Harmonic Bounce Pass

    Life offers many opportunities for change and configuration, for some people the adaptation process is unconscious, for some it is quite the contrary. In working in cooperation with another to create a harmonic atmosphere, or movement, it is expected that ones action would stimulate another reaction. To be in harmony with one another is to be in sync, to follows ones footsteps. The collection of short stories written by Salmon Rushdie in East, West, is in itself interestingly harmonious, as it carries offbeat stories from both sides of the road which seem to help balance each other out. The story we read for this week was “The Harmony of the Spheres,” a look at the life of our character Elliot, a schizophrenic in search of harmony.

    Throughout the story we learn more and more about the mental issues of Elliot, who appears to be in search of some kind of resolution to his problems. Rushdie, being a talented author takes the reader on a journey through the mind of Elliot which has been shrouded by troubled thought and pressed for a beneficial reaction. By the end of the story Elliot has pushed himself so hard, and for too long. Elliot finds himself facing suicide by shooting himself in the head, in what appears to be the only way he can put a halt to the insanity that has bounced around his head. Elliot’s madness is internal and he is trying to push it aside to live his life, but this is not at all possible for Elliot.

    One way that Elliot is trying to help himself is with his love affair with Mala. Mala is a source of harmony for Elliot. As lovers Mala and Elliot press through the struggles that Elliot carries on his shoulders and they are able to utilize their strength together. Rushdie’s title The Harmony of Spheres refers to the two sides of the brain reacting together to create harmony. This however falls in line with most of Rushdie’s writing that I have seen, as it is satirical of what Elliot does not have going for him, but gives the reader something that we can bond with. As a reader it is a struggle to understand what something like this is going through without getting into their head, or at least seeing the madness between the two sides of the brain.

    Of course in the novel the inequality in Elliot is based on a “simple biochemical imbalance” (134), but this does not satisfy the narrator. Sahid, the narrator feels at sometimes disenfranchised from Elliot Crane, as we feel disconnected it is harder and harder for the reader to understand the depth of conversation that we are facing. On the contrary, at times we feel as though Sahid and Elliot are thinking on the same page, Sahid even questions “Who knows what makes people friends? Something in the way they move” (136). Sahid describes their opposition as moving well together, which in effect created harmony. According to Newton, every action has an opposite and equal reaction. These actions and reactions working in unison are what I think of when I think of harmony. Harmony is a group effort in my belief system, it is how things should be if worked out properly, maybe not at all once, but from the grand view of things harmony is always the goal.

    To live a life of harmony is to allow for both spheres to work together. Neither can be entirely dominant, nor repressed by the other. If both spheres are trying to lead harmony is not at all possible, as is unfolded in the life of Elliot Crane. Many aspects in life have this concept embedded within them. After watching some NBA playoff basketball this week, I realize that the concept of harmony truly thrives in many situations. Although some teams are dependent on one or two superstar players, it is the teams that work well together that thrive. I have noticed that the best teams in the league are those that work together, that pass the ball and find the best opportunity, not the teams that try to force their go-to-guy into troublesome situations. It is interesting how a story like this can broaden ones view of what can be seen as harmonious…..