The Satanic Verses Characters
The main characters in The Satanic Verses include Gibreel Farishta, Saladin Chamacha, Pamela Lovelace, Alleluia (Allie) Come, and Ayesha.
- Gibreel Farishta is a successful Bollywood actor. After surviving an explosion, Gibreel finds that he has been given a halo.
- Saladin Chamcha is a voice actor in London who has forsaken his Indian heritage. After the jet explodes, he slowly transforms into a cloven-hoofed devil.
- Pamela Lovelace is Saladin's wife, who is pregnant with another man’s child.
- Alleluia (Allie) Cone is Gibreel's girlfriend, whom he throws off a high-rise.
Characters Discussed
Gibreel Farishta
Gibreel Farishta (GEE-bree-EHL fah-REESH-tah), a forty-year-old actor, formerly named Ismail Najruddin. Poor and orphaned, Farishta escapes his poverty and becomes India’s most significant film star. When an Air India jumbo jet is sabotaged over the English Channel by Sikh terrorists, Farishta is one of two survivors. Rescued from the sea, he dresses in the clothes of his host, Rosa Diamond’s late husband. The authorities permit him to go free. He falls into an affair with Alleluia Cone (née Cohen), who scaled Mount Everest and whom he had met several months previously following a near-fatal illness that preceded his mysterious disappearance from Bombay. Finally, Farishta’s fortunes suffer a reversal. His films fail to attract audiences. He shoots his well-meaning film producer, Whisky Sisodia, and throws Alleluia off the roof of a high-rise building, then ends his own life.
Saladin Chamcha
Saladin Chamcha (sah-lah-DEEN CHAM-chah), an actor, master mimic, and costar of a popular English television series. Estranged son of a prominent Anglophile Bombay businessman, Chamcha (formerly Salahuddin Chamchawala) is one of two survivors of an Air India jumbo jet that is destroyed by Sikh terrorists over the English Channel. Pulled from the sea by racist police officers, Chamcha, unable to prove his identity or citizenship and having assumed a goatlike appearance, is thrown into an immigrants’ mental hospital and held until his British citizenship is verified. Released from his confinement, he returns home to find his wife, Pamela Lovelace, in bed with Jamsheed Joshi. He also learns that the government of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher has demanded that his role in the television series be cut, so he is jobless. He finds temporary lodgings in the sort of immigrant section of London that he has spent his life trying to avoid. Then, surrealistically, he begins to grow, reaching eight feet and being transformed into a satanic-appearing satyr, able to resume his form only after he has vented his rage. He nearly dies trying to save the Bangladeshi couple who had earlier taken him in. Finally, he suffers a heart attack and returns to India, where he is reconciled with both his father and his country, but not before he, transmogrified as Shaitan, has avenged his decline by wrecking Farishta’s life and bringing him one step closer to the mental breakdown that precedes his suicide.
Pamela Lovelace
Pamela Lovelace, whose name suggests Samuel Richardson’s eighteenth century heroine, was Chamcha’s wife. He caught her in bed with another man when he arrived home unexpectedly following his release from the mental hospital where he was confined after surviving the destruction of the Air India jumbo jet in which he was a passenger.
Alleluia Cone
Alleluia Cone (AL-lay-LOO-yah), formerly Cohen, a woman who scaled Mount Everest and shortly thereafter became Farishta’s lover. Chamcha destroyed their relationship and led Farishta to the point of killing Cone by throwing her from the top of a high-rise building to die in much the way his former mistress, Rekha Merchant, had committed suicide two years earlier.
Characters
In The Satanic Verses , Rushdie introduces a wide array of characters, blending those from modern life with figures inspired by Muslim religious history. The most unforgettable character is Saladin Chamcha, who serves as a partial self-portrait of Rushdie. Saladin's transformation from a lover of all things English to a renewed appreciation of his Indian heritage, and his journey from alienation to love, encapsulates the full spectrum of human emotions. Gibreel Farishta, modeled after two real-life Indian actors, is another intricate character—angelic in appearance but deceitful and spiteful within. He vividly depicts...
