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    Midnight’s Children

    Salman Rushdie

    Study Guide
    • Study Guide
    • Summary
      • Summary & Analysis
      • Book One: The Perforated Sheet, Mercurochrome
      • Hit-the-Spittoon, Under the Carpet
      • A Public Announcement, Many-headed Monsters
      • Methwold, Tick, Tock
      • Book Two: The Fisherman’s Pointing Finger, Snakes and Ladders
      • Accident in a Washing-chest, All India Radio
      • Love in Bombay, My Tenth Birthday
      • At the Pioneer Café, Alpha and Omega
      • The Kolynos Kid, Commander Sabarmati’s Baton
      • Revelations, Movements Performed by Pepperpots
      • Drainage and the Desert, Jamila Singer
      • How Saleem Achieved Purity
      • Book Three: The Buddha, In the Sundarbans
      • Sam and the Tiger, The Shadow of the Mosque
      • A Wedding, Midnight
      • Abracadabra
      • Full Book
      • Full Book Summary
      • Key Facts
    • Characters
      • Character List
      • Saleem Sinai
      • Padma
      • Shiva
      • The Widow
      • The Brass Monkey (Jamila Singer)
    • Literary Devices
      • Themes
      • Motifs
      • Symbols
    • Quotes
      • Important Quotes Explained
    • Quick Quizzes
      • Book
      • Full Book Quiz
      • Book One: The Perforated Sheet, Mercurochrome
      • Hit-the-Spittoon, Under the Carpet
      • A Public Announcement, Many-headed Monsters
      • Methwold, Tick, Tock
      • Book Two: The Fisherman's Pointing Finger, Snakes and Ladders
      • Accident in a Washing-chest, All India Radio
      • Love in Bombay, My Tenth Birthday
      • At the Pioneer Café, Alpha and Omega
      • The Kolynos Kid, Commander Sabarmati's Baton
      • Revelations, Movements Performed by Pepperpots
      • Drainage and the Desert, Jamila Singer
      • How Saleem Achieved Purity
      • Book Three: The Buddha, In the Sundarbans
      • Sam and the Tiger, The Shadow of the Mosque
      • A Wedding, Midnight
      • Abracadabra
        • More
        • Context
        • Plot Overview
        • Character List
        • Analysis of Major Characters
        • Themes, Motifs & Symbols
        • Essays
          • Mini Essays
          • Suggested Essay Topics
        • Further Study
          • Suggestions for Further Reading
          • Salman Rushdie and Midnight’s Children Background

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        Characters

        Character List

        Characters Character List
        • Saleem Sinai

          The narrator and protagonist of the novel. Born at the moment of India’s independence and blessed with the powers of telepathy and an uncanny sense of smell, Saleem tells his extraordinary life story as his body begins to crumble, an account that significantly parallels the history of postcolonial India. As a narrator, Saleem can be both unreliable and self-centered at times.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Saleem Sinai .

        • Aadam Aziz

          Saleem’s grandfather. Aadam is the patriarch of the family, a doctor and skeptic whose loss of faith leaves what he refers to as a “hole” inside of him. Aadam falls in love with his wife, Naseem, after only being allowed to see her through a hole in a perforated sheet.

        • Ahmed Sinai

          Saleem’s father. A shrewd businessman who is nonetheless destined for failure, Ahmed spends much of his marriage fighting his wife and his alcohol addiction.

        • Mumtaz (Amina Sinai)

          Saleem’s mother, and the daughter of Aadam Aziz. Born Mumtaz, she changes her name to Amina after her marriage to Ahmed. A loving, devoted mother, she inherits her father’s skepticism and her mother’s determination. Despite being married to Ahmed, she is never able to forget her first husband, Nadir Khan.

        • Mary Pereira

          Saleem’s ayah and surrogate mother. Mary is responsible for switching Saleem and Shiva at birth out of a misguided sense of social justice. In order to compensate for her crime, she dedicates her life to raising Saleem.

