The unobtainable

The unobtainable can become an intense obsession in many people’s lives. They hope or wish to obtain that which they may not have and in the process drive themselves a little crazy. Many times these fixations revolve around things such as a beautiful woman, money, or simply an object or pursuit of great value. Yet, many times with the acquisition of that which they had yearned for, they find their possession not as glamorous as they had previously dreamed. Instead they find it was the pursuit of there obsession that they had truly enjoyed.

Salman Rushdie brings these lessons to light in his short story “At the Action of the Ruby Slippers”. Within this story, the main character is simply a nameless narrator who lives within a world of ultimate materialism and selfishness. He is obsessed with his cousin Gale. She had left him years before for an ape man that she met through the television.  The narrator had walked in on them during their affair and was heartbroken forever after. The actual details of how Gale was able to physically have a relationship with a fictional character were never truly explained. The only details that the narrator gives to this fact are that it’s the future and materialism and technology have hit their peak. Past this point it only elaborates as far as saying he’s obsessed with her and all he truly wants is her love.

In turn, the narrator goes to the auction of the Red Ruby Slippers. The powers contained within these slippers are supposed to be beyond limit. He figures by giving his cousin these shoes he will win back her love. But through the course of the auction he finds himself somewhat disenfranchised by the fact she may take him back. He suddenly realizes it was not his cousin’s love he so desperately wanted. He had simply loved the act of pursuing her. It was a life changing moment for the narrator. He suddenly felt refreshed and freed and realized she no longer had a hold over his life.

The narrators epiphany is reminisces to the old saying “The grass always looks greener on the other side of the road, until you get there and find it was spray painted on”. This saying is very similar to the narrator’s life. He had always previously thought the life he possessed was insufficient and lacking without his cousin Gale. But once he finds he can have her back, he realizes he never truly wanted her back in the first place. He was just in love with the women he had known before and not the person Gale had became today. The auction of Red Ruby Slippers was just the catalyst that allowed him to understand that his past love was simply an unobtainable dream. The women Gale had been, was gone, and in coming to terms with this fact he realized that there were many other prospects in the world, all of which could be equally or greater in importance than his once past love.