Of the texts we’ve read, it’s difficult to try and rank them in terms of controversy or questionability. Though it may just be a construct of the fact that we’re reading it as non-Islamic westerners, Satanic Verses has much less of an effect compared to the other texts covered in this course. Its target audience is one with a richer knowledge of Islam, so the controversy that Rushdie accompished that lead to a few attempted assasinations falls flat on some readers. Beyond the premises of Islam that the text seeks to insult and criticize, it is a facinating read. Rushdie’s style is unique, with incredibly complicated and diverse metaphors and extensive descriptions of every situation. The novel, at least at the beginning, is a bit of a puzzle, combining various points of the narration with extensive metaphors so that readers have to piece together the narrative and order of events. The use of metaphor is incredibly impressive, perhaps the most interesting and diverse use of metaphors I have ever seen.
Though many nations that incorporate Islam into their legal system and either banned Rushdie’s work or ordered for his death (which resulted in various assassination attempts), it is important to remember that Islam is not exerting some sort of previously unseen power over the public. Though no longer prominent, the Catholic Church exercised much the same power for hundreds of years and enacted it through potentially more violent and extreme means. Islam becomes the scapegoat for most violence around the world, and, though there is significant violence incited by Muslims (such as those in ISIS), this is simply the century that many Muslims are exerting the same power and violence that Christians used only shortly before them. In many cases, Islamic violence serves as retribution for the immense bloodshed imposed by Westerns in events such as the Crusades.