"Midnight's Children"

Paper Summary:

Salman Rushdie's novel "Midnight's Children", which developed a fictional world that played off the political, social and cultural history of India, received many awards when it was published in 1981. The paper shows how Rushdie, in the 30 chapters of the book, creates in the character Saleem a story-teller who makes use of legends, symbols, fantasies to express the life of India.

From the Paper:

"Saleem is one of the children born at the moment of India's liberation, so his life fits precisely with the history of modern India. His family situation also reflects the complexities of Indian history, especially the religious conflicts of the time. The family patriarch was Dr. Aziz, who earlier in the century came from Muslim Kashmir, a disputed territory between Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. Dr. Aziz moved to India, and his granddaughter married a well-to-do Muslim businessman named Ahmed Sinai. Saleem is born in Bombay, and his birth is given added importance by being preceded by a prophecy which everyone finds impossible to understand, but which comes true in every particular. One reason for this adds to the complexities of Saleem's family life, for Saleem is not the child everyone believes but is instead an infant switched in the maternity home so that he is actually not from the rich Muslim family but is instead the child of a Hindu street entertainer--here, again, he is a mixture of religious backgrounds as well as socioeconomic contrasts."

More papers on "Midnight's Children":

• Book Review # 67370 : "Hybridity in "Midnight's Children"
• Analytical Essay # 138359 : "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie"
• Analytical Essay # 37821 : "Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children"

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