Midnight S Children A Postcolonial Criti PDF

Journal of Postcolonial Writing
Fo
rP
Midnight’s Children : A Postcolonial Critique

ee
Journal: Journal of Postcolonial Writing
Manuscript ID Draft
rR
Manuscript Type: Original Article
Keywords:
ev
ie
w
On
ly
URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rjpw Email: jpw_submissions@yahoo.co.uk

Page 1 of 12 Journal of Postcolonial Writing
MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Fo
15
16
17
18
rP
19
20
21
22
ee
23
24
25
26
rR
27
28
29
30
ev
31 Midnight’s Children : A Postcolonial Critique

32
33
34
ie
35
36
37
w
38
39
40
On
41
42
43
44
45
ly
46 Rahila Khan
47
48
49 Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Journal of Postcolonial Writing Page 2 of 12

1
2
2
3
4 Abstract
5
6
7 This paper is a postcolonial critique of Salman Rushdie's most famous novel, Midnight's children. It is
8
9 a postcolonial novel in which the novelist gives an account of the historical events that happened
10
11 during British Raj and Independence in India. He adds beauty to these events through using the tool of
12
13
14 magical realism, which makes it a beautiful piece of literature instead of a boring historical document.
Fo
15
16 In this paper, I have attempted to highlighted different postcolonial elements found in the novel along
17
18 with its narrative style of magical realism.
rP
19
20
21 1. Introduction
22
ee
23
24
Postcolonial as the word itself shows refers to period after colonialism. Colonialism is referred
25
26 to subjugation of weak countries and nations by the strong ones. When subjugation of colonizer by the
rR
27
28 colonized comes to its end, and the colonizer physically leaves, it leaves behind some social,
29
30
economical and emotional traces, which then become part of the previously colonized society.
ev
31
32
33 Postcolonial studies or literature is the literature created after the physical departure of colonizer from
34
ie
35 the colonized territory. According to (Wikipedia , The Free Encyclopedia, 2015), “Post
36
37
w
38 colonialism or postcolonial studies” is defined as ,“an academic discipline featuring methods of

39
40 intellectual discourse that analyze, explain, and respond to the cultural legacies
On
41
42
of colonialism and imperialism, to the human consequences of controlling a country and establishing
43
44
45 settlers for the economic exploitation of the native people and their land.”
ly
46
47 2. Famous Postcolonial rhetoricians and literature
48
49
50 Edward Said ,Frantz Fanon, Homi K. Bhabha and Partha Chatterjee are usually regarded as
51
52 the most prominent theoreticians of postcolonialisms. The literature they produced is based on
53
54
55 postcolonial elements prevailing in a postcolonial society. They have examined the effects of
56
57 colonialism on people mind and their way of life after its end. “Orientalism” by “Edward Said”, “The
58
59 Wretched of the Earth” by “Frantz Fanon”, “Things Fall Apart” by “Chinua Achebe” ,”Wide Sargasso
60

1
3
2
3
4 Sea” by “Jean Rhys” ,”Midnight's Children” by “Salman Rushdie”, “Heart of Darkness” by “Joseph
5
6 Conrad”, “The God of Small Things” by “Arundhati Roy” , and “Arrow of God” by “Chinua Achebe”
7
8
9
are regarded as the most famous and best selling postcolonial literature.
10
11 3. Postcolonial concepts
12
13
14 The most important postcolonial concepts used in postcolonial literature are hybridity,
Fo
15
16 hegemony, ambivalence, mimicry, miscegenation. subaltern, ambiguity,magic realism, feminism,
17
18 globalization etc. the postcolonial writers usually highlight few or most of these concepts in their
rP
19
20
21 postcolonial literature.
22
ee
23 4. Postcolonial elements in Midnight’s Children
24
25
26 "Midnight’s children" is one of the famous postcolonial novel written by British Indian famous
rR
27
28 essayist and novelist Salman Rushdie. It was his second novel published in 1981, which for its unique
29
30
matter and manner won him the bookers prize of the same year. It is read and appreciated worldwide.
ev
31
32
33 Even a fantastic movie directed by Deepa Metha is made on it, that been watch and liked worldwide. It
34
ie
35 is amongst the most famous postcolonial literature, which highlights the postcolonial setting of India
36
37
w
38 after British rule. It pictures the postcolonial social, cultural, political and religious practices that were
39
40 evident in India. “Much of his fiction is set on the Indian subcontinent. He is said to combine magical
On
41
42
realism with historical fiction; his work is concerned with the many connections, disruptions, and
43
44
45 migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations.”(Wikipedia, 2015) The novel is believed to
ly
46
47 deal with “India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of British
48
49
50
India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism. The story is told by
51
52 its chief protagonist, Saleem Sinai, and is set in the context of actual historical events as with historical
53
54 fiction.” (Wikipedia , 2015)
55
56
57 “Midnight’s Children traces the grotesque destiny of a Muslim Indian family from 1915 to
58
59 1977, when Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule was about to end in a general election which she, in a
60
hubristic burst
URL:ofhttp://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rjpw
overconfidence, had called.” (Towers,Email:
1981)jpw_submissions@yahoo.co.uk

