“Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie
Summary Analysis
Shanell Smith Cappa
Barry University

“Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie In the beginning of “Midnight’s Children”, within the chapter referred to as “The Perforated Sheet”, Salman Rushdie explains the importance of the time and date of his birth, which coincided with the “precise moment of India’s arrival at independence” (Salman Rushdie 2006) on August 15, 1947. Salman goes on to claim that his birth was the fate of the country, signifying his urgeobligation to tell his stories before his death, which he believes is soon. In the first paragraph, Salman Rushdie starts off with stating “once upon a time”, (Salman Rushdie 2006) which is generally a fairytale line. This seems to imply that Salman is delusional, or takes a telepathic entity where he is able to speak to the other “Midnight’s Children” in order to create a story for himself. Salman believes that he and the other “Midnight Children” are the fate of the country, and that their history is directly impacted by the country, as well as the country’s history being directly impacted by them. Salman uses a wide array of rhetorical devices throughout the first few pages of “Midnight’s Children” such as metaphor, analogy, and imagery. Salman uses “Midnight’s Children”, the title of the novel, as a metaphor. He is saying that the children that were born at the time of India’s independence, are in fact claimed by midnight and the country. Another example of metaphor Salman expresses is “clock hands joined palms in respectful greeting as I came” (Salman Rushdie 2006). This is a metaphor for midnight and his birth. Salman uses metaphor in “Mysteriously handcuffed to history” (Salman Rushdie 2006). This furthers the reader’s perspective on his delusion that his birth marks an importance in history. Salman’s use of metaphor allows the reader to