sight of a young Rosa in the boathouse hints that her narrative still holds sway over him. This final vision blurs the line between life and death, memory and reality. Rosa’s beckoning suggests that Gibreel may remain forever ensnared in her memories or, at least, that his encounter with her will haunt him for a long time to come.
Themes
