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Salman Rushdie’s novel, Shalimar the clown, if read allegorically, it shows very negative views and opinion towards America’s influence in other countries, politically, economically and culturally. The typical behavior of America’s affairs with other country, which creates more destruction then order, can be found underneath his words, his writing. Rushdie links characters in the novel to represents more than just themselves but to symbolize nations itself. And through series of event and character’s development, states his opinion clearly to the readers.
“Then Boonyi Kaul Noman came out to dance and Max Realized that his Indian destiny would have little to do with politics, diplomacy or arms sales, and everything to do with the far more ancient imperatives of desire.”(Rushdie, pg181). Rushdie presents the relationship between Max and Boonyi parallels to superpower to a lesser power country. Max, like America, is driven by its will of conquer, and desire of benefit. Also portrays literally how little it matters when it comes to America’s desire of wanting resource. “The biggest prize in Asia”. (Rushdie, pg180) and “The tail was wagging the dog. Rostow agreed. The India is more important than Pakistan”. (Rushdie, pg180). Referring a nation to “prize” represents authors opinion about how America views other country as just profit, showing the reader the ignorance of comparing profit without thinking the consequences, clearly indicates the view from author towards America’s politic.
Rushdie exercises his view of American power by first showing the ambition in Boonyi via, in India. In quote “When Boonyi met Maximilian Ophuls’s eyes for the first time he was applauding Wildly and looking piercingly at her while she took her bow, as if he wanted to see right into her soul. At that moment she knew she had found what she had been waiting for. I swore I’d grab my chance when it showed up, she told herself, and here it is, staring me in the face and banging...