Hello everyone, in this blog i will discuss about some question about character study of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
types of character
Protagonist: The main character of a narrative; its central character who
engages the reader’s interest and empathy.
Antagonist: The character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama
that opposes the protagonist and gives rise to the conflict of the story; an
opponent of the protagonist.
Round: A character that is convincing, true to life. A character that has many
different and sometimes even contradictory personality traits. A character that
undergoes some type of change or development in story, often because of
something that happens to him.
Flat/Static: A character that does not change in the course of the story. A
character that is stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic. A character that has
only one or two personality traits.
CHARACTERS IN MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN
Saleem Sinai
Saleem Sinai is the protagonist and narrator of Midnight’s Children. He is born,
along with one other child, at the exact moment of India’s independence. His
identity, however, is switched at birth. As a result, he is raised by a prosperous
family in Bombay, while his counterpart and future rival, Shiva, is raised in poverty. Saleem has the powers of telepathy and a preternaturally acute sense of
smell, which allow him to find the other children of midnight and create the
Midnight’s Children’s Conference. As he approaches his thirty-first birthday, he
says he is nearing death. His body is literally falling apart, and it’s only a matter
of time before he crumbles into dust. Driven by a desire to beat his biological
clock, Saleem narrates his life story to his devoted and loving caretaker, Padma.
His tale, which begins with his grandfather Aadam and is at times unreliable
and contrived, represents not only his individual life story but also the entire
history of postcolonial India. All the major events in his life correspond to
important political events in Indian history, leading him to compare his
narrative to religious texts. Given his fantastic birth and extraordinary powers,
the prime minister of India, Indira Ghandi, seeks to destroy him along with the
other midnight’s children.
Aadam Aziz
Saleem’s grandfather. Aadam is the patriarch of the family, a doctor and skeptic
whose loss of faith leaves what he refers to as a “hole” inside of him. Aadam
falls in love with his wife, Naseem, after only being allowed to see her through
a hole in a perforated sheet.
Ahmed Sinai
Saleem’s father. A shrewd businessman who is nonetheless destined for failure,
Ahmed spends much of his marriage fighting his wife and his alcohol addiction.
Mumtaz (Amina Sinai)
Saleem’s mother, and the daughter of Aadam Aziz. Born Mumtaz, she changes
her name to Amina after her marriage to Ahmed. A loving, devoted mother, she
inherits her father’s skepticism and her mother’s determination. Despite being
married to Ahmed, she is never able to forget her first husband, Nadir Khan.
Mary Pereira
Saleem’s ayah and surrogate mother. Mary is responsible for switching Saleem
and Shiva at birth out of a misguided sense of social justice. In order to
compensate for her crime, she dedicates her life to raising Saleem.
Shiva
Saleem’s archrival. Shiva is born at exactly the same moment as Saleem. While
Saleem is raised in a loving, wealthy household, Shiva is raised in abject
poverty by a single father. He is blessed with a pair of preternaturally strong
knees and an amazing prowess in war. Shiva is named after the Hindu god of
destruction, who is also the god associated with procreation.
Born at the stroke of midnight and named after the Hindu god of destruction,
Shiva is Saleem’s rival and counterpart. Switched at birth with Saleem, Shiva is
robbed of his affluent birthright and raised in abject poverty. Blessed with a pair
of enormous and powerful knees, Shiva is a gifted warrior and, therefore, a foil
for the more mild-mannered Saleem. Shiva represents the alternate side of
India: poor, Hindu, and as aggressive as Saleem is passive. As a young child, he
is the leader of a street gang and possibly a murderer. He is driven by a
determinedly individualist perspective and grows up unable to form any human
attachments. Although he is a violent character, he is, nonetheless, a tragic
figure, damaged and shaped by the forces of history and class. During the 1971
war between India and Pakistan, Shiva lives up to his name and becomes a war
hero, eventually promoted to the rank of major. Along with his military
reputation, Shiva also becomes a noted lover among the women of Indian high
society, siring a number of illegitimate children. In the end, Shiva hunts Saleem
down and turns him over to one the camps opened during Indira Gandhi’s state
of Emergency, where Saleem, along with the other midnight’s children, is
administered an operation that renders him sterile. In this way, Shiva manages
to effectively destroy the children of midnight.
Parvati-the-witch
A real witch, and, like Saleem, one of the children born at the moment of
India’s independence. Parvati is Saleem’s closest ally as a child and later
becomes his wife. Despite her fantastic powers, she is unable to make Saleem
fall in love with her and, as a result, embarks on an affair with Shiva that results
in a child. In the Hindu religion, Parvati is the consort of Shiva
Padma
Padma is Saleem’s loving companion and caretaker, and she will become his
fiancée at the end of the novel. She is the audience for Saleem’s narrative. With
strong, hairy forearms, a name associated with dung, and a cynical and often
impatient ear, Padma represents the antithesis to Saleem’s magical, exuberant,
freewheeling narration. She hurries the narrative along, imploring Saleem to get
on with the plot rather than veering off into tangents, and often she expresses
doubts as to the veracity of Saleem’s account. As a rhetorical device, Padma
allows Rushdie the chance to acknowledge explicitly any doubts or frustrations
the reader may feel in response to the novel. She is the practical voice of
criticism. Because she is there to counteract its most extreme tendencies, she
supports the novel’s more willfully excessive indulgences. Saleem’s frequent
interruptions, digressions, and self-obsession are all, to some degree, made
possible by Padma’s expressions of doubt and frustration: the two sides work
together to create a holistic reading experience. By explicitly taking into
account the difficulties of the narrative, Rushdie is able to move beyond them.
