Hybridity in "Midnight's Children"

Paper Summary:

In this comprehensive book review of Salman Rushdie's "Midnight Children" the author looks at mixture and fragmentation as major themes that persist throughout the novel. This, the author believes, leads to clues to the meaning of hybridity. The author looks at the classic example of hybridity as shown in mixing spices and, takes this theme further in reviewing Rushdie's book. He points out one of the areas where hybridity can be seen in the book, is through the character of Aadam Aziz. Aziz is a doctor who has spent five years in Germany studying medicine and returns to his homeland only to find that he is different, forever changed. The author elaborates on this and other instances in the book and, concludes that hybridization is a fact of colonization, there is no longer the pure one or the other.

From the Paper:

"Even in the act of leaving and giving Indians their freedom, the British have exerted their influence. Methwold's metaphor shows the power of the colonizing force in defining the agenda for the newly freed nation. Yet this force is not completely oppressive. As Methwold asserts his supremacy through his constant retelling of his ancestors who helped to build Bombay, Sinai learns the discourse and uses it to empower himself. "Actually, old chap, ours is a pretty distinguished family, too," Sinai says to Methwold (122). The word "actually" indicates the slippage, the difference, and the correction of Methwold's original conception of Sinai. The mimic "old chap" softens the challenge as Ahmed Sinai identifies himself with the Englishman through this very English term of endearment. Through imitation, Sinai attempts to seize the power for himself. Though the lineage that Ahmed Sinai attributes to himself is purely fictional, it nevertheless shows the mimic effect of colonization."

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