1
4
2
3
4 The time period that the novel covers as stated by Robert Towers is from 1915 to 1977.British
5
6 rule in the subcontinent come to its end on 15th august 1947 .midnight children are the children born at
7
8
9
the stroke of midnight of 15th august that marked India’s independence.
10
11 The novel deals with the life of almost three generations in detail .it is set in the time when
12
13 India was under British rule till the years after independence so it covers the period from occupation
14
Fo
15
16 till independence and the following years . It gives a colonial and more particularly the postcolonial
17
18 picture of India. Magical realism is the narrative style of this novel beside this one can trace several
rP
19
20 postcolonial elements in this novel as hybridity, mimicry, miscegenation, postcolonial feminism.
21
22
4.1 Magical realism
ee
23
24
25 Magical realism is defined as “a style of painting and literature in which fantastic or imaginary
26
rR
27
and often unsettling images or events are depicted in a sharply detailed, realistic manner.”
28
29
30 (Dictionary.com, 2012) (Pryor)defines it saying , “The genre of magical realism is defined as a literary
ev
31
32 genre in which fantastical things are treated not just as possible, but also as realistic.” One can
33
34
understand that magical realism has a blend of reality and imagination. Reality is depicted in a magical
ie
35
36
37 way, adding beauty and fantasy to it, thus making it more interesting.
w
38
39 In the novel MC, the novelist SR employs magic realism as his narrative approach has
40
On
41
42 beautifully and artistically blended dazzling fantasy with dull real life, which makes his work more
43
44 appealing. The novel primarily deals with historical event of British rule in India, its independence and
45
ly
46 the postcolonial period these historical events are usually dry and dull to read, but Salman Rushdie
47
48
49 makes it interesting by presenting the history in a magical way.
50
51 (Jordison, 2008) states that, “It's only minutes since I reached the final, typically long and rich
52
53
54
sentence of Midnight's Children and closed the covers. It feels like shutting the lid on a magic box. A
55
56 swirling, overloaded mass of words, colors, smells, allusions and illusions has suddenly been
57
58 contained. A portal to a fantastical, vital dimension has been sealed off.”
59
60

1
5
2
3
4 The midnight’s children are the children born on the midnight of India’s independence. They
5
6 represent different provinces, which came into being on 15 Aug 1947, when India got independence
7
8
9
from Britain. “During the first hour of August 15th, 1947-between midnight and one a.m.-no less than
10
11 one thousand and one children were born within the frontiers of the infant sovereign state of India.”
12
13 “endowed with features, talents or faculties which can only be described as miraculous.” Saleem Sinai
14
Fo
15
16 the hero is also one of these midnight children (Rushdie, 2011) . TShey are introduced to saleem after
17
18 a bicycle accident “as a result of a jolt received in a bicycle-accident, I, Saleem Sinai, became aware
rP
19
20 of them all.” (Rushdie, 2011) he starts listening strange voices and tells his family about listening
21
22
strange voices no one believes in fact he is accused of cracking stupid jokes and is badly treated. Then
ee
23
24
25 comes a time when these midnight children actually appear and start talking to him , they tell him
26
rR
27
about the supernatural powers they had. The midnight children were not ordinary kids , they had
28
29
30 supernatural powers . as defined in novel ,Kerala boy had the ability of stepping into mirrors andre-
ev
31
32 emerging ,a Goanese girl had the gift of multiplying fish ,children with a werewolf from the Nilgiri
33
34
Hills had powers of transformation,Vindhyas boy could increase or reduce his size at will, from
ie
35
36
37 Kashmir, there was a blue-eyed child ofwhose original sex was never certain, from Jalna was a water-
w
38
39 divining youth, at Budge-Budge outside Calcutta a sharp-tongued girl whose words already had the
40
On
41
42 power of inflicting physical wounds,t here was a boy who could eat metal ,a girl whose fingers were
43
44 so green that she could grow prize aubergines in the Thar desert, bearded girls, a boy with the fully-
45
ly
46 operative gills of a freshwater mahaseer trout, Siamese twins with two bodies dangling off a single
47
48
49 head and neck-the head could speak in two voices, a witch-girl with the power of healing by the
50
51 laying-on of hands, dhobi's daughter from Madras could fly higher than any bird simply by closing
52
53
54
her eyes,Benarsi silversmith's son was given the gift of travelling in time and thus prophesying the
55
56 future as well as clarifying the past. Parvati-the-witch had been given the powers of the true adept, the
57
58 illuminatus, the genuine gifts of conjuration and sorcery, the art that required no artifice. Saleem and
59
60

