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Everything Is Not What It Seems

Reoccurring elements, or motifs, are aspects that appear throughout a novel or work
multiple times and that are of essential symbolic meaning to that text. In Salman Rushdies
Midnights Children, Rushdie incorporates the use of snakes and snake venom to symbolize an
old adage: Everything is not what it seems.
The chapter Snakes and Ladders begins with a description of the harsh winter of 1948,
which has been nicknamed The Winter of Bad Omens. In order to make ends meet, the upstairs
room is rented to Dr. Schaapsteker. This action is rather symbolic due to the fact that the doctor,
who has spent his life observing snakes, is very snakelike himself in both actions and appearance
(he is described as nearly eighty-two, tongue flicking at the corners of his mouth [169]); his
renting of the upstairs room is symbolic as well, as it fits the theme of snakes and ladders.
Saleems childhood obsession with Snakes and Ladders was rather simple, yet so thought
provocative. He describes the board game as an implied battle: duality of up against down, good
against evil Alpha against Omega, father against mother, here is the war of Mary and Musa,
and the polarities of knees and nose (161). Furthermore, Saleems insight on the game allows
the reader to see what his opinion of the games moral: Snakes and Ladders capturesthe
eternal truth that for every ladder you climb, a snake is waiting just around the corner, and for
every snake, a ladder will compensate (160). This is a board game that we have all played, yet
have never really thought about such an underlying and true meaning.
Saleem demonstrates this ever-present notion of ups and downs in life with the example
he gives of Hanif: a very confident Hanif was able to become the youngest ever to direct a film
in Indian movie history. He, along with his pretty and talented wife Pia, was set to debut their
film, only to have it usurped by a snake. The killing of Mahatma Ghandi threatened to turn the
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nation in an uproar, but upon hearing that a Muslim was not the culprit, everything was ok.
Saleem goes on to state that for every up, there is a down, and vice versa; however, The Serpent
can take most unexpected forms (162). This also applies to a ladder being able to present itself
in an unforeseen way. Just as snakes and ladders are able to appear out of thin air in just about
any fashion, these two can also be a blessing in disguise. The snake venom, which was so deadly
that it could kill a horse rather quickly, was the only chance Saleem had at survival. This strong
and dangerous concoction would either kill or cure (169) Saleem. After having discussed just
how potentially dangerous it is, the king cobras venom ended up being a ladder rather than a
snake. Knowing the repercussions of administering the poison, Saleems grandfather took a leap
of faith. Rushdie writes: Snakes can lead to triumph, just as ladders can be descended (169).
The snakes venom was ultimately a blessing in disguise, as it started a snowball effect of good
things to come: Saleem survived, Ahmeds assets were unfrozen, and Saleems sister was born.