Miles writes: Alifbay, the sad city that the Khalifas live in, is constantly brightened by Rashid Khalifas, Haroun's father's stories. This is fine and constantly helpful for the whole city until one day Rashid looses his ability to tell stories. The city stood by a sea filled with glumfish, these fish were so miserable they would make people "belch melancholy". The city is very gloomy from clouds of smog hovering over the city, to people that can barely afford to live on the streets due to taxing gangsters.
Rashid Khalifa, is Haroun's father who is extremely talented at telling stories until one day where he is totally stripped of all story telling skill. Without his stories the city will have nothing good and will be only sadness with not even a hint of happiness. He must get his talent back or the city will stay like this forever. Politicians wanted him to tell a great stories at rallies for them so that they would win the election, but when he cannot tell stories any longer all hell breaks loose.
Haroun Khalifa, Rashid's son, is almost his father's apprentice following his every move and helping him when possible. But since he has lost his storytelling skills, he will need him more than ever before.
Soraya Khalifa, Rashid's wife and Haroun's mother, had constantly sang Haroun's whole life but when she stopped, Rashid suddenly ran out of stories to tell. Once this happened, she left the both of them, planned it out perfectly.
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The beginning of the chapter starts off with two "shouting" men pushing Haroun and Rashid into there old, beaten up car, they are basically kidnapped. By the end of the car ride they end up at the "iron gates of the bus depot". The men threw them out of the car as fast and as brutally as they did the first time.
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Chapter 10:
They -- Haroun, Iff, Mali, Butt the Hoopie -- get trapped. Butt's brain is removed, Mali disappears, Haroun can't do anything although he has a Wishbottle and a Bite-a-Lite. The Bite-a-Lite is perfect because it's just what they needed.
Mali changes shape from his lifeless roots back to himself but while trying to break haroun out of captivity he sets the alarm off. This act of courage my Mali begins the downfall of the Chups. Mali destroys the generator, turning all the dark lights off, forcing the Chup's vision to not be as good and for them to have to wear "designer sunglasses".
After Mali proves he can be a great hero, it is now Haroun's turn. (Good transition.) Haroun pulls the "bite-lite" out of his pocket, bites it and puts it above his head so all of the Chups trying to destroy the sea are blinded by the light. Then later, once he reconnects with Butt he remembers that he still has Wishwater that Iff gave to him. He pulls it out and wishes as hard as he can and for that light would come down immediately and after eleven minutes exactly, the light comes. This light is not from another "bite- lite" but from the moon rotating, allowing the sun to beam through like no Chup has ever seen before. (Good clarification.) (So what?) This required a lot of effort from Haroun because he had to wish extremely hard and put everything he had into because if he did not he new that all stories would be polluted forever, and he would die. (Great.)
Mr. C: Haroun's ability to observe while on the Dark Ship shows he's not scared out of his wits. It's important for him to think clearly and to perceive accurately to do something heroic. He's also the voice of the author who wants to tell us that these crazy extremists (here presented allegorically as the Chups) are totally separated from their shadows, their unpleasant or undesirable feelings. Personal growth means being able deal with the difficult emotions in life, enlarging one's self-image to make some room for them, thus having a healthier ego. It's probably not too much of a generalization to say that extremists aren't much interested in personal growth!
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