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Part 5, 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
Alleluia Cone, while descending from Everest, sees a city of ice. Her sherpa, Pemba, tells her to stay focused, and when she looks back, the city is gone. This moment takes her back to her father’s study in Bayswater. Otto Cone, an art historian and survivor of a wartime prison camp. Otto was a heterodox thinker who often warned Allie never to trust anyone who thought they had figured out the world. Otto, who rejected his Polish and Jewish heritage to become English, was both beloved and difficult. He held extreme views, such as his hatred of communism, which sometimes led to embarrassing outbursts, much to the dismay of his wife, Alicja.
Allie’s fleeting vision of an ice city acts as a momentary bridge between the surreal and her lived reality. The sudden disappearance of this city upon her sherpa’s reminder to focus suggests that Allie is caught between worlds—the tangible and the imagined. Meanwhile, Otto’s rejection of his own Polish and Jewish roots to become English parallels Allie’s struggle with her own identity.
Themes
Alicja, after Otto’s death by suicide, abandoned the elegance she had maintained for him and made a simpler life for herself and Allie. Allie, distancing herself from the academic path Otto had envisioned for her, turned to mountaineering. For much of her life, Allie always felt like her mother supported her. However, this changes when Allie starts seeing Gibreel, who her mother immediately dislikes. After finding Gibreel in the show, Allie takes him home and the two rekindle their relationship.
Alicja’s shift to a simpler existence signals her release from Otto’s dominating intellectual presence. Allie’s turn to mountaineering, rather than the academic career Otto envisioned, also sees her going against her father’s rigid expectations. This choice shows her desire to carve her own path, away from the intellectual confines that defined her father. However, try as she might to leave her father behind, she cannot do so altogether, just as Saladin and Gibreel cannot leave their pasts in the past.
Themes
As Gibreel and Allie grow closer, they spend most of their time in bed. However, the two do spend some quality time talking, as well. Allie tells Gibreel that after she reached the summit of Mount Everest, she felt empty inside. Although the view was sublime, it also parked the pinnacle of her existence. She also tells him about the visions she experienced, not just on Everest but also in London, where she saw icebergs resembling the world’s highest mountains sailing up the Thames. Gibreel listens without questioning her, knowing how dreams and reality can get mixed up with each other.
Allie and Gibreel’s relationship intensifies not only physically but also emotionally as they open up to each other about their deepest fears and disappointments. Allie’s confession about feeling empty after summiting Everest, despite its breathtaking beauty, mirrors Gibreel’s experience of feeling empty after his rebirth. Still, this bond, grounded in their mutual existential struggles, remains tenuous—held together by a thin thread of empathy rather than a stable foundation.
Themes
Despite her success as a mountaineer, Allie fears her fate is tied to Everest. She hides from Gibreel her growing obsession with the idea of a solo ascent, inspired by Maurice Wilson, a figure she begins to see as a ghostly presence. Gibreel, struggling with his own demons, becomes possessive over Allie, who has become a media darling. Allie swings between embracing the media spotlight and longing for solitude. Gibreel, on the other hand, begins to believe he might truly be an archangel, a realization that strains their already troubled relationship.
Allie’s hidden obsession with a solo ascent of Everest reveals her unspoken desire to push her limits once more. Her connection to Wilson, whom she envisions as a ghostly presence, suggests her fascination with those who confront death and the unknown. She is literally chasing a ghost—which, although aspirational, is also rather ominous. As Allie wrestles with her personal goals, Gibreel seemingly starts to become delusional, which begins the downfall of their relationship.
Themes
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Gibreel and Allie spent their days isolated from the world. Gibreel’s jealousy first appears when Gibreel notices three cartoons that Allie had hung by her front door. Each one had the same inscription: “To A., in hopes, from Brunel.” Gibreel angrily demands an explanation. Allie, amused, teases him—she thinks he cannot really be jealous. However, when Gibreel responds with what seems like over-the-top anger, Allie explains that Jack Brunel is an animator in his late 50s who knew her father. She assures Gibreel that she has no romantic interest in Brunel, though she knows Brunel is interested in her. Gibreel, still angry, asks why she kept the cartoons. Allie says it is simply because she likes them
Gibreel’s jealousy becomes a key point of tension in his relationship with Allie. His overreaction to the cartoons reveals his insecurities and deep-seated fears of abandonment. Allie’s initial amusement at his jealousy soon gives way to frustration, highlighting how Gibreel’s paranoia and inability to trust are starting to fracture their relationship. This scene captures the further signs of their unraveling connection, as Gibreel grows increasingly unstable.
Themes
The third cartoon is from a Japanese animator. It depicts a man falling from a skyscraper onto a steel spike. Gibreel finds it despicable. After these gifts fail to win Allie over, Brunel drunkenly shows up at her apartment one night, strips naked, and presents himself to her. Allie makes Brunel get dressed and, afterwards, he never returns. However, when Allie tells Gibreel what happened, Gibreel is furious. He suspects that she secretly still wants to be with Brunel, even though she has shown no indication that this is the case. This begins an argument that ends with Allie telling Gibreel to go away, as she is fed up with his jealousy.
