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Part 3, Chapter 4
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
Gibreel, seated in a first-class, non-smoking compartment on a train to London, feels an overwhelming fear that God has decided to drive him insane as punishment for his loss of faith. The fear of being unmade by what he no longer believes in—the terror of turning into the avatar of a chimerical archangel—consumes him. He struggles to rationalize the miracles, metamorphoses, and apparitions he has recently witnessed, wondering whether he is truly going insane of if someone has altered the rules of reality.
Gibreel imagines God not as a benevolent force but as something vindictive and cruel determined to punish him for his wavering belief. This thought exposes Gibreel’s struggle with his own faith, where the boundary between belief and disbelief becomes a source of torment. The fear of becoming an avatar for an imagined archangel shows how his mind twists under the weight of his internal contradictions.
Themes
The mundane surroundings of the railway compartment comfort Gibreel. The frayed armrests, the non-working reading light, and the missing mirror all provide a reassuring sense of normalcy. A visit to the toilet, complete with a set of instructions and prohibitions, calms him even more. By the time the conductor arrives to punch his ticket, Gibreel starts to feel more at ease, inventing rational explanations for his recent experiences. He convinces himself that he survived a brush with death, experienced a delirium, and is now returning to his planned new life.
Gibreel’s focus on ordinary details suggests a yearning for a simpler reality, where everything makes sense and follows logical rules. The visit to the toilet, with its clear instructions, gives him a sense of control, which is something he desperately seeks amid the chaos of his mind. The comfort he finds in these small, mundane things highlights his desperation to ground himself in a version of reality that doesn’t involve miracles or madness.
Themes
Feeling the pull of London, Gibreel moves across the compartment to sit facing forward, eager to embrace the city and his future. He speaks the name of his lover, “Alleluia,” aloud, only to be startled when the compartment’s only other occupant responds with a jovial “Alleluia, brother.” The stranger, John Maslama, takes Gibreel’s exclamation as a social and theological overture, causing him to launch into a speech about his non-denominational beliefs. He introduces himself and hands Gibreel a business card, explaining that he follows his own version of a universal faith.
When Gibreel speaks Alleluia’s name and John Maslama responds, the narrative takes a sharp turn into the surreal. Here, belief and reality collide in a jarring way. Maslama’s character, confident and overly familiar, embodies a kind of spiritual salesmanship that reflects the novel’s broader commentary on how people can commodify faith. His business card and non-denominational speech represent the blending of spiritual and capitalist ventures, where belief becomes just another product to market.
Themes
Gibreel quickly realizes that Maslama intends to talk his ear off. Maslama, dressed in bespoke tailoring and exuding the confidence of someone who has done well in life, boasts about his success. He describes his rise from producing advertising jingles to owning record stores, a nightclub, and a music instrument store. Despite his affluence and his Oxford drawl, Maslama’s intense eyes betray the fanaticism of a true believer.
Gibreel, who longs for peace and quiet, finds himself confronted by someone who embodies a different kind of madness—one that is outwardly articulate yet deeply unhinged. The contrast between Maslama’s polished appearance and his fanaticism demonstrates how madness can wear the guise of reason.
Themes
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Maslama continues to talk, revealing that he recognizes Gibreel as the famous movie star. Gibreel, tries to downplay his status, but Maslama praises him for portraying deities of all kinds in his films. Gibreel begins to suspect that Maslama might be unhinged, especially when the man starts talking about the hidden “true name” of God. Gibreel, who fears for his sanity, feels he has somehow conjured this lunatic into existence by his own doubts.
Maslama’s recognition of Gibreel as a movie star who has played gods in films merges the lines between fiction and reality. Gibreel’s growing suspicion that Maslama might be unhinged mirrors his internal conflict about his own mental state.
