Khattam-Shud is a character known for being secretive and mischievous when dealing with others. Salman Rushdie, the author of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, portrays Khattam-Shud as the antagonist of the story who always feels the need to destroy the one thing that plays a large role in the novel itself. He is the archenemy of stories and is a sneaky, cruel man who outlaws free speech. Khattam-Shud also made the devotees of Bezeban sew their lips with twine, which caused them to starve and not be able to speak at all. Khattam-Shud’s main goal was to silence all stories and people so that he can then have full control of Kahani. In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Rushdie uses Khattam-Shud’s effect on others to expose that one must manipulate language in order to have power and to reveal his self-centeredness.
Rushdie uses Khattam-Shud’s actions and words that impact others, to illustrate that when one manipulates language they have more power. Towards the middle of the novel, when Haroun questions Khattam-Shud’s reasoning behind needing to destroy and control stories, Khattam-Shud says, “All worlds are to be ruled… there lies a story world that I cannot rule at all” (163). When Khattam-Shud says that “all worlds are to be ruled,” he reveals that this is his motive. Revealing that his true intentions are to take over everything and everyone shows his selfishness and desire to see everything in unsavory conditions. What Khattam-Shud says is told to the main character and told with intentions to cause Haroun to fear him.
Through directly admitting that he wants to have control of completely everything including one’s freedom of speech, we get a direct encounter on the most feared character in the novel’s way of frightening others into not speaking at all. Like so, he gets the power that he wants through censoring others. Khattam-Shud’s need to see the world suffer and be “ruled” shows his selfishness and need to see the world in a constant state of captivity. To feel as if he holds complete power and to, in a way, disregard this “world” that he “cannot rule,” Khattam Shud takes the character that gets the most attention, Princess Batcheat, and puts her in danger. When Haroun describes Khattam-Shud’s pre-planned action he says, “he has Princess Batcheat captive… and is planning to sew up her lips”.
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By wanting to confine the most sought-after character through sewing up her lips and controlling what she says, Khattam is getting a more powerful reputation since the other characters are willing to do whatever it takes to bring the princess back to safety. Not only is Princess Batcheat in the hands of a villain, but the villain himself has complete control of what she says. This essentially connects to the manipulation of language, which then causes Khattam-Shud to get the power that he intended to gain in the first place.
By highlighting Haroun’s reaction to seeing Khattam-Shud for the first time, Rushdie suggests that having power over speech outweighs physical appearance and frame of reference. Towards the beginning of the novel, Khattam-Shud is described to Haroun in a way intended to cause him to fear him. Rashid tells Haroun: “‘Khattam-Shud’ he said slowly… is the prince of silence and the foe of speech”.
Choosing to describe who Khattam Shud is “slowly” sets a mysterious and weird mood not only for the reader but for Haroun as well. It makes Haroun want to know more and to assume that his father chose to describe him in such a way because he is a very intimidating character which is shown when Haroun requests Iff to “tell [him] more about this Khattam-Shud”. Later on, when Haroun sees Khattam-Shud for the first time he says, “That’s him? That’s him? This little minging fellow? What an anticlimax”. The italicization of the words “That’s” and “Him” in the phrase shows the surprise in Haroun’s mind. He cannot believe that a viciously described character that is said to pose a major threat to others would look like that. His appearance is so unpleasant and is not as scary as he envisioned it would be. Haroun’s reaction to seeing Khattam-Shud shows that one’s power over speech is far more valuable than their physical appearance and how they are described by others.
Khattam-Shud’s effect on characters like Haroun, Princess Batcheat, Rushdie and the other members of Kahani all show that in order to have power one must be capable of controlling language and what one says. This is shown in several instances throughout the book which includes when Khattam held the Princess captive and when he revealed to Haroun that he felt an intense need to control all worlds and what is being verbally expressed in these worlds. It is also shown through his reputation and physical appearance. This then allows us to conclude that all any verbal control one has can affect his or her’s power.