1
6
2
3
4 Shiva, Shiva and Saleem, nose and knees and knees and nose… to Shiva, the hour had given the gifts
5
6 of war and to Saleem, the greatest talent of all-the ability to look into the hearts and minds of men.”
7
8
9
Saleem used to held conferences with these midnight children. These conferences are
10
11 repeatedly referred in novel as “Midnight Children's Conference”. Different political issues were
12
13 discussed in these conferences.
14
Fo
15
16 There are many occasion in MC where SR uses the framework of magic realism. The fine
17
18 examples are Saleem’s gift of having an incredible sense of smell allowing him to determine others
rP
19
20 emotions and thoughts, invisibility basket of parvti-the-witch,Tai the eternal boats man, Mian
21
22
Abdullah’s humming , etc.
ee
23
24
25 The magical realism narrative adds beauty and vigor to the historical events represented in this
26
rR
27
novel. Many real events are told and discussed in the novel but with addition of fantasy. This addition
28
29
30 of fantasy to reality makes the reality interesting to read and one remains excited to keep reading and
ev
31
32 knowing. The “Midnight’s Children” represent different geographical boundaries of India after
33
34
independence. The powers they posses represent the quality of the particular areas they belong. This
ie
35
36
37 all historical detail if told without adopting magical realism would have been not that interesting to
w
38
39 read .
40
On
41
42 4.2 Mimicry
43
44 During colonialism there comes a time when consciously or unconsciously the colonizer starts
45
ly
46 mimicking the colonized and vice versa. This practice of mimicry then continues in the postcolonial
47
48
49 period as well. Mimicry is evident during British raj in India , where one can witness British
50
51 mimicking Indian while Indian mimicking British. Salman Rushdie has given several such examples
52
53
54
of mimicry in MC. Saleem Sanai the hero of the novel at one place highlighting mimicry in his society
55
56 says that, “In India, we've always been vulnerable to Europeans… Evie had only been with us a matter
57
58 of weeks, and already I was being sucked into a grotesque mimicry of European literature. (We had
59
60
done Cyrano, in a simplified version, at school; I had also read the Classics Illustrated comic book.)

1
7
2
3
4 Perhaps it would be fair to say that Europe repeats itself, in India, as farce…” (Rushdie, 2011) Another
5
6 incident which shows this practice of imitation is cocktail hour. The hour when Amina Sinai,Ahmed
7
8
9
Sinai and Mr Methwold gather in the garden to take a cocktail every evening. Saleem describing the
10
11 behavior of Sinai’s at the cocktail hour says that “Every evening at six they are out in their gardens,
12
13 celebrating the cocktail hour, and when William Methwold comes to call they slip effortlessly into
14
Fo
15
16 their imitation Oxford drawls; and they are learning, about ceiling fans and gas cookers and the correct
17
18 diet for budgerigars, and Methwold, supervising their transformation, is mumbling under his breath.”
rP
19
20 (Rushdie, 2011) One can see Indians mimicking British language as well as their life style so far as
21
22
possible. It’s done to show off being educated and sophisticated, with the intention to grab the
ee
23
24
25 attention of colonizer as well as fellow colonized. Mr Methwold represents the colonizers part of
26
rR
27
mimicry. One can also see traces of imitation in him. He tries to mimic language spoken in India. for
28
29
30 eg,“Sabkuch ticktock hai. Everything's just fine” (Rushdie, 2011)
ev
31
32 4.3 Hybridity
33
34
One can witness the postcolonial element of hybridity as well. According to (Gupta, 2009)
ie
35
36
37 Rushdie privileges a postmodern space or third principle that blends both sides of binaries: east/west,
w
38
39 secular/religious, real/fantasy, and colonizer/colonized and foregrounds hybridity over clarity and
40
On
41
42 open-endedness over closure. In this the work is adaptable, creative, fluid and imaginative. Just like
43
44 Rushdie himself, Saleem is a perfect representation of the hybrid man, born with multiple allegiances
45
ly
46 and identities. He is a character of mixed backgrounds the son of a colonial named William Methwold
47
48
49 and a poor Indian woman, yet raised as a son by the middle-class Sinais.
50
51 Rushdie uses religious hybridity in Midnight's Children to symbolize the identity crisis of India
52
53
54
at the time of Independence. The religious uncertainty of the characters is also the religious
55
56 uncertainty of India. The root of the problems, however, does not start with Independence, but,
57
58 instead, trace back to Aadam's return from abroad and dismissal of his traditional religion. The fact
59
60
that the problems can be traced to one source suggests that Rushdie believes that colonialism is the

