Celebration of the East and India
Celebration of the East, and India in particular, is the dominant theme in the story. Rather than make India exotic, which is the common practice in the literature of Western cultures, Rushdie presents it in very realistic terms through the ordinary details of life. Readers see and experience the setting as dusty but colorful, with people eating food, doing business, and trying to make a profit or establish a life. In addition, when given the opportunity to stay in India and work as an ayah or go to England and live the life of a married woman, Miss Rehana prefers the former, for India is her home. Thus, instead of portraying India as foreign, the story makes England a place of the unknown; it is vague, with confusing names and requiring a permit even to go there. “Good advice is better than rubies,” Miss Rehana tells Muhammad Ali, and the advice she receives enables her to stay in India. Miss Rehana, then, becomes an inverted version of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, for while Dorothy clicks her ruby slippers to return home, representing the West, Miss Rehana uses her rubies, the advice of Muhammad Ali, to stay at home in the East. Both characters know “there is no place like home,” but for Dorothy home is Kansas while for Miss Rehana home is Lahore, India.
Gender and Female Empowerment
Rushdie also makes gender a theme by celebrating the cleverness, beauty, and wisdom of Miss Rehana over the superficiality of the men in the story, especially Muhammad Ali, who fawn over her. Although he is supposed to be the tale’s trickster, the old man who cons women into paying for his advice, Miss Rehana instead cons him through her beauty and by not telling him from the beginning that she really has no desire to go to England. Instead, she obtains all the advice she needs from him, paying not a rupee for it, and uses it for the opposite purpose for which Muhammad Ali intended. As it turns out, even though this is India, where women are supposed to be more subservient to men than in the West, an Indian woman is the independent character in the story, preferring to work and remain single, and from beginning to end she exercises control over her life. Poor Muhammad Ali, on the other hand, allows his emotions to get the better him, is entranced by her beauty, and cannot discern her larger purpose.
Unreliability and Truth
No one in this story is reliable in actions or character, making how we know the truth of anything another theme. This deconstruction of a final, clear truth is an aspect of Rushdie’s postmodern view of the world. Whom can we trust? How do we know someone speaks the truth? The sahibs behind the gates issuing permits cannot be trusted, for they have an opinion of the Tuesday women that categorizes them in a degrading way: women desperate to enter England at any cost. Muhammad Ali makes it his profession to dupe the same Tuesday women, eliciting money from them for imagined services. Miss Rehana is perhaps the least reliable of characters, for she acts one way while she thinks another, so that neither Muhammad Ali nor the audience know her intentions until the end of the story.
Essential Goodness of People
Even if the characters are unreliable, in the end they are also kind and good, so that the essential goodness of people is another theme in the story. Although he intends to con Miss Rehana out of her money, Muhammad Ali finds that he cannot do so and instead wants to help...
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her. Indeed, truly concerned about her welfare, he counsels her that even though she does not love her fiancé now, she will grow to love him in future years. And even if Miss Rehana withholds information from Muhammad in order to obtain all she can from him, after she leaves the British consulate she offers to buy him a pakora and they chat in a very friendly and respectful way. There is no meanness here, and even if these two exploit each other, the narrative tone characterizes this as playful and harmless interaction rather than a result of oppression or inequity in the social structure.
International Relations and Cultural Differences
Beneath its ostensibly simple narrative, "Good Advice Is Rarer than Rubies" explores the intricacies of international dynamics, cultural discord, and the multifaceted nature of human aspirations. The story unfolds against the backdrop of an imbalanced relationship between Great Britain and Pakistan, its former colony. The protagonist, Muhammad Ali, ekes out a dishonest existence by exploiting women who seek his help to obtain permissions for joining their spouses or fiancés working in England. When Miss Rehana arrives at the consulate gates, she is dismissed because the British officials have not completed their morning meal, demonstrating the arbitrary power they wield over her fate.
The tale underscores the lack of mutual understanding between the British and Pakistani cultures. The British officials, unfamiliar with Pakistani traditions such as arranged marriages, wield unchecked authority in deciding the futures of hopeful immigrants. Meanwhile, Miss Rehana and her peers remain bewildered by British customs and bureaucracy. Muhammad Ali positions himself as an intermediary, exploiting this cultural disconnect. By professing to understand the inner workings of the British consulate, he preys on the vulnerabilities of women like Miss Rehana, who are desperate for a glimpse into a different world yet are caught in a web of cultural misunderstanding and power imbalance.
Mystery of Motivation
Diving into the intricate puzzle of human motivation, the story unveils how even the most selfish individuals can find themselves drawn to altruistic actions without fully grasping their own reasons. Muhammad Ali, characterized by his greed and deceit, becomes an unexpected ally to a young woman named Miss Rehana, driven by an impulse he barely comprehends. Miss Rehana appears intent on reaching England, yet her true desires seem shrouded in ambiguity, revealing themselves only at the story's conclusion.
This tale underscores the complexities of discerning genuine desires, as it raises questions about the nature of good advice. Muhammad Ali's counsel to Miss Rehana is accurate; he correctly predicts the British authorities’ interrogation and her subsequent denial of entry to England due to her unsatisfactory responses. However, his presumption that she genuinely wishes to leave home and venture abroad is flawed. Ironically, her failure to immigrate results in an unexpected joy, suggesting that her initial motivations were perhaps misunderstood or unrecognized by both herself and others.
This revelation transforms not only Miss Rehana but also Muhammad Ali, as her newfound contentment casts a rare light into his otherwise dark and unscrupulous existence. Despite not achieving his initial goal of swindling her, nor succeeding in his attempt to aid her, he experiences a subtle redemption. The story beautifully illustrates the enigma of motivation and the unforeseen consequences that can stem from actions both selfish and selfless, leaving one to ponder the true nature of desire and the rarity of genuine advice.