Gibreel’s reaction to Brunel’s stunt—more anger and suspicion—escalates his jealousy to a new level. Even though Allie clearly dismisses Brunel, Gibreel’s distrust blinds him to the facts. This is a turning point where Allie’s patience with Gibreel’s possessiveness wears thin, showing how his jealousy is not just an issue of insecurity but a fundamental flaw in his personality that drives people away.
Themes
As he leaves, Gibreel hears a loud noise, after which he sees God sitting on Allie’s bed. The God he sees is not what he expected—a balding man with a partially grey beard and glasses. Gibreel asks, “Who are you?” and the figure answered, “Ooparvala,” the Fellow Upstairs. Gibreel, doubting, asked how he could be sure it wasn’t “Neechayvala,” the Guy from Underneath. The figure, now angry, scolds Gibreel for doubting and says it is time for him to fulfill his purpose. Although Allie, now calm, tries to get Gibreel to stay, Gibreel tells her that he needs to go.
The casual depiction of God as an ordinary man with glasses adds a layer of absurdity and challenges Gibreel’s perception of faith. His doubt over whether this is God or the Devil reveals his deep internal conflict and inability to trust even his spiritual encounters. It’s a moment that pushes him further into the spiral of his own paranoia and need for validation. Notably, the description given here resembles the real Salman Rushdie, who is Gibreel’s creator.
Themes
Outside, Gibreel wanders through London, seeing the city as a place lost in its past, confused about the present, and hopeless about the future. He sees the city’s decay and feels the presence of his enemy, Shaitan. Remembering ancient stories, he realizes how close he had come to danger by being with Allie. Now, he sees that his choice is clear; he must reject the dangerous love of human desires and embrace the love of God. In retrospect, he views Allie as a temptress who had almost led him to ruin, but he is now grateful for being saved just in time.
Gibreel’s walk through London turns into an internal monologue about his perceived battle between divine purpose and human desire. Viewing Allie as a temptress aligns with his black-and-white view of the world, where everything is a test or a threat. This moment reflects his descent into a kind of religious fanaticism, where he believes he must choose between purity and corruption, further illustrating his detachment from reality.
Themes
As Gibreel walks around London, Rekha continues to haunt him. She appears beside him, throwing insults and accusing Allie of being with him only because she wants to become a mother. After a long stream of mocking, Gibreel finally escapes Rekha for a moment. Then, desperate to prove his divine powers, Gibreel attempts to perform a miracle for Orphia Phillips, Hyacinth Phillips’ sister, but fails miserably. Rekha returns, mocking his failure, and offers to stop haunting him if he just tells her he loves her. Gibreel argues with her until he falls into a daze. When he finally wakes up, Rekha is gone.
Rekha’s haunting symbolizes Gibreel’s guilt and unresolved conflicts, as well as his fears about his waning powers. His failed attempt to perform a miracle shows his desperation to reclaim his sense of divine authority. Rekha’s taunts keep him trapped in a cycle of self-doubt and anger, representing the internal struggle between his inflated sense of self-importance and his crippling insecurities.
Themes
Determined to prove himself as an agent of God, Gibreel steps in front of a moving car, which strikes him. The driver, famous film producer S. S. Sisodia, instantly recognizes Gibreel from his films. Sisodia takes Gibreel back to Allie, calling the accident a sort of “miracle,” as Gibreel did not suffer any injuries. After the accident, doctors treat Gibreel, diagnose him with schizophrenia, and prescribe him a strong medication.
Sisodia’s declaration of a “miracle” speaks to the ongoing tension in the novel between the supernatural and the mundane. Gibreel’s schizophrenia diagnosis grounds his visions and paranoia in a psychological framework, which complicates the reader’s perception of his divine encounters and further isolates him from those around him.
Themes
This ordeal deepens Allie’s love for the troubled Gibreel. Sisodia, frequently present during Gibreel’s recovery, pushes him to return to the movie industry. When the negotiations do not seem to be going Sisodia’s way, he threatens legal action over old contracts. Despite Allie’s concerns, Gibreel agrees to star in a film as the archangel Gibreel. He thinks it will be good for him to get back to the big screen, as it will help him to regain aspects of his former self, which he desperately needs at the moment. However, as Gibreel becomes more like his old self, his relationship with Allie starts to unravel.
Gibreel’s return to acting represents an attempt to reclaim his past glory and sense of self, but it comes at a cost. His renewed association with the archangel role in the film blurs the boundary between his delusions and reality even further. As he clings to this former identity, the cracks in his relationship with Allie widen, showing how his inability to separate his inner turmoil from his outer life continues to damage his closest bonds.
Themes
At a promotional event for his new film, Gibreel struggles to distinguish between his film role and the role he plays in his dreams. He slips into a trance, feeling as though he is floating high above London. From this perspective, he believes he can see Saladin, who still looks like a goat. Eventually, Gibreel collapses on Allie’s doorstep. Allie finds him and helps him inside, before putting him to bed.
Gibreel’s trance during the film promotion reveals his deteriorating mental state. His inability to separate his film character from his dream persona shows the extent of his psychological disintegration. His collapse at Allie’s doorstep shows his physical and emotional exhaustion, demonstrating that the life he is leading is unsustainable.
Themes
