The Satanic Verses: Study Questions. I. The Angel Gibreel

1. The opening of a novel can often be thought of as a contract between the writer and the reader; it tells the reader what kind of novel it is, what it is about, how it should be read. What does the fall of Gibreel Farishta and Saludin Chamcha tell you about what you can expect from The Satanic Verses? Pay careful attention to detail. (It may help for you to reread the first chapter after you have read Part I.)
2. Chamcha and Gibreel are both actors, though quite different ones. (The theme of acting will return throughout the novel.) What is the importance of acting in defining their personalities? What is the relationship of acting to behaving?
3. In particular, consider Gibreel as an actor in "theologicals." What (in his life and in Chamcha's) is the relationship of acting to faith? How is religion treated in Part 1? (Don't forget Eugene Dumsday) How would you contrast religion in the lives of the two characters?
4. Both characters are depicted in terms of sexual choices. Chamcha is married to Pamela Lovelace but has an affair with Zeeny Vakil. Rekha Merchant kills herself (and her children) in disappointed love for Gibreel; he has a passionate relationship to Alleluia Cone. What is the significance of the romantic choices and of Rushdie's treatment of sexuality in Part 1? What connection is there between the sexual situation of the two main characters and their loss of religious faith?
5. Gibreel's relationships to his parents are not explored in much detail, but Chamcha's certainly are. What is his relationship to his father and mother? What is the importance of his attitudes towards his father's second marriage, towards his first revisited? When Chamcha and Zeeny visit his father, their reactions are very different. In what way and why?
6. Farishta means "angel" in Urdu; Chamcha means "spoon," and hence Gibreel calls him "Spoono." Both men have artificial names, not the names they were born with. What is the relationship between the names and the characters? What does it suggest about Rushdie's idea of personalities and their integrity?
7. Bombay is Rushdie's place of birth and favorite city. Some of the action of Part 1 takes place there. What qualities and characteristics does it have as a city? How is it related to the two central characters?
8. In contrast, what are the reactions of the Gibreel and Saladin towards England? How would you contrast them? Why are both of them on a flight from Bombay to London?
9. The Bostan is exploded by hijackers. What is the relation of this incident to the rest of the novel (or at least to Part 1)? Is it significant, or is it merely an excuse for the bizarre plot that is to come? Consider the character of Tavleen. Is it significant that the plane is exploded by a woman?
10. Where are Chamcha and Gibreel at the end (or beginning) of the section, as they fall to earth? How do chapters 2-4 explain the first chapter? What are the issues of most serious concern for the two main characters? What issues do they have in common? How do these issues shape your sense of what the novel might be about? 

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