Greed

         When I was a child, I was taught that I would have to return the stuff to the owner whenever I pick up something that doesn’t belong to me. This is called moral. In fact, we can always hear stories that people who return stuff to the owner will usually be rewarded. The moral means we do not take what does not belong to us and we will get better than that because of it. Nevertheless, in Salman Rushdie’s novel “East, West”, the main character Hashim, seems like never heard this story.

        Hashim finds a hair in silver vile and that belongs to the prophets of Muhammad. He understands that he should return it, but he decides to keep it because he is a greedy collector. Actually, Hashim is a very weathy moneylender who always overcharges his clients and brute force will be used to collect their money if they are late. However, everyone who comes into contact with the vile will seem to destroy his/her life. There are some examples that the author lists in the story. Hashim once makes a punishing dictatorship run on a family and he finally beats this family and becomes extremely upon finding the vile. Also, the thief who is convinced to steal the vial by Hashim’s daughter is also has a sadness ending. In order to end the family’s curse, Hashim’s daughter offers a lavish reward to the thief once he completes the mission. (Rushdie P. 39) The thief finally is shot by the police when he attempts to run away after the robbery and most of the Hashim’s families are dead. Moreover, the sons of the thief are also fallen into the curse even though the one who contacts with the hair is their father. Thus, those stories prove that the vile punishes everyone who contacts with it.

        Actually, the author wants to warn the people that money and religious can destroy and family by using a fairy tale story. Money and religious cannot be abused. We should know where the fine line is so that we do not walk beyond of it. This story tells us how horrible of the money and religious will be if they are abused. In fact, when we grow up, we are always taught this kind of knowledge either in our home or school. However, after people grow up, the greed will usually become bigger and they will increasely forget what they’ve learnt. Finally, they have to pay for their greed.