‘Midnight’s Children’: Indian History, Political Upheavals and Fragmented Identity

‘Midnight’s Children’

Introduction

"And there are so many stories to tell, too many, such an excess of intertwined lives events miracles places rumors, so dense a commingling of the improbable and the mundane! I have been a shallower of lives; and to know me, just the one of me, you’ll have to swallow the lot as well." (Rushdie, 1980, p. 4)

Being ‘a shallower of lives’, self-awareness narrative style dominates the writings of Salman Rushdie. As a writer, Rushdie offers mirror image of Indian history, political upheavals and most importantly, the fragmented identity of India. Rushdie is very clear in inviting the reader to get an insight of the life and society that he is dealing with.

In this paper, the basic idea is to explore Rushdie’s novels to comprehend his contribution in this particular domain.


Via: Time

As the title suggests ‘Midnight’s Children’ is in itself refers to the political upheavals of India during 1947, when it was at the verge of being independent from British Imperialism. Incidents like death of Gandhi from personalised perspectives of Saleem, adds the political situation of India amidst the tug of Jawaharlal and Jinah to lead the nation. Indian history in Midnight’s Children (1980); stands solely as a manuscript of recorded incidents during the last days of Indian Independence.

Saleem Sinai, who is the narrator of this novel, invites the reader to be a part of historical traditions of India. It is through his journey across the memory lane and regular recalling of his days that the individual historical occurrences are highlighted to offer the Indian traditional history to the reader. In this attempt, feature of fragmented identity of India can be well depicted in reference to ‘Midnight’s Children’, where Saleem let the readers know about his deliberate intervention in the state of self-aware narration (Mitra, 2006). It is through Padma that this awareness gets communicated to the reader. In the novel through Saleem, Rushdie states,

“Padma has started getting irritated whenever my narration becomes self-conscious, whenever, like an incompetent puppeteer, I reveal the hands holding the strings […]” (Rushdie, 1980, p. 72).

Here it is Rushdie who offers a subjective declaration and demonstrates about his awareness in his narration. He accepts the element of self consciousness in him that needs to get fragmented for different characters. However, Rushdie continues with his narcissistic approach and continues the novel. As for instance, the interesting incident in the chapter ‘Purforated Sheet’, Saleem gives a detail about his passion for the woman behind the perforated sheet and at the same time reminds the reader about the tradition of ‘purdah’(veil) in Indian history. The approach is definitely satirical as the woman is allowed to show only that part of her body to the doctor that is suffering from some trouble; otherwise she is strictly under ‘purdah’. Here, the traditional historical approach and fragmented identity of India can be well noted, though through sarcasm.

Conclusion

Depiction of Indian history, political upheavals and fragmented identity is the core concern of Rushdie in Midnight’s Children. His self aware narrative technique and representation of past through personalised experiences offers the novel the niche towards crystallised imagery of India during the last phase of its Independence. The narrations are though sarcastic, yet are very interesting in making the reader feel his presence amidst those incidents. 

Sources

Mitra, R. (2006) Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. Atlantic Publishers & Dist

Rushdie, S. (2006) Midnight’s Children. Random House Trade Paperbacks; 25th Anniversary edition