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Part 3, Chapter 3
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
Jumpy Joshi becomes Pamela Chamcha’s lover on the same night she hears about Saladin’s supposed death in the plane explosion. Jumpy finds himself in a difficult position when Saladin, thought to be dead, calls in the middle of the night and hangs up after Jumpy answers the phone. Pamela, half-asleep with a blackout mask over her eyes, asks who it was, and Jumpy, flustered, dismisses it as a wrong number. Left alone to wrestle with the implications of Saladin’s call, Jumpy sits up in bed, naked and anxious, sucking his thumb for comfort—a habit he has had since childhood and has never outgrown.
Jumpy Joshi immediately spirals into anxiety when he realizes Saladin may not be dead after all. His response—sucking his thumb like a child—reveals how deeply unprepared he feels for the moral mess he’s stepped into. His affair with Pamela happens too soon after Saladin’s supposed death, and the sudden call brings back all his guilt and fear. Jumpy’s inner turmoil shows how shaky his sense of morality is and how his long-standing friendship with Saladin complicates his desires.
Themes
Jumpy struggles with guilt and fear over Saladin’s sudden reappearance. He resents Saladin for returning from the dead in such a dramatic fashion, seeing it as an indecent and operatic act. As he lies in Pamela’s bed, he reflects on how he rushed to Pamela’s side the moment he heard of Saladin’s death. When he arrived, Pamela appeared surprisingly composed, even detached. She told Jumpy that Saladin’s death would only leave a small hole in her life, which shocks Jumpy, who has been friends with Saladin since childhood and was deeply upset when he heard about Saladin’s demise.
Jumpy’s annoyance at Saladin’s dramatic return from the dead suggests more than just fear—it also shows a sense of rivalry. He resents how Saladin, even in death (or near death), steals the spotlight. Meanwhile, Pamela’s reaction to Saladin’s supposed death—her coldness and detachment—reveals how far their marriage has deteriorated. Her statement that Saladin’s absence would leave only a “small hole” in her life speaks to a relationship already hollowed out by unmet expectations and emotional distance.
Themes
Pamela, who had started drinking hours before Jumpy arrived, poured herself yet another drink. Jumpy, who doesn’t usually drink, joined her. As the night wore on, Pamela began to express her frustrations with her marriage to Saladin. In particular, she complained about Saladin’s obsession with his idealized version of England—a place that in his mind remains a picture-postcard fantasy of the Royal Family, cricket, and the Houses of Parliament. Pamela confessed that Saladin’s inability to see the reality of their life together created a growing distance between them.
Pamela lays bare her frustration with Saladin’s fixation on an England that doesn’t exist. His fantasies about a “picture-postcard” England reflect his deeper disconnection from reality and from her. She feels trapped in a marriage where Saladin’s idealized dreams of England overshadow the actual complexities of their life together. This tension between illusion and reality speaks to a broader theme in the novel about identity and belonging, particularly in a multicultural landscape that doesn’t fit neatly into anyone’s fantasies.
Themes
The night of drinking led to an unexpected intimacy between Pamela and Jumpy. Jumpy, who has never felt secure with women, finds himself feeling surprisingly comfortable with Pamela. Everything is going well until Jumpy receives Saladin’s aborted phone call. Although Jumpy keeps the call to himself at first, he increasingly feels as though Saladin is still alive. When he expresses this belief to Pamela, she begins crying uncontrollably, refusing to believe her husband is alive.
The unexpected closeness between Pamela and Jumpy suggests a shared need for comfort in the wake of chaos, but Saladin’s aborted call throws a shadow over their connection. When Jumpy admits his belief that Saladin might still be alive, Pamela’s emotional breakdown reveals her conflicting desires—part of her wants to move on, while another part refuses to let go of the past.
Themes
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This sparks a series of conversations about Pamela’s marriage to Saladin. Pamela sites one instance, in particular, that she thinks summarizes their marriage, which relates to the Falklands War. She recounts how Saladin used a metaphor of intruders in a home to justify the war, only for her to counter with a more accurate metaphor about two people claiming ownership of a house. This disagreement had been emblematic of the growing divide between them, with Saladin clinging to his idealized England.
Pamela’s recounting of her and Saladin’s argument over the Falklands War goes beyond politics—it cuts to the heart of their incompatibility. Saladin’s simplistic metaphor of home invasion compared to Pamela’s more nuanced one about shared ownership speaks volumes about their divide. He clings to a black-and-white view of England and identity, whereas Pamela demands a more complex, layered understanding.
Themes
In the morning, Pamela frantically contacts the airline to determine whether Saladin could have survived the crash. Despite the airline’s assurances that no survivors exist, she refuses to believe it. In a state of overwhelmed frustration, Pamela lashes out at Jumpy and orders him to leave. Desperate to escape the turmoil, Pamela decides to drive away, seeking solace in an expensive country hotel. As she speeds down the motorway, she reflects on her marriage to Saladin and the mismatched expectations that lead to its breakdown. She realizes that each was chasing something that the other could never provide. Pamela speeds through the rain until she hits a patch of water and loses control. The car spins out, narrowly avoiding a collision. Miraculously, she survives, though the experience frightens her.
When Pamela tries to reach the airline and gets stonewalled, her frustration boils over. She takes off, seeking escape, but her near-death experience on the road feels like a metaphor for her whole marriage—hurtling forward without control, narrowly avoiding disaster. Water, while typically a symbol of rebirth and renewal, is a catalyst for violence and near-death in this instance. Pamela’s reflection in the hotel, surrounded by luxury, gives her a sense of clarity. She realizes she and Saladin never really understood each other, that both chased after something the other could never provide.
Themes
After her near accident, Pamela arrives at the hotel, where she indulges in luxury to soothe her frayed nerves. She drinks expensive wine, eats a lavish meal, and reflects on the burdens of her past—the legacy of her conservative upbringing, her strained relationship with her parents, and her father’s disapproval, which still remains in her mind at all times. As she relaxes in the opulent surroundings, she resolves to leave Saladin and start a new life, feeling a renewed sense of freedom and determination.
Jumpy’s brief reconciliation with Pamela, marked by intense physicality, suggests that both are still trying to fill the void left by Saladin’s presence—or absence. Yet, their brief connection crumbles when confronted with the reality of their actions and the return of the very thing they are trying to escape.
Themes
Meanwhile, after being thrown out by Pamela, Jumpy seeks refuge at the Shaandaar Café in Brickhall. He sits there, trying to make sense of his feelings, wondering if he has been a fool for getting involved with Pamela. The café owner, Mr. Sufyan, teases Jumpy, trying to lift his spirits. However, the light-hearted banter does not get through to Jumpy. Eventually, Pamela and Jumpy make up and then spend seven days together making love. However, on the seventh day, someone tries breaking into Pamela’s house. Terrified, Pamela and Jumpy arm themselves with makeshift weapons and creep downstairs. When they reach the bottom of the stairs, they confront a horrifying sight—a creature covered in mud, ice, and blood that looks part human, part goat. Pamela runs upstairs in fear while screaming that Saladin died in the plane explosion.
The chapter closes with Pamela and Jumpy facing what appears to be the monstrous form of Saladin. Pamela’s terrified reaction—screaming that Saladin is dead—captures the unresolved tension and fear surrounding his return. It demonstrates how Saladin, who represents a deeper personal conflict, cannot simply be ignored. The figure at the door stands as a haunting reminder that unresolved issues have a way of breaking back into one’s life, demanding confrontation. Even though Pamela does not want to face Saladin, she is going to have to.
Themes
