At the Auction of the
Ruby Slippers, by Salman Rushdie, is a story set in a militantly consumer
fantasy land based loosely on a Wizard of Oz theme. It is a satire on
consumerism, where objects of desire are auctioned off through closed-circuit
international live auctions, or perhaps Rushdie is simply being playfully
ridiculous. There are definite tensions of an autobiographical nature.
The ruby slippers are presumed to poses the magic power to take its wearer to someplace wonderful. They represent an unquenchable desire to obtain happiness. The bidders are consumers caught in the empty cycle of consumerism, and the Auctioneers are a sort of mercantile big-brother bent on commercializing anything and everything. They have moved items through the Grand Saleroom as wild as the Taj Majal, the Statue of Liberty, the Alps, and the Sphinx, wives and husbands, demons, and even human souls.
Question: Isn’t bidding for something that is priceless against those with inexhaustible wealth pointless?
5 comments on Ridiculously Ruby Red
Add a comment
To add comments without entering your email and image verification, you must be logged in. Login or Join Blogster
very short, but i like the question you posed at the end
Thanks, I just didn't have much to say on the topic. So much for dispelling binaries with this story. I simply think that consumerism isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be.
Those with inexhaustible wealth are those in power (unfortuneately for the rest of us). Being so wealthy makes the reality they live in completely different than most of ours. They have obviously found out that money cannot buy what they really want. But they keep trying.
Good question to finish off with. My answer would be yes, it is pointless bidding for something that is priceless against those with inexhaustible wealth. But isn't this the part were the irony lies, that though they are willing (and are able) to bid so high, it will not buy them real happiness.
Good job!