The Moor’s Last Sigh
By Salman Rushdie (1995)
Introduction
The Moor’s Last Sigh is a sprawling family saga and political allegory that traces the life of Moraes Zogoiby, nicknamed "Moor", who is born into a wealthy, hybrid family in Bombay. The story spans four generations of the da Gama-Zogoiby family, exploring art, religion, colonial legacies, and the fragmentation of modern India.
Plot Summary
The story begins with Aurora da Gama, a flamboyant and independent-minded artist from a Catholic Portuguese-Indian family. She marries Abraham Zogoiby, a wealthy businessman of Jewish-Arab descent. Together, they create a family steeped in political, cultural, and emotional turmoil.
Their son, Moraes (the narrator), is born with a unique condition: he ages at double the normal rate, metaphorically representing the rapid pace of political and personal decay. From an early age, Moor is both a witness to and a participant in his family’s battles and India’s turbulent socio-political climate.
Aurora becomes a nationally renowned painter whose work blends myth, politics, and family history. She is adored by the public but causes strife within her family. The children—Ina, Minnie, Mynah, and Moor—grow up in the shadow of her fame and their father’s secret criminal underworld.
As Moor matures, he becomes entangled in complex relationships, including a tragic love affair with the radical artist Uma Sarasvati, who ultimately betrays him. His family disintegrates due to ambition, corruption, and ideological conflicts. Aurora is murdered under mysterious circumstances, and Moor’s father is revealed to have ties to the criminal and communal politics of the day.
Moor’s journey takes him from Bombay to Cochin to Andalusia (Spain), where he reflects on his lineage and identity. He revisits the Moorish history of Spain, evoking the tale of Boabdil, the last Moorish king. In this reflection, Rushdie draws a parallel between Spain's lost pluralism and India's descent into sectarianism.
Major Themes
- Hybridity: Religious, cultural, and linguistic mixing is central to both the family history and national identity.
- Art and Power: Aurora's paintings serve as a political critique, revealing the potency and danger of art in public life.
- Decay and Decline: The novel captures the slow deterioration of ideals, ethics, and family in modern India.
- Identity and Exile: Moor’s condition and journey symbolize both personal alienation and national dislocation.
Themes in The Moor’s Last Sigh
1. Cultural Hybridity
One of the novel's central themes is the idea of hybridity—religious, linguistic, and cultural. The Zogoiby family is a symbol of multicultural India, with Portuguese, Jewish, Christian, Arab, and Indian influences. Through Moraes' family, Rushdie explores how mixed identities can both enrich and complicate personal and national narratives.
2. Art and Politics
Art in the novel is not merely aesthetic; it is deeply political. Aurora Zogoiby’s paintings are politically charged, reflecting societal changes, historical trauma, and personal turmoil. Rushdie uses art to question the role of creative expression in resisting political oppression and rewriting history.
3. History and Memory
The novel blends personal memory with collective history. Moraes narrates not just his life story, but the story of modern India. History in *The Moor’s Last Sigh* is shown as subjective and mutable, often manipulated by power structures. Rushdie critiques the rewriting of history by political forces.
4. Religious Fundamentalism and Communalism
The rise of religious extremism and communal violence is a backdrop to the family drama. The novel critiques the fragmentation of secular India and the destructive consequences of hatred disguised as nationalism. Abraham Zogoiby’s involvement with communal politics reflects this dark turn in Indian society.
5. Identity and Exile
Moraes’ condition of accelerated aging serves as a metaphor for alienation and the loss of innocence. He is a man out of place, born into a hybrid legacy that never fully accepts him. The exile to Spain near the end reflects not just physical but cultural and emotional dislocation.
6. Family and Betrayal
The da Gama-Zogoiby family is marked by betrayal, manipulation, and rivalry. Each generation repeats patterns of conflict. The personal is political, as family conflicts mirror the larger social breakdown. Uma Sarasvati’s betrayal of Moor mirrors the treachery found in politics and history alike.
7. Time and Mortality
Moor’s accelerated aging foregrounds the theme of time and mortality. His life becomes a metaphor for a nation in decline. Time in the novel is elastic, nonlinear, and often symbolic—blurring past, present, and myth.
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