Irfan Reza Hardiansyah

180410120059

The Narrative Level: Problems in the Satanic Verse and the Invisible Man

What kind of idea

does Submission seem today?
One full of fear.
An idea that runs away (Rusdie, 126).

Many Muslim had cursed Rusdies The Satanic Verse and led to ban the book especially in India,
Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and even Indonesia. However, most of them did not read
the book. What most crucial was a fatwa which declared by Ayatollah Rushollah Khomeini in
February 1989. The fatwa was the call to murder Rushdie which resulted the United Kingdom severed
its diplomatic relations with Iran to successfully hide Rushdie. Therefore, the impact of the novel was
so great that could influence the international relations between England and Iran. The same thing
also happened to The Invisible Man. The Invisible was scandalous so that it was confronted by
militants as reactionary and banned from school because of its explicit portrayals of black life.
Perhaps, what really my lecturer want to see in this essay was how the narrator works in both of the
novel. I probably could find them out, by giving two general questions, Who sees? and Who
speaks? Ellisons The Invisible Man told about a man who lived off the society, in a warm hole in the
ground, hiding in anticipation of future direct. Differ from Rushdies The Satanic Verse, The Invisible
Man consisted of twenty- five chapter which started by a prolog and ended by an epilogue. In TIM,
the one who sees and speaks was I. It was interesting when the narrator tried to introduce himself in
the prologue.
I am an Invisible man I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me
I am not complaining, nor am I protesting either. It is sometimes advantageous to be unseen,
although it is most often rather wearing on the nerves (Ellison, 1970:7).
TIMs prologues directly went into character (fixed focalization). The focalization was still I till the
end of the story. Starting from the prologue, the first and second paragraph of TIM were in present
tense. When it came to third paragraph, the tense changed into past. In present, the narrator tried to
communicate with the reader or the audience. I fell it was like monologue to define himself. The
narrator started using pronoun you as if pointing the reader, [t]hen too, youre constantly being

bumped against by those of poor vision (Ellison, 1970:7). After that, the tense changed into past.
In past, the narrator told about his experience. In the other words, he told another story. He killed a
man. And, based on him, the man had not seen [him], actually; that he, as far as he knew, was in
midst of a walking nightmare (Ellison, 1970: 8). Probably, that was the idea why he called himself the
invisible man. This past, therefore, used to emphasize his invisibility. However, the different thing
happened in Lawrences Lady Chatterleys Lover. There were two alterations. Firstly, same as TIM,
the tense changed from present to past in next paragraph. The first paragraph in introduction told
about the world in general. In Gennete term, it was called as zero focalization. Ours is essentially a
tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically Weve got to live, no matter how many skies have
fallen (Lawrence in Adipurwawidjana, 2005: 59). It was the second. The focalization change from
zero focalization into fixed focalization in next paragraph followed by the changing of tense. This
was more or less Constance hatterleys position. In this context, there was a shift from general into
particular to the main character in the novel. Moreover, Adipurwawidjana stated that both of the shifts
(tense and focalization) showed that Lawrence tried to differentiate the narrative level outside the
world of Lady Chatterley, Clifford, and other characters in the novel (2005: 60). Therefore, the same
thing happened to TIM although the focalization did not change. Ellison tried to differentiate the
narrative level as well. Or probably not.
However, the things was going really different in chapter I. In the first paragraph, we could find
present and past tense together.
IT goes a long way back, some twenty years. All my life I had been looking for something,
and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answer too,
though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory That I am nobody but
myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man! (Ellison, 1970:17).
The narrator in this state was still aware of himself. He told his past while describing himself in
present. He had been looking for something and turned someone tried to tell [him] what it was.
Then, in the end, the narrator went back to present, telling himself, he [is] an invisible man. And by
mixing it up, it created sense of confusion, especially when you imagined it as a movie. I remember
Nolans Inception in 2010. Unfortunately, we did not have to worry. Start from the third paragraph till
the end (before epilogue), the narrator used the past tense. Some sentences was in present. Finally, he
told his history for being invisible. Hereafter, the only words in present formed in direct speech. It was
like the narrator stated, the real story was about to begin although in the third chapter we could find
the same pattern as the previous chapter.
These form was similar with the narrator in Bradburys The Martian Chronicles. In the first chapter,
Januari 1999: Rocket Summer, the focalization was zero. It told about the general situation in Ohio
when a rocket blown out to Mars. Therefore, it functioned as a prologue.

