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Part 3, Chapter 5
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
While lying on a park bench, Gibreel experiences a surreal dream. In it, he encounters an Imam residing in London. Inside the Imam’s residence, Gibreel notices a painting of Ayesha, the powerful ruler of Desh, who embodies everything the Imam opposes. Ayesha had driven the Imam from his homeland, Desh. The Imam has gathered many followers, who live in the same building and adhere to strict practices, including drinking only purified water.
Gibreel’s surreal dream introduces the Imam, a figure steeped in religious fundamentalism, who occupies a space in London that feels both out of place and ominously powerful. The Imam’s disdain for modernity and his strict adherence to purification rituals symbolize a broader rejection of progress and secularism.
Themes
The Imam and his followers use the building as a base to send radio broadcasts back to Desh, which they view as their lost homeland. An American convert named Bilal X, with his mesmerizing voice, delivers one such broadcast. The message, like all before it, is designed to incite the people of Desh to rise up against Ayesha of Desh. The Imam urges not just the rejection of Ayesha but of all modern ideas like science and progressive thought.
The novel presents the Imam as a manipulator who uses media, specifically radio broadcasts, to incite revolt against Ayesha. His choice of Bilal X as his mouthpiece reflects how charisma can be weaponized to promote ideological agendas.
Themes
In the dream, the Imam calls upon the archangel Gibreel through a ritual. Gibreel, compelled by the role he plays in this vision, is forced to appear before the Imam, dressed in borrowed clothes. The Imam commands Gibreel to transport them both to Jerusalem. Gibreel, with no other option, carries the Imam to Ayesha of Desh’s palace. Upon their arrival, they find the streets filled with people in revolt.
In this vision, Gibreel appears as the archangel, compelled to serve the Imam despite his own resistance. Gibreel’s unwilling participation underscores his inner turmoil about being caught in a divine role he does not want, raising questions about free will, especially in the context of faith and divine intervention.
Themes
Gibreel warns the Imam that the uprising is driven by hatred, not love. Suddenly, a beam of light shoots from the palace, and the goddess Al-Lat emerges. The Imam orders Gibreel to kill her. Gibreel complies and defeats Al-Lat, but when he returns, the Imam has transformed into a monstrous figure with a gaping mouth. The people, entranced, walk into the Imam’s mouth, where they are devoured. Across the city, clocks begin to chime. At this point, Gibreel senses that his dream is about to end and another is about to begin.
The battle against Al-Lat is a conflict between pre-Islamic rule and Islamic rule (an Imam is a type of Islamic ruler). The Imam’s monstrous transformation represents how extremism consumes its own people, turning faith into a devouring force rather than a guiding light. Again, Rushdie is painting Islam in a rather unflattering light, making it easy to see why the novel became controversial.
Themes
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In Gibreel’s new dream, a man named Mirza Saeed Akhtar has a nightmare on his 40th birthday. When Mirza awakens, he gazes at his sleeping wife, Mishal, and feels himself brimming with love for her. He steps out onto the veranda of their home in Titlipur and notices vast swarms of butterflies fluttering in the air. Local legends say these butterflies are the spirits of a saintly woman named Bibiji, who lived for two centuries and whose grave once had healing powers before it disappeared.
The butterflies, symbolizing Bibiji’s spirit, create an atmosphere where faith and reality blur. This sets the stage for the mystical encounters that follow, as the boundary between the sacred and the profane becomes increasingly porous.
Themes
As Mirza Saeed looks down at the garden, he sees a young girl slowly eating the butterflies. Horrified, he shouts, waking the household as he rushes to the girl’s aid. He carries her inside, where Mishal recognizes her as Ayesha of Desh, an orphan from the town who suffers from epilepsy. Ayesha stays with the family for a while, during which the people of Titlipur start believing that she can communicate with the archangel Gibreel.
Ayesha’s introduction into the household marks a shift in the narrative from the familiar to the uncanny. Her act of eating butterflies shocks Mirza, disrupting his sense of order. Ayesha’s perceived connection with the divine further complicates the household dynamics and sets her up as both a spiritual authority and a potential disruptor of Mirza’s world, challenging his beliefs and sense of what is right and wrong.
Themes
This strange encounter with Ayesha of Desh stirs something in Mirza, intensifying his attraction to Mishal. He persuades her to fulfill his fantasies, which involve her dressing in modest religious attire and staying home all day. Mishal, who desires children, agrees, thinking that being close to someone who has a connection to an archangel might increase her chances of conceiving. She befriends Ayesha, hoping that the archangel might bless her with a child.
Mirza’s demand for Mishal to adopt religious attire speaks to his need to control his surroundings in ways that satisfy his conflicted relationship with faith and desire. Meanwhile, Mishal’s desperation to conceive leads her to place her trust in Ayesha, demonstrating how faith can be both a source of hope and manipulation
Themes
However, Ayesha of Desh delivers a devastating message from the archangel: Mishal has breast cancer. A doctor confirms the diagnosis, revealing that the cancer is advanced and inoperable. Ayesha disappears, only to return a week later, adorned in golden butterflies. She tells the people of Titlipur that they must undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca to save Mishal. She claims that the archangel has promised that the sea will part for them at the Arabian coast. The villagers agree to embark on this journey, but Mirza, enraged by what he sees as a suicidal mission, forbids Mishal from going. Despite his protests, Mishal prepares to leave with the other pilgrims anyway.
Ayesha’s prophecy about Mishal’s cancer blurs the line between divine intervention and fatalistic acceptance. The call for a pilgrimage, with the promise of the sea parting, evokes powerful biblical imagery but also suggests fanaticism and blind faith. Mirza’s vehement opposition reflects a rational perspective, positioning him as a counterpoint to the growing religious fervor around Ayesha. Nevertheless, Mishal decides to ignore Mirza’s warning and take a leap of faith that he does not understand.
Themes