(This entire section contains 292 words.)
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a man unraveling, a celebrity so consumed by the semi-divine status his fans attribute to him that he starts to believe in his own angelic powers.
Among the secondary characters, the most intriguing are the malevolent Imam and the almost otherworldly Ayesha. Rushdie excels in his depiction of Indian women, such as Saladin's girlfriend, Zeeny Vakil, who encourages him to reconnect with his homeland, and the strong-willed and uninhibited Sufiyan sisters. However, his attempts to portray English women like Pamela Lovelace and Alleluia Cone come across as forced and lackluster.
Rushdie's historical figures are expertly crafted. Salman the scribe's skepticism about the divine word mirrors Rushdie's own doubts regarding the authority of sacred texts. Abu Simbel, the Meccan leader grappling with Mahound's rising influence; his ruthless wife Hind; the poet Baal, who falls out of favor due to the new religion's teachings and becomes an adversary of the Prophet; and Mahound, the mystic and Law Giver, are all skillfully depicted characters from a bygone era. However, by choosing to fictionalize the Prophet and rename him Mahound—a name with historically negative connotations for Muslims—and by portraying him as fallible and opportunistic, Rushdie has incited the ire of Muslims worldwide.
List of Characters
Mirza Saeed Akhtar
Mirza Saeed, a zamindar or landowner, hails from an ancient lineage. He desperately tries to persuade his beloved wife and the villagers to abandon their pilgrimage with Ayesha. He harbors both intense desire and animosity toward Ayesha.
Mishal Qureishi Akhtar
Mishal, the wife of Mirza Saeed, is terminally ill with cancer and firmly believes that Ayesha is a sacred prophet.
Ayesha
The name Ayesha refers to four distinct characters. The first is the empress whom the Imam coerces Gibreel to help destroy in Gibreel’s dream. The second is the butterfly-consuming would-be prophet from another of Gibreel’s dreams. This Ayesha is noted for her stunning beauty and unwavering belief in her visions from the angel Gibreel, leading her entire village of pilgrims over vast distances into the Arabian Sea. The third Ayesha is Mahound’s young and beautiful wife, who (as implied by Salman the Persian) was unfaithful to Mahound. The fourth is a prostitute (and Baal’s favorite wife) who adopts the name to attract clients.
Baal
Baal is the most prominent satirist in Jahilia. Initially described as “a sharp narrow youth” in chapter 2, he writes mocking verses about Mahound at Abu Simbel’s behest. By chapter 6, at fifty years old, Baal experiences “a thickening of the tongue as well as the body.” After hiding in a brothel and marrying twelve prostitutes who impersonate Mahound’s wives, he is eventually discovered and executed. His name is linked to various pagan deities in the Hebrew Bible.
Billy Battuta
A “whiz-kid tycoon,” Billy Battuta is described by Saladin as a “Playboy Pakistani” and a “con-man” who manipulates women. He invests in reviving Gibreel’s career and encounters legal troubles in both the United States and Britain.
Bilal
Bilal, an “enormous black” slave, is freed by Mahound and becomes his disciple. The name Bilal (or Bilal X) is also given to an American singer and convert to Islam (a parody of the folk star and convert Cat Stevens) who is close to the Imam in Gibreel’s dream.
Pimple Billimoria
Pimple Billimoria, described as “the latest chilli-and-spices bombshell,” is Gibreel’s co-star before his disappearance from Bombay and during his failed comeback attempt.
Pamela Lovelace Chamcha
Pamela, Saladin’s wife, falls out of love with him when he departs for India. Believing Saladin to be dead, she takes Jumpy Joshi as her lover. Saladin describes her as “frail as porcelain, graceful as gazelles.” Despite her aristocratic English voice, she is not a typical upper-class English woman, having been abandoned by her parents who committed suicide. She works in community activism and dies in a fire at the Brickhall Community Relations Council building along with Jumpy, while carrying his baby.