One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with
frost, icicles fringing every rood, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great
black bears in their furs along the icy streets Rocket Summer. People leaned from their
dripping porches and watched the reddening sky The rocket lay on the launching field,
blowing out pink clouds of fire and oven heat. The rocket stood in the cold winter morning,
making summer with every breath of its mighty exhausts. The rocket made climates, and
summer lay for a brief moment upon the land (Bradbury, 2012: 1).
However, when I moved into the next chapter, February 1999: Ylla, the focalization became fixed to
Ylla, a Martian female. The story shifted from general to particular. She dreamed that Nathaniel York
and his group from a planet called earth would come to his planet, Mars. However, the tense was still
past, even until the end of the novel as well as TSV. When I opened the next chapter, August 1999:
The Summer Night, the focalization change into zero. The narrator described the condition of Mars
after the first expedition. Mars was quiet in the deep morning as quiet as a cool and black well,
with star shining in the canal waters, and, breathing in every room (Bradbury, 2012: 20). The
pattern was same in the next chapter, August 1999: The Earth Men. The focalization was fixed to the
main character, the captain of second expedition.
Similar with TMC, TSV has ambiguous pattern in many ways. TSV told about two main characters
which were Gibreel Farisha and Saladin Chamcha. The story was divided by three main plotlines. The
first of them was the surviving of Gibreel and Saladin from a plane crash while the second and third
of them were the dreams which Gibreel had after the crash. The second dream focused on a character
named Mahound whom most critics believed refer to Muhammad. The third dream told about another
prophet named Ayesha. Differ from The Satanic Verse. The narrator who was in third person known
everything. He did not the main character, though. However, he stuck in the main character called
Gibreel Farishta. The ambiguous of text shown in its tenses. Usually, present tense would be used to
describe reality and the event that exist in the present while past tense would be used to describe past
and something unreal. Both the narrators in TMC and TSV used past tense entirely. The shift of
narrative time from present to past happened when the narrator told about story in Jahilia. Because the
tense was still past and did not change to past perfect tense (to show the story in Jahilia was more
unreal than the story of Gibreel), the shift of narrative became vanished and disappeared which
created, again, the ambiguous of narrative. Consequently, the story of Ayesha had the same timeline as
the story of Mahound because the border between them was unclear. If the narrator did not generated
the chapters, probably, it would be hard to border the narrative timeline between Gibreel Farishas
story and his dreams.
The ambiguous of text was shown in its chapter. The distribution of the chapter, which the outside
framework of the novel, was set intentionally to mix the main and dream stories of Gibreel Farisha.

Rushdies The Satanic Verses consisted of nine chapters, The Angel Gibreel, Mahound, Ellowen
Deeowen, Ayesha, A City Visible but Unseen, Return to Jahilia, The Angel Azraeel, The Parting of the
Arabian Seas, and A Wonderful Lamp. From those, five chapters was real. They were The Angel
Gibreel, Elloween Deeowen, A City Visible but Unseen, The Angel Azraeel, and The parting of the
Arabian Seas. The rest happened in Gibreels dream. From the structure we could see, the narrator set
the first chapter real and the second was unreal. The third was real and the fourth was unreal. The
pattern was same until it closed by the ninth chapter. These pattern therefore, created a fuzziness
between dream and reality in the life of Gibreel Farisha. In other words, it created an ambiguous space
which muddled up fiction and fact. Adipurwawidjana followed by calling it as analepsis
homodiegetic. The story of Jahilia had chosen because it was usual and like history. In the same time,
both of the stories, Jahilia and Gibreel, implied a comparison between present and past, which was
euphoric and painful at the same time (Gennete in Adipurwawidjana, 2005: 64). These patterns were
similar in TIM in which the narrator told his past in entire chapters. It was a little bit different, though.
The past was more than the present so that the past looked like the prior story. It was also analepsis
because it happened before the prior story. However, analepsis in TIM was not too far. It still
happened inside the temporal realm of the prior story. In other words, it created the reversal effect
than what happen in TSV. The past was placed in the narrators memory which essentially carried up
questions, how that the memory work? In the other words, the narrator who was nameless had chosen
explicit sections to represent his invisibility, to assure the reader that he was right.
Therefore, it was easier to divide the narrative level in TIM than TSV. It was interesting when the
narrator created an epilogue in which he came back to present. Also, he tried to communicate with the
reader. So there you have all of it thats important. Or at least you almost have it. Im invisible man
and it placed me in a hole I was in, (Ellison, 1970: 461). In this state, I feel that the narrator tried
to wake up the reader from his past. It also recalled the reader which was the prior story of the novel.
Therefore, the number of past the narrator told became no matter. The structure of the story had
guaranteed the reader to remember again what the present story was.
Nevertheless, things was different when we discuss name in both of the novel. Most of the characters
in TSV was named. The meaning of them were controversial because not only its character which
mimic characters in Islam, Gibrieel as Jibril, Mahound as Muhammad, Ayesha as Aisyah, Khalid as
Khalid, Bilal as Bilal, Salman as Salman, and Yathrib as Yatsrib, it also, in narrative level, told story
which was outside time border as if the revelation repeated again. Thus, the novel itself had become
what Muslim called as bidah. Differ from TSV, the narrator in TIM never revealed his name. The
narrator did not forget his name, though. He insisted to hide it by purpose as well as TSV which used
named Mahound by purpose. Even his fake name which was given by the brotherhood was kept from
the reader. The reason, indeed, was to emphasize his invisibility. Therefore, the narrator even went
underground and became literally invisible from society. However, the narrator did it to realize his