1
8
2
3
4 true origin of India's problems. Whether or not there is an answer to the question, a possible solution
5
6 seems to lie with Saleem and his ability to reconcile differences between religions.
7
8
9 4.4 Miscegenation
10
11 As far the concept of miscegenation is concerned, this too is evident in the novel . Modern
12
13 India is believed to be an outcome of miscegenation. Saleem Sinai the hero is also a perfect example
14
Fo
15
16 of it. “Saleem is the child of a poor Indian woman and a departing Englishman.” “even Saleem’s huge
17
18 nose is an intertextual reference both to the elephant –headed Indian god Ganeesh and to such western
rP
19
20 models as Tristram shandy and Cyrano de Bergerac“ (Schellinger)
21
22
4.5 Post colonial Feminism
ee
23
24
25 Feminisim is also one of the postcolonial element found in this novel. India is a male dominated society
26
rR
27 where females are suppressed by the male one way or another. It will not be wrong to say that females are
28
29 treated as subaltern in this region of the world. MC deals with three generation of ladies, Naseem, Amina and
30
ev
31
32
Jamila.
33
34 Naseem is a strict, nationalistic adherer of rule set by the male dominant society. She is kept behind
ie
35
36 “perforated sheet” even when she has to be examined by a doctor. When doctor feels shocked and asks her
37
w
38 father about how to examine her without looking at her ,he is told by Naseem’s father Ghani that, “ 'You
39
40 Europe-returned chappies forget certain things. Doctor Sahib, my daughter is a decent girl, it goes without
On
41
42 saying. She does not flaunt her body under the noses of strange men. You will understand that you cannot be
43
44
45
permitted to see her, no, not in any circumstances; accordingly, I have required her to be positioned behind that
ly
46
47 sheet. She stands there, like a good girl.'” (Rushdie, 2011) From the above dialogue we come to know that the
48
49 title of “decent girl” is given by male to such females who practice pardah as set by male. This clearly tells that
50
51 the one who don’t follow that practice are considered not to be decent by the male dominant society. In addition
52
53 to this a “good girl” is one who is obedient and she readily follows the rules and regulation set for her by the
54
55 male. It’s male who decides how a female should live in the society. In the continuation of the same dialogue
56
57
58
Naseem’s father says that ,“'You will kindly specify which portion of my daughter it is necessary to inspect. I
59
60 will then issue her with my instructions to place the required segment against that hole which you see there.

