There's No Place Like Home

       “Most of us nowadays are sick.”  It’s not just cancer and heart disease eating away at our tremendously up-surging and increasingly subservient populations.  With a how-to page available at the speed of light for everything from an authentic marinara sauce recipe to easy and quick recommendations for mass producing methamphetamines, no wonder our culture is veering towards a future where everything is taken at face value and celebrities are the new and improved Jesus Christ.   In Salman Rushdie’s story “At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers,” a futuristic glance at exaggerated idol worship and symbolism provide an entertaining take on the fate of consumer culture.
       The premise of the auction is that the famous ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland are up for purchase and a cult following has evolved in the wake of its popularity.  Express confessional booths, SWAT team members and bullet proof glass are called upon to assist in the event of an “insanity overspill.”  Rushdie’s interpretation of the general populous that venture to attend the auction is one of a limitless vulnerability disguised in the extremist precautions employed to assure order among the order-less.  The extreme nature of the auction reflects the utmost esteem that the slippers are held.  The slippers themselves, physically worth next to nothing, are worth limitless emotional reward to the lucky winner of the auction.  Much like in “The Prophet’s Hair,” the institution of object worship leads to the degradation in the value of the intangible.  The worth of the slippers overshadows the actions of those desiring them.  It is a cat and mouse game played out for everyone to see, the search for happiness within the confines of material objects.   
       Movie stars, memorabilia junkies and costumed fanatics are the predominant attendants of the auction.  When a fanatic kisses the glass encased slippers, her gesture of devotion terminates her life.  The slippers are equipped with an electrical defense system equipped to kill those out to harm and those there to admire.  This brings truth to the statement made that “these are uncompromising times.”  The level of politically correct behavior in this future is at an impossible level.   The death of the fanatics demonstrates the extreme nature of this society and their acceptance of the ridiculous.  The fear of obscurity and meritocracy outweigh any risk.  The fanatic dieing to be remembered in the world will most likely not register on the bystanders memories, even in death.  The sanitation of life has warped the perceptions of what is normal and just.  The slippers turn from shoes into the unfulfilled aspirations of everyone in the room, available for purchase immediately.  Rushdie uses the extravagance of the event to demonstrate how human contact is blocked directly by the material objects that are valued at a greater level compared to respect and comradery.
         The narrator’s infatuation with his cousin, Gale, also demonstrates the heightened environment of a social norm that equippes the populace with a synthetic existence.  The narrator plans on offering Gale the ruby slippers as a token of his affection and therefore ending his obsession of her memory.  Much like a religious figure, Gale is worshipped by the narrator to an extent beyond reason.  The narrator equivocates his longing for Gale with the longing for the slippers and assumes that upon obtaining the slippers, he will be reunited with Gale.  The fairy tale notions of the narrator show the reasoning behind the adoration of the mythical slippers.  A desperate reach for a relic from a story with a bright conclusion just might ensure a joyous life for those who have deep enough pockets to buy happiness. 
        Salman Rushdie successfully uses the ruby slippers to darkly tell of the consequences for idolization and value of material objects.   The quick witted and modern short story serves as a warning towards an unhealthy investment in the adoration of physical objects coupled with an increased isolation created by technology and the increasing level of politically correct boundaries.   Rushdie shows how all citizens of this scenario are in one way or another sick with longing.