Naseem Ghani
Saleem’s grandmother, and Aadam Aziz’s wife. After marriage, Naseem
becomes known as Reverend Mother, in part because of her religious devotion.
As her husband withers away with age, Reverend Mother grows increasingly
large and powerful.
William Methwold
Saleem’s biological father. An Englishman, William Methwold seduces women
with his perfectly parted hair, which is actually a wig. He owns Methwold’s
Estate, a portion of which he sells to Ahmed Sinai. He sees his departure from
India as marking the tragic end of an era.
Alia
Saleem’s aunt, and a sister of Amina. After Ahmed Sinai rejects her for her
sister, Alia harbors a lifelong bitterness and determination to destroy her sister
and her sister’s family.
Hanif
Saleem’s uncle, and a brother of Amina. Hanif was once one of the most
promising film directors in India. However, his dream to create art free from
melodrama and superstition fails, and, as his career falls apart, he commits
suicide.
Nadir Khan
Amina’s first husband. As a young man, Nadir Khan is the personal assistant to
Mian Abdullah, as well as a bad poet. He falls in love with Amina but is forced
to divorce her on account of his impotence. He later changes his name to Qasim
Khan and becomes a communist.
Mustapha
Saleem’s uncle, and a brother of Amina. Mustapha is the ideal, obedient civil
servant. He is so passive, he’s nearly inconsequential—a fate he takes out on his
children by constantly beating them until they have no personality left.
Emeral
Saleem’s aunt, and a sister of Amina. Emerald marries Major Zulfikar and
enjoys an opulently comfortable lifestyle. Selfish and self-absorbed, she only
reluctantly comes to her sister’s aid
General Zulfikar
Emerald’s husband, and an important figure in the Pakistani army. General
Zulfikar helps orchestrate a coup against the Pakistani government and makes
money by smuggling items into the country. His constant abuse of his son,
Zafar, eventually provokes Zafar into killing him.
Zafar
The son of General Zulfikar and Emerald. Zafar wets himself throughout his life
and is ridiculed and abused by his father as a result.
Aadam Sinai
The biological son of Shiva and Parvati-the-witch. Saleem raises Aadam as if he
were his own child. Aadam is just three years old at the novel’s conclusion.
Picture Singh
A snake charmer, and the leader of the magician’s ghetto. Charming and
diplomatic, Picture Singh is Saleem’s closest friend. He is undone by his desire
to prove himself the world’s greatest snake harmer.
Wee Willie Winkie
Shiva’s father. Wee Willie Winkie is a poor man who earns a living by singing
for the wealthy families of Methwold’s Estate.
Vanita
Saleem’s biological mother. Vanita dies during labor.
Evie Lilith Burns
A violent, tough American girl. Evie is briefly the leader of the children living
on Methwold’s Estate, and she is Saleem’s first love.
Sonny Ibrahim
One of the children living on Methwold’s Estate. Sonny is Saleem’s best friend.
He is also in love with Saleem’s sister, the Brass Monkey.
Joseph D’Costa
A social radical who later becomes a ghost. Joseph D’Costa’s political beliefs
inspire Mary’s decision to switch Shiva and Saleem, and his ghost later compels
her to confess her crime.
Commander Sabarmati
A high-ranking official in the Indian navy. After learning that his wife, Lila, has
had an affair, Commander Sabarmati shoots her, kills her lover, and then
surrenders. He temporarily becomes a national hero.
Homi Catrack
A film magnate, and resident of Methwold’s Estate. Homi Catrack has an affair
with Lila, the wife of Commander Sabarmati, and is subsequently murdered by
the commander.
Lila Sabarmati
The wife of Commander Sabarmati. Lila’s husband shoots her in the stomach
for having an affair.
Doctor Narlikar
A doctor, and Ahmed’s business partner. Dr. Narlikar devises a scheme for
reclaiming land from the ocean but dies before he can implement it.
Alice Pereira
Mary’s sister. Alice eventually works for Ahmed Sinai and is responsible for
Mary’s chutney factory.
Farooq, Shaheed, and Ayooba
Three soldiers assigned to work with Saleem in the Pakistani army. Each one is
eventually killed during the war.
Narlikar
Women
An unnamed, unnumbered group of “grossly competent” women who take over
Dr. Narlikar’s affairs after his death.
Mian Abdullah
A political figure before independence. Mian Abdullah is the founder of the
Free Islam Convocation, an organization dedicated to resisting the partition of
India along religious lines.
Ghani
Naseem’s father. Ghani is a blind, wealthy landowner.
Tai
An old boatman from Kashmir. Tai is a mysterious, ancient, and wise figure
who remains resentful of the world’s encroachment into his territory until his
death.
Ramram Seth
A prophet who predicts Saleem’s future while Amina is pregnant.
The Brass Monkey (Jamila Singer)
Saleem’s younger sister, initially known as the Brass Monkey, is born into the
world with little fanfare. She eventually grows up to become the most famous
singer in Pakistan, adored throughout the country. As a child, Saleem notes that
the Brass Monkey learned at an early age that if she wanted attention, she would
have to make a lot of noise, which is precisely what she does. She becomes a
mischievous child who garners attention by destroying things and remains
unable to accept love throughout her adult life
The Widow
Indira Gandhi was the prime minister of India from 1966–1977, then again from
1980–1984, a term that ended with her assassination. Indira was the daughter of
Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, and the widow of Feroze Gandhi,
an Indian journalist and politician. Though Mahatma Gandhi was a family
friend and political ally, the two are not related.
