Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children

Only in 1993 did he manage to meet Clinton and in 1998 the sentence of death was revoked. But the Fatwa still remains because, in the meantime, Ayatollah died.

And by Indian law only he could stop it. So Salman Rushdie continues living under the shadow of assassination.

Midnight's Children.

The novel is an allegory of the modern India.

It covers more than 60 years in the story of 3 countries on the Indian Subcontinent. The narrator is Saleem Sinai, an Indian chef who was born in Bombay, on the strike of Midnight, the exactly day in which India becomes an Independent Nation after 30 years under the British Colonisation. (15/08/1947).

On the first pages of the novel, Saleem states that he was "mysteriously handcuffed to history, his destines chained to those of his country". So what he has to do? He has to work hardly if he wants to construct something. And he has to construct his life, from the moment of his birthday. He decides to confide himself on the paper before forgetting. Memory is of the topics important. And as Rushdie said: - that s a book about the nature of memory.

He devotes his life to the great task of the preservation. The memory saved by the corrupter action of the time. He has to hand down to his child and descendants what has happened within the space in which he was the protagonist of the new period of life of its Country. Therefore he begins to narrate his long trip through the History: that personal of his life and that national of his own Country. (Autobiography and History).

What we can find within its simple the Indian history that we could study in every history books: dates, events, historical characters and so on. Rushdie doesn't care to tell the historical events following a precise chronological order or to bring with accuracy what was happened in the past. What he wants is to create, interpreter or explain History through aspects that transcend of the reality. In this way the past is transformed, changed, modelled constructed in order to face the demands of present and future. And how is possible this process? It's easy!!!!! He uses imagination.

Saleem Sinai speaks about the preparation of Chutney revealing the principal ingredients that there are in his literary recipe. That is to say events, memories and ideas whose taste is altered by his subjectivity .then tools as Memory and Imagination give form and meaning to the story.

As I was saying the history in the book is the same in very history book but told in different way

Indian history is not reported as an objected fact, an absolute true. He elaborates one his own interpretation of the event. When Saleem speaks about the war Indo-Pakistan in 1965 with the real aim to obtain the control of Kashmir what he says is completely different. He is convinced that there was just to destroy his whole family. And important political characters as Indira Ghandi are familiarized to its personal experience. She is called "the Widow", a woman without scruples who wants destroy Saleem and every midnight's child.

Saleem Sinai show us one his personal interpretation about History in which ,mistakes, exaggerations and inventing facts are absolutely possible because, as the narrator asserts, in an autobiography it 's not important what is really happened but what the narrator convinces us to believe.

Hence, he distorts historical events and, in the meantime, he condemns the past in other to take other possibilities, chances that could be done. For instance as regard as the division of India: India and Pakistan separate from the different religion (Hindu Religion and Muslim Religion) that he describes in the first part. This kind of decision could be avoided. In fact when the Colibrė, founder of free Islam Convocation, in contraposition of the Muslim League was assassinated, for him was a tragedy. The Colibrė represented a big innovation for his Country. Mian Abdullhah could create a different country in which various religions could together be part of the same nation, to cooperate in harmony.  Saleem hopes that the future Indian is different not more with religion or cultural discrimination.

Coming back to make chutney it take form from Memory with the aim to distort, to falsify, to imitate.

Here, Memory has three natures:

Memory as a real memory when he remembers events really happened

Memory as Imagination and starts creating a fairy tale ,or putting together true and not elements so Memory as invention that led to a new way to understand a specific historical events. Beyond Memory we must not forget the Imagination: the tool used to leave the real dimension to describe another fantastic, magic. For instance when our Saleem discover to have strange powers.

In the second part of the novel Rushdie uses the Imagination .he gives to its narrator the power of telepathy.  Since he was a child Saleem he was mock because of his nose .he used to hide in the washing box one way from everybody. And when he was there that started to hear some voices .now he knows to be telepathic ,he reads in other people 's thoughts .even he manage to know the most hidden secrets. He can't say anything to his parents .nobody could believe him.

In this way he started to communicate with the other children of midnight. Not every child survived .in 1947 were born 1001children but only 581 survived. Every child had strange powers and their powers depend on the proximity of the midnight. He creates the conference of the midnight. Those meet together thanks for Saleem mind to speak about every thing. Among them there is Shiva, better known as the god of the war .he is strong and wants to take the control but he is stronger than everybody. He was born on the strike; a letter from the Indian president confirmed all. Saleem is not afraid of Shiva. At home he was the favourite son; he was always to the centre of attention. But not after the moment of his small secret. Shiva and Saleem were born in the same hospital and her future Nanny found the courage to change babies like a revolutionary act .changing in this way their destiny, giving to Saleem a wealth Kashmiri -descended family while to Shiva denied his own rights, without a family and living like poor.

Shiva and Saleem are destined to be mortal enemies from the stroke of midnight. (Different social classes, richness and poverty).

Midnights 'children offers us to appreciate quite 30 pots of pickle (chapters) every with a piece of history, the taste is altered from memory and imagination. Saleem Sinai manages as well to create another world, a parallel world in which it s impossible to distinguish the real from surrealistic. I m referring to the Buddha's trip in Sudarbans. When he is already a Pakistan's soldier because he has lost his Memory. In 1971 Pakistan attaches Bengali and Pakistan soldiers devastate and kill the local population. In order to escape from this horror Buddha and his 3 friends find refuge in a magic place where space and time could not enter.

In fact they start having strange sensations, strange visions between real and surrealistic. This situation can show us that sometimes the play between real and surrealistic it s quite invisible and it doesn't care if something is happened or not. This is the last task of imagination that gives us various interpretations in contrast even to history.

So we don t be angry if important dates or children with strange powers. What we have to do will be to swallow everything because only in this way we can know the narrator and his incredible story.

  Autobiography

  History _various interpretations

  Fairy teller _ Imagination

  Memory _to hand down to his child and his ancestors _ preservation; Memory saved from the corruption act of the pass of time