Themes
The situation escalates when Maslama suddenly accuses Gibreel of being a charlatan and a fake. However, Maslama’s rage quickly subsides after he sees what looks like a halo form over Gibreel’s reflection in the window. Then, Maslama gets down on his knees and asks for forgiveness. Maslama, now humbled, reveals a sixth toe on each of his feet, declaring himself a chosen servant of God. Gibreel, overwhelmed and desperate to escape, orders Maslama to stand and tells him that he has returned to judge humanity, with a verdict to be delivered later. He warns Maslama to keep his presence a secret.
The sudden shift in Maslama’s demeanor—from accusing Gibreel of fraudulence to worshipping him upon seeing a supposed halo—illustrates the volatility of faith and fanaticism. Maslama’s revelation of his extra toes as a mark of the divine is absurd, but still personally meaningful. Additionally, Gibreel’s attempt to control the situation by assuming a divine role recalls the position he was put in during his dream about Mahound.
Themes
Maslama promises to keep Gibreel’s secret. Seizing the opportunity, Gibreel flees the compartment, Maslama’s hymns echoing behind him. He finds refuge in another first-class carriage at the rear of the train, where he tries to collect his thoughts. However, his peace is quickly interrupted when Rekha Merchant appears outside the window on a flying carpet. Her presence, unnoticed by others, only increases Gibreel’s sense that he is going insane.
Gibreel’s escape from Maslama and subsequent encounter with Rekha Merchant on a flying carpet blurs the boundaries between hallucination and reality. Rekha’s presence represents his unresolved guilt and psychological torment, which still has not gone away even with his new divine inspiration.
Themes
Elsewhere, Alleluia Cone, speaking to a classroom of teenage girls, recounts her experiences as a mountaineer. She tells them about the ghosts that accompany climbers in the high Himalayas, sharing a story of her encounter with the ghost of Maurice Wilson during her ascent of Everest. Wilson, who had died attempting to climb Everest alone, appeared to her on the mountain, dressed in old-fashioned clothing and performing surreal feats like gliding up snow-covered slopes.
Allie’s recounting of her mountaineering experiences introduces a different form of spectral encounter, contrasting with Gibreel’s tormented visions. Her encounter with Maurice Wilson’s ghost is seemingly encouraging rather than frightening, and it ultimately drives Allie to reach her goals. Rather than a specter of regret, the spirit is an aspirational and perhaps angelic figure.
Themes
The girls find Allie’s tales fascinating and ask her to say more. Allie recounts the transcendent experience of reaching the summit of Everest without oxygen. She describes the overwhelming light, the visions of rainbows and angels, and the sound of a loud, mysterious gunshot that snapped her back to reality. Allie’s recounting leaves the girls in awe, but when they ask about the source of the gunshot, she can only offer a shrug, suggesting that it might have been the ghost of Maurice Wilson.
The overwhelming light, visions of rainbows, and angels that Allie describes on Everest reflect an encounter with the sublime, though the mysterious gunshot abruptly returns her to reality. There are several magical and transcendent moments in the novel but, often, they are undercut by someone or something that brings the character experiencing the moment back to reality, which is typically disappointing by comparison.
Themes
Gibreel arrives in London exhausted and scared, as Rekha follows him everywhere he goes. Gibreel runs frantically through the Underground, convinced that the stations are changing places and the city itself is warping around him. Eventually, he emerges from the Tube at an unfamiliar station and stumbles into a desolate park. As he collapses in the snow, Gibreel sees a woman approaching and assumes it is Rekha coming to deliver the final blow. However, the woman expresses disbelief and joy at finding him alive. Gibreel, overwhelmed, realizing the woman is Allie. He is overjoyed to see her but worries that Rekha is only allowing him a brief respite before returning to finish him off for good.
Gibreel’s chaotic journey through London’s Underground marks his psychological collapse. His perception of stations shifting and the city warping around him evokes a sense of being trapped in a nightmare, where familiar realities become unrecognizable. The encounter with Allie in the park, when he expects to meet his tormentor Rekha, signals a brief moment of respite. However, because Rekha is still around to haunt him, it seems unlikely that Gibreel’s peace will last for long.
Themes
