Salman Rushdie The Socrates of the Global Village
As told in Plato’s Apology, Socrates offended many people and was eventually brought to trial before the Athens court because of his negative public image. Having done nothing more than depart from the normal course of thought in examination of spiritual questions and instruct those thought to be wise concerning their actual lack of wisdom, Socrates was persecuted and labeled a heretic because he was misunderstood (Plato 20). In a similar vein, Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, was persecuted because people misinterpreted the meaning of a work of fiction. Like Socrates, Rushdie violated cultural taboos and therefore became a scorned and despised figure among Islamic followers worldwide (“Clash“ 24). According to Laura Shapiro in a Newsweek article, Rushdie “has created a fanciful exploration of good and evil” in The Satanic Verses, and has described the rise of a religion that resembles Islam, using many of the “traditional accounts of Muhammad’s life” (37). Saying that he hopes “to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination” Rushdie makes it clear that this work is one of fiction (“Clash”). ... Publicly condemning Rushdie as a blasphemer and calling for his death, Ayatollah Khomeini focused worldwide attention on the author (Watson 34).