Middle Eastern/Indian Literature Group
Here's discussion space for your group. By December 9th, you need to have posted at least three times. One of your posts should pose a question or issue or problem in the text for discussion; at least one should respond in depth to someone else's problem or question. The third can be either. Each post will be graded as an open response.
posted by Ms. Clapp @ 12:09 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Hi guys!!! :)
Okay, while beginning the chapter, Jamila Singer, I couldn’t help but notice some similarities to…Funny In Farsi anyone?! So, Rushdie writes about Saleem having a “sense so acute as to be capable of distinguishing the glutinous reek of hypocrisy behind the welcoming smile with which [his] spinster aunt Alia greeted [them] at the Karachi docks” (351). Rushdie continues onto the next page writing about all of these predictions made by Saleem’s nose. However, the significance of Saleem’s gain in sense, arises when he mentions that he has “been incapable of smelling a thing all [his] life” (351-352), and now all of a sudden he has the power to “sniff[ing]-out-the-truth” (352). Pretty interesting…what do you guys think about the nose???
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Now...What I'd like to know is what is up with the glimpsing of people and falling in love thing? For instance, his grandfather only saw parts of Naseem and fell in love with her, he never had a conversation with her! It's interesting to note that Naseem and Aadam Aziz's marriage was unsatisfying both to her and to him; because of his insistence that she remove the purdah and that she "move" underneath him, she became an angry and harsh woman. Whenever I picture couples such as this whether it be in the middle east or the West but that married after getting to know each other through this polite face, I imagine a happy couple that never divorces. I don't know which is worse, to get to know someone completely and then marry them and end up divorcing anyways, or not knowing the person beforehand and having an unhappy marriage all of their lives. His parents even met this way and although their marriage did not turn out as bad as Naseem and Aadam's marriage, the way they met and got to know each other was still not indicative of their personality. And now, when Jamila sings, it's said that "Pakistan fell in love with a fifteen year old girl whom it only ever glimpsed through a gold and white perforated sheet"(359). What do you think of this? The fact that a glimpse of a person allows one to fall in love?
Well, it's like what we were talking about in class. His nose is tied to his grandfather's nose and great things were predicted for his grandfather, "dynasties" were even held in his nose and since he recieved the "birthright" of the nose, I could infer that he would also be destined for great things. But, it's ironic that he's not even their real son, or so he claims because it seems the truth is what he makes of it, and he is still claimed as having his "grandfather's nose".
I too thought it was like Funny in Farsi and it can be seen from these two books that the East seems to have some fascination with noses. In the Iranian culture however, a large nose is considered ugly. But in the Kashmiri culture, or perhaps even Indian, his large nose was a symbol of power. It's interesting to see the contrast in cultures.
HI:)
Okay, so to answer your question, I think it is definitely way worse to not know a person beforehand and having an unhappy marriage for your entire life. At least when you meet someone and marry them, and unfortunately end up divorcing, you have been able to learn about another person, you have gained experience and life lessons, as well as cherished memories that you can carry on with you for the rest of your life--experiences that can help you hopefully find your perfect match on the second try :)
To respond to your second question...I believe that when the eyes of two meet, if they were destined to be together, they will BOTH feel this "click," a connection, regardless of whether or not they have really met one another.
However, when Rushdie writes about "Saleem approach[ing] his sister's bed; his hand sought hers," he kept "explaining that there was no sin," (371) and yet she was not in love with him, and he could not deny that he too had doubts--thus neither of them felt that "click." "[H]e saw both emotions on her forehead, he smelt them on her skin" (372), which could go deeper in explaining that they were not destined to be (good or bad?).
Noticing another similarity...One Hundred Years Of Solitude, with the whole thing of siblings (regardless of whether blood related) falling for one another...as well as the whole thing with family members dying one by one, since Saleem’s family members keep passing away during the war.
Question...
What’s with everyone in his family dying in the war? Does this relate to his date of birth?
:)
Just a comment...
To talk about Rushdie's writing style, I love how he has the narrator cut in naturally while telling a story...
"my grandfather's hero, he would not be stopped until he, and his cause, had won the day...but, but. Always a but but. What happened, happened. We all know that. Before I return to telling the story of my private life, I should like it to be known that it was Picture Singh who revealed to me that..." (460).
