Name: Megan Beebe
Major: English
Project Sponsor: Eric Birdsall
Number of Project Credits: 3
The Importance of Haroun and the Sea of Stories Through the Lens of Gulliver’s Travels
Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a children’s novel that makes serious political statements
concerning freedom of expression. The juxtaposition of the talkative Gups and the silent Chups
is used to illustrate the importance of communication and expression. On the surface, this novel
is solely a children’s novel. When reading between the lines, though, Haroun and the Sea of
Stories is a satiric novel that emphasizes the importance of freedom of expression through these
adventures. It parallels the structure and concepts of the literary classic Gulliver’s Travels. They
are both children’s novel on the surface with adventures to faraway lands that seem to be very
different from the society in which they live. They also are both satirical and use hyperboles to
express political statements. These parallels show that Haroun and the Sea of Stories is an
important addition to the study of literature and needs to be studied, as Gulliver’s Travels has
been, for years to come. This project has shown the importance of studying children’s literature
as an influential genre throughout history and for years to come.