Saladin Chamcha
One of the central figures in Rushdie's novel, Saladin is characterized by his yearning to become fully English and his connection to malevolence. Born as Salahuddin Chamchawala, he spends his childhood dreaming of escaping his father and their home in Bombay. He associates his distaste for India with a traumatic incident involving an old man who coerced him into a sexual act. Saladin relocates to England for his studies, driven largely by resentment towards his father. He pursues a career in acting, showcasing remarkable talent in vocal impersonations, and believes he has fully integrated into British culture.
However, Saladin faces an identity crisis during his affair with Reeny Vakil, which contributes to his detachment from his English persona and his transformation into a devilish figure. He begins to identify with the marginalized Asian and African immigrant communities in London during a period of racial tension. Despite his bitterness and anger, Saladin seldom engages in truly evil or demonic actions. Over time, he develops a more nuanced understanding of his dual Indian and British identity.
Saladin's relationship with Gibreel is intricate, often framed as a conflict between evil and good. He harbors resentment towards Gibreel for his effortless fortune and for abandoning him to the authorities after their plane crash. Saladin eventually seeks revenge by making prank calls, impersonating Allie Cone’s lovers. His shortened last name, Chamcha, translates to "spoon" in Hindi, which leads Gibreel to nickname him “Spoono.”
Changez Chamchawala
Saladin’s father, Changez, is a brilliant yet mischievous man with a tyrannical and domineering streak. Changez’s relationship with Saladin is crucial to his son’s development. Saladin is deeply troubled when Changez remarries a woman named Nasreen less than a year after his first wife’s death and subsequently takes his former maid as a concubine who dresses like his deceased wife. Although estranged for much of Saladin’s adult life, they reconcile as Changez is dying of cancer.
Nasreen Chamchawala
Described as “the slightest, most fragile of women” who dresses with “excessive verve,” Nasreen is Saladin’s mother and Changez’s first wife.
Alicja Cone
Alicja is Allie’s vivacious mother, who disapproves of her relationship with Gibreel and eventually moves to California to marry a professor.
Allie Cone
Allie, whose full name is Alleluia, is described as a “climber of mountains, vanquisher of Everest, blonde yahudan [Jew], ice queen,” and the lover of Gibreel. After her triumphant climb of Everest, she feels an overwhelming sense of silence, as if everything in her life from now on will be a descent. She suffers from painful flat-footedness, which ends her mountain climbing career. Despite her love for Gibreel and the care she gives him, she cannot tolerate his intense jealousy and ultimately leaves him. Tragically, Gibreel loses his sanity and murders her, pushing her to her death from Everest Vilas in Bombay.
Elena Cone
Allie’s sister, Elena, is a model and drug addict who tragically drowns in her bathtub at the age of twenty-one.
Otto Cone
Allie’s father, Otto, is a Polish émigré to England and a survivor of a Nazi death camp. He is a captivating and somewhat eccentric art historian who strives to fully assimilate into English culture.
Martín de la Cruz
The Argentine Martín is Rosa Diamond’s would-be lover.
Henry Diamond
Known as “Don Enrique of Los Alamos” in Argentina, Henry is Rosa’s husband.
Rosa Diamond
Rosa is the elderly woman who discovers Gibreel and Saladin after their fall into the English Channel. She experiences visions of English history and draws Gibreel into the hidden story of her past in Argentina.
Sarpanch Muhammad Din
Sarpanch is the pilgrim from Titlipur who supports Mirza Saeed in the station wagon after his wife dies early in their journey.
Eugene Dumsday
Dumsday is the anti-Darwin creationist who sits next to Saladin on the Bostan.
Gibreel Farishta
Born “Ismail Najmuddin” in British Poona, Gibreel moves to Bombay at thirteen to work with his father as a food carrier. After his parents' death, Babaseheb Mhatre takes him in and helps him find work in the movies. Gibreel eventually becomes a star in theological films, engaging in numerous affairs, including one with Rekha Merchant, and achieves immense fame. A mysterious bout of internal bleeding nearly kills him and causes him to lose his religious faith. After meeting and falling in love with Allie Cone while indulging in pork at a renowned Bombay hotel, Gibreel travels to London to find her.
