Midnights Children Salman Rushdei
1. Comment on the author’s style and characterization. Are the characters believable or paper cutouts? Comic or tragic or both? Are their dilemmas universal to human nature or particular to their situation?
- Rushdie's narrator, Saleem Sinai, is the Hindu child raised by wealthy Muslims. Near the beginning of the novel, he informs us that he is falling apart--literally:
I mean quite simply that I have begun to crack all over like an old jug--that my poor body, singular, unlovely, buffeted by too much history, subjected to drainage above and drainage below, mutilated by doors, brained by spittoons, has started coming apart at the seams. In short, I am literally disintegrating, slowly for the moment, although there are signs of an acceleration.
- In light of this unfortunate physical degeneration, Saleem has decided to write his life story, and, incidentally, that of India's, before he crumbles into "(approximately) six hundred and thirty million particles of anonymous, and necessarily oblivious, dust."
- It seems that within one hour of midnight on India's independence day, 1,001 children were born. All of those children were endowed with special powers: some can travel through time, for example; one can change gender.
- Saleem's gift is telepathy, and it is via this power that he discovers the truth of his birth: that he is, in fact, the product of the illicit coupling of an Indian mother and an English father, and has usurped another's place. His gift also reveals the identities of all the other children and the fact that it is in his power to gather them for a "midnight parliament" to save the nation. To do so, however, would lay him open to that other child, christened Shiva, who has grown up to be a brutish killer. Saleem's dilemma plays out against the backdrop of the first years of independence: the partition of India and Pakistan, the ascendancy of "The Widow" Indira Gandhi, war, and, eventually, the imposition of martial law.
2. What is the most important theme of the work?
- Spittoons appear through out Midnight's Children. The motif of the spittoon allows the narrative to circle back on itself without losing its forward momentum; by reintroducing it in different contexts, Rushdie builds meaning into the image and provides the reader with a reference point and familiar angle of i...
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...s . . . but then I was on the wrong track, too; I could not see any more clearly than anyone else" (273-4).
7. What is the value of studying works of creative literature for an understanding of another society and its history? Your own by comparison?
The story of Midnight’s Children parallels the real history of India from 1910 to the declaration of the emergency in 1976. The reader experiences the story through the eyes of the main character, Saleem Sinai, who was born auspiciously at midnight of India’s Independence. Although Midnight's Children is a story with political overtones, its well-written multi-dimensional characters go on an even more riveting personal journey that sucks the readers into the story without thinking about the political context of the story. Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is both the history of a sub-continent and the struggle of the Indian people for Independence, as well as a story of a boy's coming to age and a family’s saga.
Midnight’s Children spans 63 years of Saleem’s and India’s history beginning in 32 years before Saleem’s birth and ending when Saleem is about to 32.
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midnight's children by salman rushdie
From early childhood Rahim served as an ambassador for Amir on the peculiarity of his father Baba. Amir’s father commands a great respect from the community on his capability to defy the imposed limitations from the most extreme of skeptics and come out triumphant. Rahim conveys to Amir at an early age the financial success Baba has obtained from going up against the norm, both referring to him as “Toophan agha, or Mr. Hurricane”(11), a fitting title for one who could command the attention of any audience. Yet this brings about a inner conflict in Amir of not being able to resonate with his father, he who is confident, courageous, and a natural born leader. Amir is not the only one to notice, Baba himself is troubled by his son’s lack of confidence and cour...
Other characters and details throughout the story help make the idea of equality and culture come alive. The importance of this message reoccurs for the duration of the story as Rushdie visits this point again and again. This story of equality, criticism, war and corruption of power expresses topics authors rarely touch upon. Character’s actions, dialogue and relationships creates an impact on the reader. Thus changing the mindset of the importance of equality, and the fact that is the structure of culture and non-violence.
gained its independence from the colonial rule, his life story goes hand in hand with that of the nation. Saleem blends his life with the political life of his country, claiming: “I had been mysteriously handcuffed to history, my destinies indissolubly chained to those of my country”. This so-called significance of his birth gives the opportunity to Saleem to comment on the political and historical events in the Indian past. Because Saleem is, as he claims, handcuffed to history by his accidental birth, his autobiography reflects not only his individual life story but also the entire history of postcolonial India. This is the reason for the presence of historical personages and events in the novel that are referred to along with the life story
When discussing the controversial authors of Indian literature, one name should come to mind before any other. Salman Rushdie, who is best known for writing the book “Midnights Children.” The first two chapters of “Midnights Children” are known as “The Perforated Sheet”. In “The Perforated Sheet” Rushdie utilizes magic realism as a literary device to link significant events and their effects on the lives of Saleem’s family to a changing India. In fact, it is in the beginning of the story that the reader is first exposed to Rushdie’s use of magic realism when being introduced to Saleem. “On the stroke of midnight/clocks joined palms” and “the instant of India’s arrival at independence. I tumbled forth into the world”(1711). Rushdie’s description of the clocks “joining palms” and explanation of India’s newfound independence is meant to make the reader understand the significance of Saleem’s birth. The supernatural action of the clocks joining palms is meant to instill wonder, while independence accentuates the significance of the beginning of a new era. Rushdie also utilizes magic realism as an unnatural narrative several times within the story to show the cultural significance of events that take place in the story in an abnormal way.
