Study Guide ... pickling, a perforated sheet, and a silver spittoon inlaid with lapis lazuli. falling action After his home is destroyed and his wife is killed, Saleem is taken to the Widow’s hostel, where heand the rest of the midnight’s children are sterilized. Start Your Free Trial. Menu . Spittoons Symbol Analysis. The 1,001 midnight’s children—a number reduced to 581 by their tenth birthday—all have magical powers, which vary according to how close to midnight they were born. He, the Buddha. Spit and Memory W. Glasgow Philips '92. From the opening scene of Midnight's Children, this novel begins giving rise to an epic tale. Midnight's Children Critical Evaluation by Salman Rushdie. Who, until the snake, would remain not-Saleem; who, in spite of running-from, was still separated from his past; although he clutched, in his limpet fist, a certain silver spittoon" (3.25.2). Summary of "The Perforated Sheet" Midnight’s Children begins with the narrator Saleem Sinai introducing himself as the child born at the same time as India gained its independence from the British Empire. The spittoon is the symbol of a vanishing era, which, in retrospect, seemed simpler and easier. Spittoons appear through out Midnight's Children.The motif of the spittoon allows the narrative to circle back on itself without losing its forward momentum; by reintroducing it in different contexts, Rushdie builds meaning into the image and provides the reader with a reference point and familiar angle of insight into the meaning of his tale. Spittoons. Saleem discovers that Shiva, the boy with whom he was switched at birth, was born with a pair of enormous, powerful knees and a … Being impotent, Saleem can’t respond to Padma’s sexual advances. BookFrom.Net LOGIN / REGISTER for bookmarks and favorites Menu Login. themes The single and the many; truth of memory and narrative; destruction vs. creation. His name is unknown, and his habits of self-denial earn him the nickname the buddha. Salman Rushdie Midnight's children Salman Rushdie Midnight's children for Zafar Rushdie who, ... jokes, 'Well, I shall set aside a room, perhaps; for paan-eating and spittoon-hittery. The narrator - 31-year-old Saleem Sinai - on his death bed (so to speak) and running out of time, is writing his life story. motifs Snakes; leaking; fragmentation
I have a superb silver spittoon, inlaid with lapis lazuli, and you must all come and practise. He says that, even though he is nearly thirty-one years old, he can feel his skin cracking and peeling as he gets closer to his death. Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children. Spittoons, once used as part of a cherished game for both old and young, gradually fell out of use: the old men no longer spit their betel juice into the street as they tell stories, nor do the children dart in between the streams as they listen. The silver spittoon of the Rani of Cooch Naheen, the impotence of Nadir Khan, and the steely determination of Reverend Mother each play an important role as the narrative progresses. He's crushed underfoot by a huge crowd and turned into dust. Having suffered a head wound from the silver spittoon, he has amnesia.