Something I noticed while reading Midnight’s Children was the connection between creation and destruction as seen through Saleem and Shiva. The to mirror each other (having been born simultaneously and switched at birth) and represent creation and destruction respectively. Saleem as the narrator must create the story while Shiva’s namesake is the Hindu god of destruction. Though the two are oppositional forces, they are connected by nature. 

I also noticed this in connection with Saleem’s favorite childhood game, Snakes and Ladders. He notices that for every move he makes, there is an inverse reaction: if something goes up, something must go down. The game is formulaic and only depicts a one-dimensional perspective of good and evil, which Saleem later realizes to be more ambiguous in nature.