true identity. When the narrator exiled himself from the system he could saw himself when in college
as well as what happened to Connie in LCL or Montag in Bradburys Fahrenheit 451. He considered
himself to be radically different from the college version of himself. I was all such a part of that
other life thats death that I cant remember [myself] all. (Time was as I was, but neither that time nor
that I are any more) (Ellison, 1970: 34). Consequently, he thought his college version basically
dead. These also emphasized by the vet who firstly said that the narrator was invisible. The vet
criticized the narrator for being precisely what white people wished blacks to be.
[The narrator] register with his senses but short-circuits his brain. Nothing has meaning.
He takes it in but he doesnt digest it. Already he is well, bless my soul! Behold! A walking
zombie! Already hes learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity. Hes
invisible, a walking personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of [his]
dreams, sir! The mechanical man! (Ellison 1970: 81).
In this moment, the narrator realized that the expelling himself from society caused his body also
expelled from the body of environment. Thus, the narrator could see his body as machine. The word,
mechanical man, consequently, became important because the narrator looked to himself through his
mother, especially by asking who was my mother? Mother, the one who screams when you suffer
but who? ... The narrator questioned whether [a] machine my mother? because the scream came
from the machine (Ellison, 1970: 196). However in the end of chapter 11, the narrator had chosen,
probably, thinking identity he had. The narrator had no desire to destroy [himself] even if it
destroyed the machine [He] could not more escape than [he] could think of [his] identity [After]
discover[ing] who [he are, hell] be free (Ellison, 1970: 198). I think that it had become clear. The
narrator tried to be invisible but the way he narrated his stories was very much aware. Showing by the
tense which sometimes changed into present, the narrator was aware of his self which as well as his
identity. Instead of using his name, the reader should know the narrator identitys in his stories.
TSV, however, clearly had used binary opposition, angel and devil, in the name of main character,
Gibreel Farisha and Salahuddin Chamcha. Both of them grew up as Muslim but abandoned their faith
before the plane hijacking. It therefore, illustrated the uncomfortable interchange between Islam and
secularism in both of their lives. Gibreel was really promiscuous while Saladin negated to date a
Jewish woman. Both of them was the only two who survived from a plane crash after the hijacking.
The work showed the reincarnation both of the men. After the accident, Gibrel began to take the
personality and physical characteristics of the archangel Gibreel while Salahuddin changed his name
to Saladin and malformed into an incarnation of Satan. It also showed in their names. Gibreel Farisha
literally meant the angel Gibreel, who was one of the angels Muslim should believe. Saladin meant,
according to Zeeny, Mister Toady (Rushdie, 2008:61). However, the reincarnation also seemed
ironic. Although both of them would continue to reflect both angelic and satanic qualities, in the end,

what seemed get inspired was Saladin by changing back his name to Salahuddin Chamcha and
transformed back to human while Gibreel had killed many people and murder himself. Consequently,
binary opposition here was not constant. The work had succeed in criticize the notion of Angel
(always good) and Satan (always bad) by using its ambiguous of both of the characters. Theses
ambiguity also raised a question about faith and doubt. Gibreel and Saladin had to measured and
ponder over what they believe right. Both of them had to rethink their atheism after facing the
supernatural events. The main characters never entirely certain and it reflected in how the narrator
narrated the story. Other characters, Ayesha and the Imam were completely committed of their belief
and truth, but they, in the end, grew corrupt due to never experiencing doubt. On the other hand,
Gibreel and Saladin who hesitated kept develop through their inner struggles. In other words, it
created another irony which Muslim should do faith. It questioned again what faith is? (Rushdie,
2008: 95)
Question: What is the opposite of faith?
Not disbelief. Too final, certain, closed. Itself a kind of belief.
Doubt.
Therefore, the hesitation theme in The Satanic Verse became important due to fanaticism of Islam
consider faith as something which is taken for granted. Adipurwawidjana followed that the hesitation,
which became a major issue in TSV, about the sacred things, was clearly served without any shame.
Moreover, the novel used humors so that it looked like mocking at it (2005: 77). The mocking thing
happened to TIM in which the narrator said that he was invisible but in the narrative he was entirely
visible. Thus, Ambiguity could make a work became controversial. It was not only susceptible toward
censorships but also the probability to be meant differently by the reader.
Cites:
Adipurwawidjana, A. J.; Amalia, L.; & Manggong, L. (2005). Ambivalensi Naratif dan Transisi
Sosial: Lady Chatterleys Lover dan The Satanic Verse dalam Kalam: Jurnal Kebudayaan
2005. Jakarta: Yayasan Kalam.
Bradbury, Ray. (2012). The Martian Chronicles (paperback edition). New York: Simon & Schuster
Paperbacks.
Ellison, Ralph. (1970). The Invisible Man. Middlesex: Penguin Book.
Rushdie, Salman. (2008). The Satanic Verse. New York: Random House Trade.
Rushdie, Salman. (2008). the Satanic Verse. New York: Random House Trade.
Rushdie, Salman. (2008). the Satanic Verse. New York: Random House Trade.

Rushdie, Salman. (2008). the Satanic Verse. New York: Random House Trade.