Annabelle Garbiglia HKI

Midnight’s Children 1981

As early as the 1920s, two political leaders of the Congress party, Gandhi
and Nehru, were seeking new democratic reforms for autonomy. They did so
through non-violent action and have claimed boycott of British products. Key point
was that they have refused to obey the authorities. During the Second World War,
India has taken part in the war against the Japanese and donates money within the
con ict. Following the Congress Party’s stating the "Quit India" resolution in 1942,
the country of England accepted India's independence on August 15, 1947. This
marked the beginning of the independence for those two countries: the Indian
Union and Pakistan.
This passage from Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children, written in 1981, is
set against the backdrop of India's independence. The extract begins with the
birth of Salem Sinai, the narrator-hero. Salem Sinai recounts his birth on August
15, 1947, the date where India’s became independent. In this extract, we discover
that children born at midnight on the 15th receive a Times of India prize. At the
beginning of the text, we observe the pre-birth of this child with the mother and
father in hospital. Gradually the extract takes another turn, and the key point of the
passage is when the little boy is born at the same time as the birth of a new and
free India. The boy's birth opens the doors to freedom, independence, and space.
At the end of the extract, as a nal situation, we see a description of a new India,
the future of a new country and the future of a new baby, meaning most likely just
a rebirth of everything.
The text is permeated with several tensions as space who is opposed to
con nement, also isolation with freedom, and liberty contrasts with prison.
There is an atmosphere of magical realism, as if it weren't all real, with a touch of
the fantastic. But from another point of view, we see India's independence as an
unreal phenomenon.
This essay, therefore, will examine the ways in which the oscillation between
independence and alleviation is made manifest in the text.

The rst part will explore how the text expresses the metaphor of an animal
breaking out from the trap. A second part will show how the text creates a contrast
between con nement and freedom. Finally, the last part will show how the
question of identity and freedom leads to independence in 1947.

I) The metaphor of an animal/ India breaking out of the trap :

In this text, we nd lots of metaphors and comparisons between an animal
and the country of India. Here, the birth of India is like the cry of an animal
emerging from the con nement of its mother's womb. Here, India is as if kept in
the country of England, unable to escape and breathe freely. Meanwhile and
thanks to August 15, 1947, India can be born and be free of everything. This is just
a touch of magical realism as if India's independence was an unexpected and
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 improbable event, a hope that had become a myth. Here we nd unexpected
fantastic elements, with the country's roars sounding like animals.
- “The monster in the streets has began to roar” (line 16): The narrator, Salem
Sinai, wants to explain that India is a developing country. It is nally coming out of
con nement, a metaphor comparing India to a wild animal like a tiger that roars
when it nally gets free. Here, there are no longer any cages restricting movement.
Everything is permitted again.
- The beast is nally awakened, the rage of the Indian inhabitants is reawakened,
they nally want to escape from the world.
- “And beneath the roar of the monster there are two more yells, cries, bellows,
the howls of children arriving in the world” Here, the birth of children shows the
birth of India, and this child born at midnight embodies the rebirth of the
country. It is the beast that cries out, screams and cries to come out and
discover the notion of freedom. The inhabitants try to get rid of the violence, the
world of prison.

II) Con nement versus new freedom:

The text contrasts the con nement and prison of pre-August 1947 with the
sudden burst of freedom at midnight. Like a baby unable to emerge from its
mother's womb, India has dif culty separating « herself » from « her » mother, the
British motherland. It's a long process, but suddenly you're out of the jail with a
feeling that they are living in an in nite space.
- During the colonization of the British Empire, India was silenced, it did not have
its own laws, it was like a prisoner facing a big power. But today it can nally
break out of its silence and move towards, crying out their own life. That's why
here the notion of con nement and freedom is contrasted. We see, for example,
the women who give birth representing freedom and birth, and then the men who
are as if still con ned in prison. We can see in line 7: “Women wail and shriek
while in another room men are silent”.
- Moving from the old marks a transition, a contrast, a new era. Independence is
now a new country, like a new land that opening from the past.There's a kind of
gulf between before and after. The country is no longer the same, but rises from
the ashes like a Phoenix. The narrator-hero explains that in line 24: “When we
step out from the old to the new; when age ends, and when the soul of a nation
long suppressed nds utterance”.

III) The question of identity and freedom leads to independence in 1947:

This novel is part of the literary movement of post-colonialism, as the author
describes the period of liberation from independence, as the country discovers its
independence. Through this we see all the oppression experienced and the
ultimate desire for freedom. The Indians fought for independence through non-
violent actions and boycotts. August 15, 1947 marked a new beginning, a new
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identity. Throughout the text, we nd the importance of identity. For them, regaining
independence meant regaining their identity, their traditions, and their own cultures.
With a united and free country, we can be ourselves.
- Here the narrator even speaks of a period of ill-fortune, describing the moment of
colonization as a tragic destiny that today is nally emancipated, as in line 36:
“we end today a period of ill-fortune”.
- In this extract, we nd a multitude of comparisons to the all-important question of
identity. India seeks to be itself, to have a united people who love each other, as
in: “soul of a nation”, line 24.
- Then, we can note the lexical eld of freedom: “life” (L18) “freedom” (L18)
“independence” (L21), “new”, “power”, (L32) “delivered”, “birth”.
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