This type of narration was exactly what we had read about in our blue book...thought I should point that out:)
Well...I did notice many striking similarities between A Hundred Years of Solitude and Midnight's Children especially in regard to Shiva and correct me if I'm wrong, Colonel Aureliano...? The one that was constantly off to war and sired about a hundred children everywhere. Not only that, but Jamila or the "Brass Monkey" reminds me very much of Amaranta, not that Amaranta was ignored as a child, but most because of the fact they both spurn love in every direction. Their reasons for doing so are different but it's just interesting to see them as women who rejected love and rejected their traditional roles as wives.Instead of the men controlling the situation, they did. I found the whole book of Midnight's Children to be very magickal filled with all these great ironies and twist after twist. He was not the son of his father and his son is not truly his son, ironically it was Shiva, or his father's true son, son's; it all just bordered on fantasy, but well written and realistic fantasy. The style reminded me of A Hundred Years of Solitude, both were very magickally written to me with events taking place that seemed like fantasy but real at the same time, but obviously weren't.
To answer your question, I think his family dying in the war was to leave him all alone. He is like no one else in his family, a family that isn't even his, and his being abandoned serves to set him apart even more. I think he was fated to be alone and his family dying served to never let him live in peace, even though at the end he sees "familiar faces in the crowd". The death of his family members serve to torment him and all of the political happenings in the country like the war, are connected to him and after his family is dead, after he has given everything to his country, he can no longer live. His time to die has come and he does not die peacefully since he is one of "Midnight's Children" and cannot "live or die in peace". I think the deaths of his family relate to this quote, that he can never be in peace as one of "Midnight's Children". There will always be a death, or persecution, or life to torment his, always a connection to something else that will never leave him in peace.
I have to say that I loved the ending though. The whole book was only leading up to his death or some unfavorable ending; the deaths, his persecution as one of "Midnight's children", his noise, something very important throughout the whole book which always smelled something evil or ominous all made the ending seem so great. I get this image in my head of him just splitting into a million tiny pieces, into sprinkles of dust and being carried away by the wind. Magickal, like the rest of the book has been.
By the way...Padma and Parvati...Anyone think J.K. Rowling read Midnight's Children to name the two sisters Padma and Parvati.? Just a thought since she uses a lot of names that have extra or symbolic meanings.
Hello.
Great points Nivele! I too noticed similarities between the characters of the two books.
I really enjoyed this book!!!! It had a great mix of politics, family, and yes MAGIC--so mysterious:) I found it interesting how all of the midnight children were connected by how there lives were "destined" to be.
Although this was no "happily ever after" kind of book, Rushdie created a magnificent close to the book with "it is the privilege and the curse of midnight's children to be both masters and victims of their times, to forsake privacy and be sucked into the annihilating whirlpool of the multitudes, and to be unable to live or die in peace" (533). It is not one of those strangely confusing endings, but rather one that leaves the reader satisfied and aware of what will happen in the future...
Satisfied Reader :)
Beginning this story I was immediately reminded of "A Hundred Years of Solitude" only because of how picturesque and magical the whole stroy seems to be. What is also quite comparable is the french film "Amelie" because of the tendency of the narrator to describe things in "shots". The imagery is very vivid and everything is explained down to the details.
It is evident that Saleem's nose is very important, a symbol of his history and his magic, but what about the fact that he is "unmanned". Since he is telling the history of his ancestors, the fact that he montions this shows that he can no longer continue his line. A Hundred Years is also quite comparable to this since the destiny of the family was fulfilled as such.
A question that can not be ignored is why is he dying? And why is he dying in the way he says he is, "falling apart...literally disintegrating". Does this have to do with his surroundings, and does Padma know about this?
To answer your question Tainara, I think it's much worse to marry someone you barely know and find out they're horrible. What is weird is that Aadam should have known that Naseem wasn't a great person even before they married. This was clearly displayed in the way she spoke to him, "What are you- a man or a mouse? To leave home because of a stinky shikara!" Her insensitivity and coldness is further displayed after they are married when she refuses to feed him because he threw the religious tutor out.
The way they married was just unimaginable, and just a little bit creepy. I suppose that humans always want what they can't have, and the landowner made him more curious and curious to see her face, which made him fall in love. Since she is so used to being pampered and protected by her father, Aadam couldn't be the man she wanted to treat her like a princess since he actually cares about India's situation. He goes to the protests, aids the wounded, and has opinions. She constantly asks why he makes these efforts.
She represents the past of India, and the strict religious tenor she holds displays the ideals that India won't let go of. Aadam tells her to become a modern Indian woman and burns her purdas simply to push her towards accepting change. Yet she still refuses to talk about politics and maintains her "good Kashmiri girl" attitude.
I also want to know if the magic of Aadam's nose will pass on to his children? I know that Saleem attains the powers of his nose, but what about his father or his uncles?
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