Salman Rushdie's, "Midnight's Children" begins with the birth of Saleem Sinai at Midnight on August 15, 1947. Interestingly enough it was the exact date of when India first gained its Independence. The Novel proceeds to explain the birth of Saleem Sinai. Saleem's Grandfather, Aadam Aziz falls in love with Naseem. When they get married they bear five children. Nadir Khan, who is forced to live in Dr. Aziz's cellar, marries his daughter Mumtez. After two years a marriage of no intercourse falls apart. Nadir leaves a note in the cellar pronouncing his divorce to Mumtaz. She later marries Ahmed Sinai and changes her name to Amina Sinai. Shortly afterwards Amina is pregnant.
A number of key issues arise from the simbology of the book. The story is an allegory traced with great skill and allows the reader to give the book second readings.
The book Muhammad, by Michael Cook, describes the impact Muhammad has had on the world as we know it. It explains why Muhammad chose the paths he did, and how certain laws came about. Cook offers a very objective view of the laws and policies Muhammad outlined in the Koran, and the traditions that are carried on that supplement his written law.
River of Fire captures two thousand years of Indian history through the lived experience of four recurring characters:Gautam,Champa,Kamal,and Cyril. Out of the four characters,the first three enjoy a more privileged position within the narrative drive of the novel. In total the Subcontinent is represented as a storage area of the different cultures that enrich the soil and are tamed by India.The final chapters,captures the post-partition history of India and Pakistan within the metaphor of the family.It is in the final sections of the novel where one can trace an important and sophisticated critique of the nation-state.There is no doubt that the final chapters of River of Fire are an attempt at coping with the trauma of the partition,but this representation is less focused on the violence of the partition and more on the experience of living the new form of national identity as it unfolds across the Indian landscape. Hence,in a way exactly at a time when the Urdu novel is taking a nationalistic turn,Hyder’s River of Fire attempts to critique the nation-state and highlights the importance of the artificiality of Indian national divide itself,the novel thus becomes the critique of the nation-state. Hyder’s novel however does not mobilize difference in articulating the nation,it rather invokes the mythologies of similarities and common interest to articulate the Hindu-Muslim
In the novel, Baba Jan, the Muslim patriarch has friends among other communities and religious groups. Thakur Balbir Singh, Raja Hasan Ahmed of Amirpur, Mr. Freemantle this friendship emphasizes the social bonding that existed among persons of different faiths. From the pre-partition harmony the novel moves towards communal drift, riots and final partition of the country that also signals the end of British Raj in India. Partition becomes the terminal event in the life of the characters.
Rushdie eventually began his literary career in 1975 when he made his debut with Grimus, a sort of fantastical science fiction novel based on the twelfth century Sufi poem “The Conference of Birds”. Grimus however received little fame and Rushdie truly broke into the literary world with his second novel Midnight’s Children, in 1981, which won him the Booker prize and international fame. This novel began his controversial persona as well. The novel is a comic allegory of Indian history that revolves around the life of its narrator, Saleem Sinai, and the one thousand children born after India’s Declaration of Independence.
[2] The definition of Magic Realism is based on a seminar hand-out, a lecture and Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of literary Terms. USA: Harcourt, 1999.
Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children tells the story of Saleem Sinai and takes place throughout the history of India during the year 1915-1978. As Saleem is approaching his 31st birthday, he tells his life story to his confidant Padma, since he prophetically foresees his impending death. The retelling of his life begins with his Grandfather, Adaam Aziz, and the events leading to Saleem’s birth. Saleem’s character is interesting because of events and qualities that have set him apart. He was switched with another baby at birth and was born with telepathic powers. Importantly, Saleem was born at the exact hour of India’s independence from British rule. This correlation leads to the turning points of his life coinciding with various major events that happen within India. The novel concludes with Padma proposing to Saleem, and suggesting that their wedding be on his 31st birthday. Saleem refuses the proposal because he prophesied that his death would be on that day.
Until a child is eighteen years old, the parents have full responsibility. They provide a stable and loving environment for their children. As the leaders in a household, caring and loving parents also maintain the bonds that hold the family together. However, absence of loving parental guidance can create tension between family members. Anita Desai’s Clear Light of Day shows how war, specifically the partition of India, affects a particular family. The partition of Indian in 1947 created the separate countries of India and Pakistan, consequently ripping families apart. The partition, initiated by India’s independence from Britain, attempted to accommodate irreconcilable religious differences between Muslims and Hindus by forming the Islamic Pakistan. In Clear Light of Day, the Das children’s relationship with their parents causes lasting sibling conflict that mirrors this social and political upheaval of India.
Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children employs strategies which engage in an exploration of History, Nationalism and Hybridity. This essay will examine three passages from the novel which demonstrate these issues. Furthermore, it will explore why each passage is a good demonstration of these issues, how these issues apply to India in the novel, and how the novel critiques these concepts.
Anita Desai’s Clear Light of Day was set in India’s Old Delhi. The novel weaves the history of partition of India with an upper middle class Hindu family- the Das family. It focuses on their struggles and fragmentation. Also, it portrays the shifting and changing relationships of the Das siblings (Kinna, 2011). The central figure of the family is Bimla Das (Bim) who is an independent woman. Bim’s memories of childhood dominate her sterile existence and thus, replay her memories in the decaying family mansion in Old Delhi. The whole novel circulates around the theme of memory and the passage of time; vividly symbolized by the two epigraphs in the opening of the novel. The sisters in the novel try to reconcile their childhood dreams with their adult lives and resolve the lingering guilt of past family conflicts. Thus, this essay attempts to show the significance and the implication of the epigraphs by Desai in the novel.