Midnight's Children Group

Question:


coolnerd
Student

Name 3 important and intriguing quotes that refer to noses in Midnight's Children - (think metaphore, imagery, etc.).

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Posted by coolnerd on Tuesday December 11, 2007 at 4:21 PM and tagged with midnight's children, noses.

Answers:


  1. dymatsuoka

    eNotes Editor

    In describing his grandfather's nose, Rushdie uses vivid imagery.  This quote also is an example of simile and metaphor - "My grandfather's nose:  nostrils flaring, curvaceous as dancers.  Between them swells the nose's triumphal arch, first up and out, then down and under, sweeping in to his upper lip with a superb...flick".

    Grandfather's nose is symbolic of his role as patriarch of a dynasty, and all his descendants bear this identifying mark as well - "Doctor Azia's nose...established incontrovertibly his right to be a patriarch...a nose to start a family on...there'd be no mistaking whose brood they were".

    Rushdie also uses some delightful play on words in describing Grandfather's nose - "You could cross a river on that nose...its bridge was wide".

    (All quotes from Chapter 1)

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    Posted by dymatsuoka on Wednesday December 12, 2007 at 7:16 PM