My favorite part about the writing style on Midnight Children is the non-confidence of how the whole book is written. It seems Saleem is almost like a nerd trying to tell his tale but it isn’t written as a novel. It’s almost as if I were sitting across from Saleem in a bar or in his house and he’s telling me the stories, including when he makes a mistake. I prefer the writing style because it also feels more like a personable story than if it were being told in third person omniscient although it makes the story weird because technically Saleem tells the stories about his parents and grandparents in third person, making him a third person. Its hard to pin down which details in Saleems story are correct so the only difference is trying to figure out if he is omniscient or third person limited, but thats what makes the story’s writing style so fun to read. It reminds me of Hunter S. Thompson.

Discussion Question #1: How could Taiji be considered a “Christ-like” character in the novel? Answer: Taiji is a bit mysterious because no one knows his true age in addition to making references to how he has seen many kings and emperors die, implying immortality.  

Outline:

• Midnight’s Children is similar to the Bible due to the collection of miraculous short stories
• Saleem is possibly Jesus
• Taiji is a mysterious figure since his age is purposely kept vague

“Once I knew where there was a grave with pierced feet carved on the tombstone, which bled once a year.” pg. 11

Discussion Question #2: How does prophecy play a role in the haunting(s) present in Midnight’s Children? Answer: Prophecy is what drives Amina’s anxiety in the novel. Even though it did not come to pass, the anxiety of possibly giving birth to a two-headed child still haunts her to this day, to the point that her anxiety is taking on the form of a ghost.

Outline:

• Ominous words (prophecy)
• Memory
• Paranoia
• Quotes (anecdotal evidence)

“Many years later, at the time of her premature dotage, when all k’nds of ghosts welled out of her past to dance before her eyes, my mother saw once again the peepshow man whom she saved by announcing my coming and who repaid her by leading her to too much prophecy, and spoke to him evenly, without rancour.” pg. 41

Hayley Gillespie 

One theme I noticed is that Saleem has a problem with rejection. He does what he believes will woo a girl or woman and when he is turned down has a fit. For instance, when Evelyn Lillith Burns rejects him, he goes into her thoughts seeing a disturbing image of her. This, in turn, causes him to get pushed into a large mob. Another time is when he fondles his aunt Pria and gets slapped across the face. When the children seem to be abandoning the conference in the chapter, “Commander Sabarmati’s Baton”, he lashes out by telling the Commander about his cheating wife. When he is rejected he does not take it well or gets himself hurt.