The Satanic Verses: Study Questions. III. Ellowen Deeowen
1. Frankly, Rosa Diamond is a hard character for me to place, and hence your help in placing her would be particularly appreciated. She seems connected with Britishness--with the past (William the Conqueror) and with the British abroad (Argentina). She herself is quite old. But she also seems to be another image of sexuality. What do you make of her and of her relation to Gibreel? Think about her particularly in terms of her British identity.
2. She tells him stories of her past grand passion, which begins to overlap in a number of ways with the present. Gibreel wears the clothes of her long-dead husband; he takes on the identity of her still longer-dead lover, in both her dreams and his. How are these dreams comparable to Gibreel's other dreams? Although Gibreel (as Martin) is killed in these dreams, is he himself the angel of death? (Chamcha initially saw Rosa Diamond as death.)
3. One of the moral centers of the novel (at least from Chamcha's point of view) lies in Gibreel's refusal to help him as he is led away by the police. Why is Chamcha arrested? Why doesn't Gibreel help him? Is Chamcha's sense that he has been betrayed justified, or is he being self-centered?
4. Of course, it doesn't help that Chamcha is being turned to a satanic goat at the time of his arrest. What levels of meaning does this goatish transformation contain? Consider Chamcha as cuckold, the behavior of the police, the statement of the manticore in the hospital (p. 168), and Chamcha’s personal problems of identity. (Since Chamcha's goatish transformation continues for many pages, the question of its significance remains open.)
5. Part 3 develops the theme of migration. How? What do you make of the fact that Chamcha is arrested, although Gibreel is actually closer to being an illegal immigrant? What does the story of the mutants and their escape have to do with the theme of migration? What other aspects of Part 3 seem to extend the theme?
6. Jumpy Joshi, as a friend of Chamcha and lover of his wife, actually provides a useful contrast to both characters. How is his relationship and attitude towards Chamcha different from Pamela's? How is his relation to Pamela different from Chamcha's? What do we think of his character? (He plays an important role in connecting Chamcha to the Shaandaar Café and, as a martial arts instructor, teaches several important characters.)
7. Pamela, though very upper-class in looks and voice, has very leftist politics. What is the relation between her politics and appearance? How does that relationship affect her relationship to Chamcha? (A more general question might be attached to this one: what do characters such as Rosa Diamond and Pamela Chamcha imply about Britishness, as contrasted to immigration?)
8. Gibreel encounters a religious character named John Maslama on the train. (Maslama says "Amen" to Gibreel's "Alleluia," though Gibreel's word does not have a religious intention.) Their encounter might be approached in terms of game-playing as an element of self-presentation. Gibreel is a actor, and Maslama recognizes him as such. But Gibreel also appears as an angel, and Maslama again recognizes him. What games are Gibreel playing? What about Maslama? Is he anything more than a fake? Is there a connection between Gibreel's meeting with Maslama and the sudden reappearance of Rekha Merchant?
9. Alleluia Cone (about whom we will learn still more in Part 5) emerges here as the flat-footed climber of Mt. Everest, in the course of which she has visions of her own. What is the nature of these visions? How are they comparable to the dreams of Gibreel? Why is it appropriate that the two should be such passionate lovers?
10. In fact, there seems to be a triangle of women in love with Gibreel in Part 3--Rosa Diamond, Rekha Merchant, and Allie Cone. What connections can you make among these women, and between these women and Gibreel? Is it possible to begin to generalize about Rushdie's treatment of women, love, and sexuality?