Essay: The Story of Shiva and the Interconnectedness of Fate in Midnight’s Children by Hafsa Rahman
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In this essay, Hafsa Rahman analyses the story of Shiva and explores various possibilities about the interconnectedness of fate in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie explores the history of India through the portrayal of different characters. Saleem Sinai is the protagonist, who by virtue of his birth timing and the significance accorded to it, narrates his story intertwined with the history of India. He explains his involvement and role in significant historical events often, highlighting his centrality to them. Another character central to the novel, however, not accorded the same significance as Saleem is Shiva. Like Saleem, Shiva too was born at the stroke of midnight. His superpower is his monstrous knees. Both the characters, connected by their faith experience India differently. While Shiva’s India is one of poverty and betrayal, Saleem’s India is well-off, where the prime minister of the country writes letters to him. But what happens, if the novel becomes Shiva’s story, not Saleem’s?
