Saleem Sinai
Encyclopedia
Saleem Sinai is the fictional main character in the Booker Prize winning novel Midnight's Children
by Salman Rushdie. His life is closely intertwined with the events that take place in his homeland on the subcontinent
of pre- and post-colonial India
, Pakistan and newly liberated Bangladesh (East Bengal). He is born at the moment in time when India and Pakistan emerge from British rule and lives during the new tumultuous struggles that engulf the new nations following August 15, 1947. Sinai embodies these physical struggles and rifts during, and serves as a metaphor for, the spiritual, religious, political and intellectual traumas of the young nation
s.
India's national newspaper The Hindu noted the success of the novel and the significance of its main character, calling Midnight's Children "an extraordinary literary jewel (it was awarded the Booker of Bookers in 1993, and a host of other prizes), focusing on the fates of two children that are inextricably linked by the hour of their birth, literally 'handcuffed to history'".
Sinai is the product of extra-marital intercourse and is raised by a Muslim
family after being exchanged at birth by his nurse, Mary Pereira. Over the course of the novel he goes from riches to rags. He has telepathic
and other supernatural powers that are part of a special connection with those born on the sub-continent at the same historic moment. He's also unusual in having an unsightly nose that constantly runs and bulging temples. Rushdie grants the character supernatural powers and he comes to symbolize and embody the struggle and strains of a nation being born and torn into pieces all at the same time.
The character is borrowed from the draft of an earlier novel called The Antagonist.
played Saleem Sinai. He said he identified strongly with the story as, "His own family hailed from Bombay's tiny Zoroastrian community, and he grew up in Britain with a sense of cultural alienation similar to that of his character. The performance was done by 20 actors who played the 60 or 70 roles comprising the complex storyline.
Midnight's Children
Midnight's Children is a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie about India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism...
by Salman Rushdie. His life is closely intertwined with the events that take place in his homeland on the subcontinent
Subcontinent
A subcontinent is a large, relatively self-contained landmass forming a subdivision of a continent. By dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent, or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision...
of pre- and post-colonial India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan and newly liberated Bangladesh (East Bengal). He is born at the moment in time when India and Pakistan emerge from British rule and lives during the new tumultuous struggles that engulf the new nations following August 15, 1947. Sinai embodies these physical struggles and rifts during, and serves as a metaphor for, the spiritual, religious, political and intellectual traumas of the young nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
s.
Literary significance
Rushdie's character has been much discussed in literary circles. Midnight's Children is considered by many to be the author's masterwork and it has inspired a generation of writers on the subcontinent. Many authors have their work compared to it and their characters compared to Saleem Sinai. and focus on aspects of his complex character. The character has been discussed as being in many ways an autobiographical representation of Rushdie himself.Character as metaphor for India's history
Saleem Sinai is an Anglo-Indian born at the moment of India's independence and is a self-conscious narrator who questions the readers' assumptions about what constitutes a life story or a nation's history. His life and his experiences in the novel are inseparable from the events taking place around him and so he truly becomes a child of history. A Times of India review calls Saleem the most loved of Rushdie's many characters despite, or perhaps because of, his being "the snot-nosed, cucumber-nosed know-all narrator of Midnight’s Children, whose life swings between exultation and suffering, for he has been 'handcuffed to history', a coupling determined by his time of birth, midnight on August 15, 1947, when 'clock-hands joined palms in respectful greeting'".India's national newspaper The Hindu noted the success of the novel and the significance of its main character, calling Midnight's Children "an extraordinary literary jewel (it was awarded the Booker of Bookers in 1993, and a host of other prizes), focusing on the fates of two children that are inextricably linked by the hour of their birth, literally 'handcuffed to history'".
Sinai is the product of extra-marital intercourse and is raised by a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
family after being exchanged at birth by his nurse, Mary Pereira. Over the course of the novel he goes from riches to rags. He has telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
and other supernatural powers that are part of a special connection with those born on the sub-continent at the same historic moment. He's also unusual in having an unsightly nose that constantly runs and bulging temples. Rushdie grants the character supernatural powers and he comes to symbolize and embody the struggle and strains of a nation being born and torn into pieces all at the same time.
The character is borrowed from the draft of an earlier novel called The Antagonist.
Saleem comes to life
In a theatrical version of the novel, Zubin VarlaZubin Varla
Zubin Varla is a British actor and singer. He played the role of Judas in the 1996 West End revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, alongside Steve Balsamo , Joanna Ampil , and David Burt...
played Saleem Sinai. He said he identified strongly with the story as, "His own family hailed from Bombay's tiny Zoroastrian community, and he grew up in Britain with a sense of cultural alienation similar to that of his character. The performance was done by 20 actors who played the 60 or 70 roles comprising the complex storyline.