At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers

I remember growing up, my parents read me various fairy tales. One that I vividly remember, The Emperor’s New Clothes, is a tale about human’s ability to be blinded by our need for fulfillment. In the Tale an emperor is obsessed with nice clothing. Two men come into town who claim they can make the greatest outfit in the world. The emperor believes the men and hires their services. The men claim that the cloth they are using is invisible to the stupid and those not fit for their position. The emperor not wanting to be made a full of claims he can see the clothing a masquerades through town naked. While walking through town a child yells, “But he has nothing on!” bringing an end to the story.

            After reading Salman Rushdie’s short story, At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers, it struck how similar it is to The Emperor’s New Clothes. Rushdie’s short story is about a society in the future were everything is up for auction including the, “Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, the Alps and the Sphinx.” (98) People try to find self fulfillment through buying things in the auction. Even though they have almost no objectionable value they are wanted for the mere want of possession. As Rushdie put it thanks to the auction, “any of us, cat, dog, man, woman, child, can be a blue-blood; can be – as we long to be; and as, cowering in our shelters, we fear we are not – somebody.” (103) People in Rushdie’s fictional future are only as important as the objects they purchase.

            In At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers, a set of ruby slippers are up for auction. The crowd is out in force. Movie stars, political figures, scientists, homeless, common folk, everyone wants a piece of the action.

            Why are the ruby slippers in such high demand? “Because of their powers of reverse metamorphosis, their affirmation of lost state of normalcy in which the slippers promise use we can return; and because they shine like the footwear of the gods.” (92) The narrator of the story believes that the shoes have supernatural powers; the ability to return the owner to a state of normalcy. It seems that the society is out of control, wanting to reverse the effects the auction has had on everyone.

            Another interesting aspect of the story is the auctioneers. The auctioneers seem to be powerful figures that are part of a governmental power, “under the firm yet essentially benevolent supervision of the Auctioneers, their security dogs and Swat teams.” (99) The auctioneers hold an important status in the fictional society, “The Grand Saleroom of the Auctioneers is the beating heart of the earth.” (98) The auctioneers seem to be the highest people in the society. The auction has lifted them to a position almost as high as God, “It is to the Auctioneers we go to establish the value of our pasts, of our futures, of our lives.” (101) Rushdie’s fictional society is under the control of the auction and those who control it.

             After reading Rushdie’s short story I am struck by the power of validation. As humans we some times are trapped by the need to validate our existence. In At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers the society has become wrapped up in validating who they are through what the posses. They same is true in the story of the emperor. Sometimes we get so caught up trivial things we forget about what really matters.