Rushdie, Salman - Midnight’s Children

Salman Ruhdie - Midnight’s Children (1981)

It is an important novel published at the beginning of the 80s. Considered one of the best novels ever written in the last century---> first of all, it represents the post-colonial writings merging=there are different kind of been post-colonial for a work:
I. Rewriting the classics from different perspectives.
II. Rushdie: merges two different cultures--> he managed to create a sort of magic realism: mixed historical events/eastern culture/ western culture and then added some magic--> the magic he used was not detached from reality anyway, a sort of fantasy (reference to events that have a sort of magic) ----> he perceives somehow magic from his culture India, because it was different.
He was inspired by the Indian oral tradition to write it: he argued that the oral tradition has got a lot of loops=reminding you what has just passed: sort of refrain of the same images.

Theme: new identity

Autobiographical book: he introduced some personal events of his life: the protagonist Saleem Sinai was born the same year as Rushdie=>is it as if he is recollecting his personal history.

The historical background

The story is divided in three books and is very complicated: the narrator and main character is Saleem Sinai. He was born on the same moment of the official independence of India from the UK—> they obtained independence, but with the partition with Pakistan: India was divided into two countries=> this is the beginning of lots of problems.

The babies born very near to the moment of independence (15th of August 1947) have special powers--> in total they are 1001 new-born babies=the number will be reduced to more or less 600 children by their tenth birthday. Saleem has got magic powers: for example, he can hear all the other midnight's children's thoughts=telepathy. Although he is going to lose that power for another one.
We know thanks to the telling of his biography there are a lot of references to historical events: problems with Pakistan and the relationship between India and UK=it is not just the personal story of Saleem but something global: that novel makes you think about human relationship and political problems.

Saleem started his personal narration from 1915 (it begins 32 years before, but it is rooted in the national independence), from his grandfather (tells his story).
He also talks about one particular historical event for India: the Prime Minister was Indira Gandhi (70s): sterilization camps=she forced people to be sterilized and even Saleem was. She was a dictator and this sort of birth control was a way to persecute political opponents=wanted to diminish population by making people not to be able to have children anymore. Anyway, according to different perspectives Indira Gandhi was revolutionary.
Important: Saleem embodies the life of India, first of all because England had an English father (his biological father was British: his mother had an affair with the previous owner of the mansion they lived).
The protagonist feels as if he is going to die, for this reason he wants to write sort of chronicles of his life: because he feels all the historical events of India on his body=parallel between his personal story and the one of India. He is aware that telling his biography means telling the history of India.

Magic realism

Has been defined as a sort of movement in the 50s/60s in the USA. This merging of the historical facts/ personal experiences and magic events--> on the one hand there is something real, on the other something strange happening=but this strange part is still rooted in reality---> there is no separation between what is real and magic.
You cannot distinguish the storytelling from history=>Rushdie really believed that if you want to present reality as it is, you have somehow to do it through fiction--> when you write fictional stories without being so rooted/ realistic=you give best example of human truth. Fiction is much more real than history.
For example: you read a fictional novel--> although the characters are not real, you understand how human relationships work: human ambitions/feeling understood better.
It is thanks fiction that actually you can go deeper into human beings’ truth and reality.
Furthermore, he argues that stories are the essence of human beings--> for example: children at the very beginning of their lives ask for love/food, but then they are going to ask you stories--> stories are relevant, so embedded in our way of thinking and society=for example: you really belong to a family when you know all the stories of members.
Stories are fundamental to understand human beings=he used his stories/novels to understand better cultures/historical events and this new kind of identity (that he thinks we have today).
He was influenced by Laurence Sterne (always addresses the reader: dialogue with the reader) and Italo Calvino. Anyway, he will influence the following writers, because his works are milestones in post-colonial literature.