Midnight's Children

Midnight's Children is a novel in three books, with the action taking place over several decades. It is often called epic, and, while this is a word which can be used rather loosely to describe any...

One of the themes of Midnight's Children is the mythologizing of historical narrative. As we read the story, we have no choice but to accept Saleem's account of this momentous chapter in Indian...

While there are many complex aspects to Midnight's Children, it is clear that Rushdie offers a Postcolonial narrative. Rushdie appropriates many elements of Postcolonialism in his work. The first...

I think in order to help one answer this question, an understanding of Romanticism is obvious. Once one understands the characteristics of Romanticism, he or she can apply them easily to any text....

Salman Rushdie writes about real-world events blended with mysticism and magical happenings. In Midnight's Children, the protagonist embodies this ideal because he was born right at the time that...

I think that Rushdie's work fits several of the conditions of historiographic metafiction. On one hand, the construction of the narrative through Saleem's eyes makes him the center of the work....

The style in which Rushdie presents his work helps to bring out its thematic development. I think that Rushdie's grasp of historiography is driven by the expressions of the subjective. Rushdie...

Magical realism is a term that's used to describe literary works that mix fantastical and magical elements within an otherwise realistic tale. Such works also tend to treat these magical happenings...

One purpose in writing Midnight's Children was to demonstrate the impossibility of a perfectly accurate retelling of history. When we normally think of "history," our mind drifts to an undisputed...

I think that the answer to such a question is present in how both conditions are impermanent. The idea of a lack of absolutism in either is a source of liberation and a source of pain for the...

I think that some of the distinctive language featured in Rushdie's novel can center on how Saleem tells the story. His method of narration is unique because the language and context told to us is...

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....

Identity is extremely important in interpreting Rushdie's Midnight's Children. One reason why identity is so important is because Midnight's Children explores a national and psychological...

Rushdie grounds the novel in the moment of midnight at the moment of India's independence. Yet he takes this historical, factual moment and immediately plunges it into the mythic—the protagonist is...

On some level the perforated sheet is a metaphorical representation of the cultural separation of men and women. The sheet serves as a barrier between men and women that is upheld as a tradition...

Salman Rusdie’s classic novel Midnight’s Children is a prime example of a postcolonial novel for a number of reasons. Chief among them is the fact that Rushdie addresses British imperialism and its...

Midnight's Children can be seen as a landmark in the history of the Indian novel in English for a couple of reasons. The first reason would be that Rushdie composes one of the most significant...

One of the most significant contributions of Midnight's Children to the Indian novel in English existed in how the novel critiqued both Indian and Colonial cultural expressions of the good. While...

Sinani fills at least two distinct roles in "Midnight's Children."First, he represents India itself. Sinani is born at the very moment that India becomes a free nation. He has telepathic powers...

I think that many consider Rushdie's work to be an example of historical fiction. Being true to form about his own capacity as an artist, Rushdie might hold some views on the subject. If one...

You might like to consider the way in which language is used in this brilliant novel to stress the contrast between Saleem and Shiva, his mystical twin. One of the repeated expressions that is...

One way in which the theme of revenge is evident in the story is how Shiva seeks control through violence. Already a bully, when Shiva becomes aware of the Midnight's Children Conference, he wants...

I am not sure if you are going to find an exact quotation about time. Part of the reason for this is because time is an exact quality and Saleem, though he might pretend to be otherwise, is not an...

There is going to be much in way of specifics needed in answering the question. Simply put, I think that it is too broad of a question given the work. There are distinct social, economic, and...

It is clear that this novel, more than any other before it, was the first Indian novel written in English to gain the widespread attention of the English reading public. This was partly due to the...

One way in which Rushdie rewrites history is through Saleem as the narrator. Since so much of the past that Saleem relays is unclear, Saleem himself rewrites history. There are many instances in...

I think that the post-colonial struggle for identity is what Saleem endures throughout the novel. In this light, there is much in way of post-colonialism in the work. Saleem is an interesting...

Salman Rushdie’s seminal Man Booker Prize-winning novel Midnight’s Children is written as a first-person memoir from the perspective of Saleem Sinai, a man born at the exact moment that India...

Aadam Aziz originally hails from Kashmir, a province whose ownership is disputed over to this day by India and Pakistan. Aadam is a Muslim, just like most of the people who live in the province,...

When examining a novel’s narrative technique, it is important to think about the key subjects the author conveys in the story. Narrative technique is essentially how the writer tells the story and...

I would say that one of the most unique elements to Saleem's narration is that it is fragmented and not coherent. This is similar to the manner in which India was partitioned and what resulted...

One justification present might simply be that Saleem Sinai is one of the few who actually lived through what India was to what India has become. He could be viewed as heroic because of his mere...

As with so much in Rushdie, Aadam is a richly flawed character. In order to illuminate the sense of fragmentation that is intrinsic to the subcontinent's history, Rushdie has to create many...

Midnight's Children is Salman Rushdie's second novel. The only thing he had written before it was Grimus, a macabre work of science fiction which has its roots in Persian poetry (specifically the...

Through Saleem Sinai, Rushdie is able to provide an excellent narrator who is able to convey the extreme level of challenge in trying to provide a coherent narrative to the modern Indian nation....

Salman Rushdie shows history as a burden that the people of India, especially those born at the time of independence, must bear. Among the positive aspects of the nation’s history is diversity,...

The sense of magical realism presented in the novel is not one that operates in a fantastic and dazzling type of manner. Saleem's powers are unique and demonstrate a capacity for the traditional...

The story is told in first person. First person narration makes you feel like you are there. It is a very personal narrative style, and it brings the reader much closer to the character. You...

The kind of truth that Salman Rushdie explores in the novel Midnight's Children is the truth that does not appear to be rational, or factual (not encyclopedia facts, at least), but which simply...

In all honesty, I am not sure I would consider him the anti hero. I think that Shiva plays this role much better in the novel. Perhaps, we could try to reconfigure Saleem as an atypical...

Rushdie employs magical realism in his development of the novel's hero, Saleem Sinai, and the characteristics of the other children born in India between midnight and 1 am on August 15th, 1947, the...

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." —Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India Salman Rushdie's celebrated novel Midnight's...

I think that this is a fairly broad question. Accordingly, there are many ways to answer it. On one hand, I would suggest that one of Saleem's expectations would be to unify the children of...

Rushdie is able to challenge the supposed impartiality of history by displaying it as a collection of narratives rooted in power- based constructs. One of the most powerful elements in Rushdie's...

Saleem's parents have blood types A and O. Genetically Saleem should be one of those two blood types. He is neither, which proves that is not their biological son. Mary, much later, confesses to...

Rushdie's construction of fragmented political identity and personal identity in the novel is one that exists outside the role of Hindu gods. Like most religion featured in the book, Hinduism is...