Gibreel is known for his effortless approach to life and his ability to get away with everything, yet he suffers from intense episodes of supernatural visions and insanity throughout the novel. He harbors a deep dislike for England and its culture and has a viciously jealous nature that ultimately leads to his madness and murderous actions. Leaving Bombay shortly after his fortieth birthday, his attempt to start a new life with Allie Cone can be seen as a mid-life crisis. Gibreel is associated with the Biblical archangel Gabriel and initially seems to represent the forces of good, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the lines between good and evil are not so easily defined.
Salman Farsi
Salman the Persian is initially a follower of Mahound but loses faith in the prophet and deliberately alters some Qur’anic verses. He escapes from Mahound, who eventually tracks him down in Jahilia and permits him to journey to Persia.
Bhupen Gandhi
Bhupen is a thoughtful poet and journalist, representing the intellectual community of Bombay alongside his friends George Miranda and Reeny Vakil.
Girls of the Curtain
The twelve prostitutes of the Curtain brothel adopt the names of Mahound’s wives and marry Baal the poet.
Hamza
Hamza, Mahound’s uncle, is a celebrated warrior who fights in Mahound’s cause. Hind kills him and consumes his heart.
Hind
Hind is the “ferocious, beautiful” wife of Abu Simbel from Jahilia. She remains eternally youthful and powerful, consuming men both literally and sexually. She survives Mahound’s conquest of Jahilia.
Imam
The Imam, a Muslim religious leader from Gibreel’s dream narrative, despises London but is exiled there until he triumphantly returns to lead a revolution in his homeland. His character is modeled after the Iranian fundamentalist leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against Rushdie.
Hanif Johnson
Hanif Johnson, described as a “smart lawyer and a local boy made good,” is generally disliked. He maintains an office above the Shaandaar Café. When Hind discovers his involvement with Mishal, she furiously kicks him.
Jumpy Joshi
Jumpy, a friend of Saladin, is tormented by guilt over his affair with Saladin’s wife. Known as Jumpy due to his “enormous capacity for nervous agitation,” thinning hair, and unique giggle, his real name is Jamshed. He also teaches martial arts.
Kasturba
Saladin’s childhood caretaker, Kasturba, eventually starts to act and dress like Changez Chamchawala’s late wife Nasreen after Changez remarries.
Khalid
Khalid, a water-carrier in Jahilia and a disciple of Mahound, rises to become a general in Mahound’s armies.
Inspector Stephen Kinch
Inspector Kinch is a corrupt police officer implicated in the death of Uhuru Simba.
Madam of the Curtain
The nameless madam oversees the brothel in Jahilia.
Mahound
Mahound is an archaic European term for Mahomet or Muhammad, the founder of Islam and its final, most significant prophet. Born in Mecca, Muhammad claimed to have been visited by the Archangel Gabriel, who instructed him to memorize the verses that became the Qur’an. In 622, he fled Mecca for Medina, but eventually led his armies to conquer Mecca and other pagan tribes in Arabia.
Mahound features prominently in chapters 2 and 6 of Rushdie’s novel, presenting alternative versions of the religious history of Mecca, referred to in the book as Jahilia, an Islamic term denoting ignorance of God's message. The novel controversially suggests that Mahound fabricates the messages from Gibreel to align with his own temperament and desires, portraying him as a jealous man with a disdain for women.
Mimi Mamoulian
Saladin’s Jewish co-star on British television and radio, Mimi, is skilled in a wide array of impersonations. She becomes romantically involved with Billy Battuta, despite Saladin’s warnings that Billy will take advantage of her. She eventually spends time in jail for her involvement in one of his fraudulent schemes.
John Maslama
As the owner of the Hot Wax nightclub, Mr. Maslama meets Gibreel during a train ride to London and becomes convinced that Gibreel is the archangel of God.
Rekha Merchant
Rekha Merchant, Gibreel’s most significant lover in Bombay, appears to him as a vision on a flying carpet after her suicide. Gibreel is repeatedly drawn back to her because she both abuses and consoles him, a dynamic he finds irresistible. She is married to a man described by the narrator as “a mouse with money and a good squash wrist” and has three children, whom she tragically throws to their deaths along with herself, following Gibreel’s departure to London. Gibreel ultimately dispels her apparition by affirming that there is no God but God.
