Salman Rushdie - The Prophet's Hair

      The Prophet's Hair tells the story of a string of events which occurs after a family comes into possession of a strange and powerful religious artifact, that artifact being a strand of hair from the prophet Muhammad. In Rushdie's The Prophet's Hair, the reader is allowed a glimpse into a world filled with greed and corruption. Each character has his own flaws as everyone does, but these flaws are brought out even more by this artifact.The author is conveying how valuable things can corrupt and change people. One character in particular seems to convey this message of greed more so than any of the other characters. 

       Each of the characters act on a major sin throughout the story, greed being the most prominent and most addressed sin. The character Hashim is shown as being consumed with greed after coming into possession of the strand. He was "fond of pointing out that while he was not a godly man he sat great store by living honorably in the world." This line is a sarcastic take on Hashim's true intentions and moral. In many parts of the story, he tries to justify his greed. He found that his "duty as a citizen was clear", he was going to return the hair to where it belonged. Instead of doing this keeps the hair telling himself that it is for the best. "And after all, the Prophet would have disproved of this relic worship." By saying this he believes that by him keeping the hair he is not only doing himself a favor, but others who also practice this religion. In this instance, Hashim puts himself in the place of Muhammad, thinking that he knows best for everyone else even though his intentions are solely based on his own wants and needs. We see this similar situation in the character in Porphyria's Lover.