1
9
2
3
4 And so, in this fashion the thing may be achieved.' ” Ghani in his explanation seems to be dealing Naseem not
5
6 as a free human but a piece of land who is his property.
7
8 “Aadam, who has just realized in Amritsar in 1919, reading the hartal pamphlet, that he “does not feel
9
10 Indian”, demands that Naseem “‘Forget about being a good Kashmiri girl. Start thinking about being a modern
11
12 Indian woman’” Naseem, however, refuses to glide smoothly into the nationalist narrative of women leaving
13
14
purdah in order to represent the modern feminine face of the Indian nation. She shrieked in horror. “My God,
Fo
15
16
17 what have I married? I know you Europe-returned men. You find terrible women and then you try to make us
18
rP
19 girls be like them! Listen, Doctor Sahib, husband or no husband, I am not any … bad word women.”
20
21 (Weickgenannt, 2008)
22
ee
23 Mumtaz daughter of Naseem is the second generation of women in the novel. She as compare to her
24
25
mother is a little modern and liberal minded. Though still male play a dominant role in her life .after getting
26
rR
27
28 married to Ahmed Sinai she is told not asked that her name should be changed. “'Change your name,' Ahmed
29
30 Sinai said. 'Time for a fresh start. Throw Mumtaz and her Nadir Khan out of the window, I'll choose you a new
ev
31
32 name. Amina. Amina Sinai: you'd like that?' 'Whatever you say, husband,” says Mumtaz, Amina now, who
33
34 readily accepts this big change. An obedient girl just like her mother. She isn’t put behind “perforated sheets”
ie
35
36 as her mother. She isn’t forced to practice pardah. She moves freely in the society. “In stark contrast to Naseem,
37
w
38
Rushdie created with Mumtaz/Amina a woman who strives desperately hard to be the quintessential dutiful wife
39
40
but nevertheless falls short of the expectations associated with that role. After her divorce from Nadir Khan,
On
41
42
43 Mumtaz marries Ahmed Sinai,who renames her Amina as if to cleanse her from her former marriage and
44
45 reclaim her as virgin territory for himself. The desirability of their loveless marriage and Amina’s one-sided
ly
46
47 marital mission is persistently questioned: Why had she married him? – For solace, for children. [...] in my
48
49 mother’s opinion, a husband deserved unquestioning loyalty, and unreserved, fullhearted love. [...] And so,
50
51
bringing her gift of assiduity to bear, she began to train herself to love him” (Rushdie, 2011)
52
53
54 Pardah is the most essential element.Naseem is put behind the perforated sheet to be examined by dr.Jamila is
55
56 also kept behind a perforated sheet…“And when Jamila Singer's fame had reached the point at which she could
57
58 no longer avoid giving apublic concert, it was Uncle Puffs who started the rumor that she had been involved in
59
60 a terrible,disfiguring car-crash; it was Major (Retired) Latif who devised her famous, all-concealing, white silk

1
10
2
3
4 chadar, the curtain or veil, heavily embroidered in gold brocade-work and religious calligraphy, behind which
5
6 she sat demurely whenever she performed in public. The chadar of Jamila Singer was held up by two tireless,
7
8 muscular figures, also (but more simply) veiled from head to foot-the official story was that they were her
9
10 female attendants, but their sex was impossible to determine through their burqas; and at its very center, the
11
12 Major had cut a hole. Diameter: three inches. Circumference: embroidered in finest gold thread. That was how
13
14
the history of our family once again became the fate of a nation, because when Jamila sang with her lips pressed
Fo
15
16
17 against the brocaded aperture, Pakistan fell in love with a fifteen-year-old girl whom it only ever glimpsed
18
rP
19 through a gold-and-white perforated sheet.”
20
21
22
ee
23
24
25
26
rR
27
28
29
30
ev
31
32
33
34
ie
35
36
37
w
38
39
40
On
41
42
43
44
45
ly
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60

1
11
2
3
4 References
5
6
7
8 (2012). Retrieved from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/magic+realism
9
10 (2015, May). Retrieved from Wikipedia , The Free Encyclopedia:
11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcolonialism
12
13 (2015, June 21). Retrieved from Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight%27s_Children
14
Fo
15
16 (2015, July 25). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie
17
18 Benny, C. P. (n.d.). Magic Realism as a postcolonial device in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children .
rP
19
20 Gupta, M. (2009). Salman Rushdie:A Re-telling History Through Fiction. prestige.
21
22 Jordison, S. (2008). Midnight's Children is the right winner. The Guardian.
ee
23
24
25
Pryor, M. (n.d.). study.com. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/magical-realism-
26 definition-authors-examples.html
rR
27
28 Rushdie, S. (2011). Midnight's children. Vintage Books.
29
30 Schellinger, P. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of the Novel .
ev
31
32
33
Towers, R. (1981, september 24). On the Indian World Mountain. On the Indian World Mountain. The
34 NewYork review of Books.
ie
35
36 Weickgenannt, N. (2008). The Nation’s Monstrous Women: Wives, Widows and Witches in Salman
37
w
Rushdie's Midnight's Children. THe Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 43-65.

38
39
40
On
41
42
43
44
45
ly
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60

1
12
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Fo
15
16
17
18
rP
19
20
21
22
ee
23
24
25
26
rR
27
28
29
30
ev
31
32
33
34
ie
35
36
37
w
38
39
40
On
41
42
43
44
45
ly
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60

Midnight S Children A Postcolonial Criti PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Midnight S Children A Postcolonial Criti PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Journal of Postcolonial Writing

Midnight’s Children : A Postcolonial Critique

Journal: Journal of Postcolonial Writing

Manuscript Type: Original Article

URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rjpw Email: jpw_submissions@yahoo.co.uk

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

31 Midnight’s Children : A Postcolonial Critique

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

38 colonialism or postcolonial studies” is defined as ,“an academic discipline featuring methods of

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

Rushdie's Midnight's Children. THe Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 43-65.

MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE

You might also like