The Demand for Home

       Over time, our consumer driven culture has adopted a philosophy that percieves happiness as a posession that can be purchased for a price.  Consumption and contentment have become so intertwined that, more often than not, satisfied desires do not lead to fulfillment, but rather become replaced by the desire for a new coveted posession.  We have become a culture that views our posessions as "ruby slippers" that will provide us with the security and emotion of "home." When these posessions fail to provide us with the desired effect, instead of pondering what could really provide peace of mind, we venture out to the next auction, where we might get the chance to bid again for an object that promises nothing but more buyers remorse. 

       This is one of the major themes adressed in Salman Rushdie's short story, At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers, which is part of a larger compilation entitled, East, West.  In this story, Rushdie portray's a world in which everyone (supernatural beings and deceased individuals included) has become psychoticlly enraptured with consumption.  Great auctions are held that oversee the selling of objects ranging from priceless works of art, to human souls. At one point in the story, Rushdie writes, "The Grand Saleroom of the Auctioneers is the beating heart of the earth. If you stand here long enough, all the wonders of the world will pass by . . . Everything is for sale. . . " (98).  The narrator describes an extravagant auction taking place, in which all people(accept for priests) of the world, heads of state to orphans, are hoping to gain the posession of a pair of ruby slippers.  These slippers offer something different to everyone involved in the bidding, but one thing they represent for all, is the possibillity of true fulfillment and peace that can only be represented by the image of "home". 

             The irony behind this story is that while everyone is so desperate to obtain these slippers (even the narrator) for the purposes of going "home", they have no concept of what home even means anymore.  At one point in the story, Rushdie writes, "Home has become a scattered, damaged, various concept in our present trivials.  There is so much to yearn for. There are so few rainbows anymore.  How hard can we expect even a pair of magic shoes to work?  They promised to take us home, but are metaphors of homliness comprehensible to them, are abstractions permissable . . . Are we asking for too much?" (93).  These are defining lines in the story, because they present a problem to everything the bidders hope to accomplish.  Everyone wants to obtain "home", but the concept has become so perverted and trivialized, even the power of the ruby slippers is questioned in terms of their ability to provide what these people would now consider as such. 

        This story is a warning to all those who put too much emphasis on their material posessions to provide happiness.  No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to truly purchase happiness.  We may pay for comfort, but happiness is a state of mind and cannot be bought with cash or credit. All that will come from trying to buy our way into fulfillment is buyers remorse.  True happiness is far more abstract and profound than a pair of ruby slippers. Even if they are magic.