Babasaheb Mhatre
As the Grand Secretary of the Bombay Tiffin Carriers’ Association, Babasaheb Mhatre takes the orphaned Gibreel into his home and helps him start a career in the movies.
George Miranda
George Miranda is a portly “young Marxist filmmaker” with a waxed mustache and a friend of Reeny. He despises the “disembodied, invisible” influence of America and is well-versed in Bombay film industry gossip.
Nasreen II
Changez’s second wife, Nasreen II, shares the same name and “birdlike” physique as his first wife.
Ooparvala
Ooparvala (God), who may also be Neechayvala (Satan), appears to Gibreel, instructing him to resume his duties as an angel.
Osman
Osman, a Hindu who converted to Islam, makes his living as a clown and is in love with Ayesha.
Sherpa Pemba
Pemba is a friend and climbing partner of Allie. Together, they scaled Everest without the use of oxygen tanks.
Hyacinth Phillips
Hyacinth is Saladin’s physiotherapist at the hospital. She escapes with him and other monsters but later transforms inside a church and attacks him, alongside similar creatures.
Pinkwalla
Pinkwalla is the DJ at the Hot Wax nightclub.
Mr. Qureishi
Mr. Qureishi, Mishal Akhtar’s father, is a wealthy banker who finds his daughter and wife during their pilgrimage and urges them to abandon it.
Mrs. Qureishi
Mishal’s mother, Mrs. Qureishi, initially joins the pilgrimage but eventually sides with Mirza Saeed in trying to persuade her daughter to quit the journey.
Dr. Uhuru Simba
Previously known as Sylvester Roberts, Uhuru is a black activist leader wrongfully accused of the "Granny Ripper Murders." He is killed in jail, likely by the police.
Karim Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel, the Grandee of Jahilia, eventually surrenders his city to Mahound. A tall figure in white robes with a "gait containing the lilt, the deadly elegance of power," he forces Mahound to flee. The crisis in Jahilia diminishes Abu Simbel's grandiloquence, and by chapter 6, he has become "soft and pursy in old age."
S. S. Sisodia
Sisodia is a wealthy and mysterious Indian film producer who speaks with a stutter.
Aurora del Sol
Aurora is Martín de la Cruz’s jealous fiancée.
Sri Srinivas
Srinivas is a Brahmin toy-maker who joins Ayesha and Mirza Saeed on their pilgrimage.
Anahita Sufyan
Anahita is Mishal Sufyan’s slightly envious younger sister.
Hind Sufyan
Hind, Sufyan’s bitter wife, despises England and blames her husband for all her troubles. She is the cook and breadwinner at the Shaandaar Café and Bed & Breakfast.
Mishal Sufyan
Mishal is the Sufyans’ beautiful teenage daughter who clashes with her mother and marries Hanif Johnson. She is the top student in Jumpy’s martial arts class.
Muhammad Sufyan
The gentle and kind-hearted owner of the Shaandaar Café, Sufyan is heartbroken when he learns that his wife has been overcharging the immigrants he believed he was helping.
Tavleen
Tavleen is the lead hijacker of the Bostan. She has a Canadian accent and ultimately blows up the plane.
Zeeny Vakil
Zeeny is an exciting and attractive dark-skinned Indian woman involved with Saladin. They met as teenagers when Zeeny was a "rash, bad girl," and she retains a streak of wildness in her adult life. She is a doctor who works both in a hospital and with the homeless, as well as an art critic and Bombay socialite. Zeeny has made it her mission to reconnect Saladin with his Indian heritage.
Hal Valance
Hal is Saladin’s bigoted, rude, and greedy producer who cuts him from The Aliens Show because he believes the demand for ethnic actors is dwindling.
Vallabh
Vallabh is the loyal and long-serving servant of Changez Chamchawala.
Maurice Wilson
The ghost haunting Allie, Maurice Wilson, is a yogi who died on Mount Everest during a solo ascent.