        • Shiva

          Saleem’s archrival. Shiva is born at exactly the same moment as Saleem. While Saleem is raised in a loving, wealthy household, Shiva is raised in abject poverty by a single father. He is blessed with a pair of preternaturally strong knees and an amazing prowess in war. Shiva is named after the Hindu god of destruction, who is also the god associated with procreation.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Shiva .

        • Parvati-the-witch

          A real witch, and, like Saleem, one of the children born at the moment of India’s independence. Parvati is Saleem’s closest ally as a child and later becomes his wife. Despite her fantastic powers, she is unable to make Saleem fall in love with her and, as a result, embarks on an affair with Shiva that results in a child. In the Hindu religion, Parvati is the consort of Shiva.

        • Padma

          Saleem’s devoted caretaker and future wife. Padma is as strong and down-to-earth as Saleem is weak and dreamy. She provides Saleem with a skeptical yet patient audience.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Padma .

        • Naseem Ghani

          Saleem’s grandmother, and Aadam Aziz’s wife. After marriage, Naseem becomes known as Reverend Mother, in part because of her religious devotion. As her husband withers away with age, Reverend Mother grows increasingly large and powerful.

        • William Methwold

          Saleem’s biological father. An Englishman, William Methwold seduces women with his perfectly parted hair, which is actually a wig. He owns Methwold’s Estate, a portion of which he sells to Ahmed Sinai. He sees his departure from India as marking the tragic end of an era.

        • Alia

          Saleem’s aunt, and a sister of Amina. After Ahmed Sinai rejects her for her sister, Alia harbors a lifelong bitterness and determination to destroy her sister and her sister’s family.

        • Hanif

          Saleem’s uncle, and a brother of Amina. Hanif was once one of the most promising film directors in India. However, his dream to create art free from melodrama and superstition fails, and, as his career falls apart, he commits suicide.

        • Nadir Khan

          Amina’s first husband. As a young man, Nadir Khan is the personal assistant to Mian Abdullah, as well as a bad poet. He falls in love with Amina but is forced to divorce her on account of his impotence. He later changes his name to Qasim Khan and becomes a communist.

        • Mustapha

          Saleem’s uncle, and a brother of Amina. Mustapha is the ideal, obedient civil servant. He is so passive, he’s nearly inconsequential—a fate he takes out on his children by constantly beating them until they have no personality left.

        • Emerald

          Saleem’s aunt, and a sister of Amina. Emerald marries Major Zulfikar and enjoys an opulently comfortable lifestyle. Selfish and self-absorbed, she only reluctantly comes to her sister’s aid.

        • General Zulfikar

          Emerald’s husband, and an important figure in the Pakistani army. General Zulfikar helps orchestrate a coup against the Pakistani government and makes money by smuggling items into the country. His constant abuse of his son, Zafar, eventually provokes Zafar into killing him.

        • Zafar

          The son of General Zulfikar and Emerald. Zafar wets himself throughout his life and is ridiculed and abused by his father as a result.

        • Aadam Sinai

          The biological son of Shiva and Parvati-the-witch. Saleem raises Aadam as if he were his own child. Aadam is just three years old at the novel’s conclusion.

        • Picture Singh

          A snake charmer, and the leader of the magician’s ghetto. Charming and diplomatic, Picture Singh is Saleem’s closest friend. He is undone by his desire to prove himself the world’s greatest snake harmer.

        • Wee Willie Winkie

          Shiva’s father. Wee Willie Winkie is a poor man who earns a living by singing for the wealthy families of Methwold’s Estate.

        • Vanita

          Saleem’s biological mother. Vanita dies during labor.

        • Evie Lilith Burns

          A violent, tough American girl. Evie is briefly the leader of the children living on Methwold’s Estate, and she is Saleem’s first love.

        • Sonny Ibrahim

          One of the children living on Methwold’s Estate. Sonny is Saleem’s best friend. He is also in love with Saleem’s sister, the Brass Monkey.

        • Joseph D’Costa

          A social radical who later becomes a ghost. Joseph D’Costa’s political beliefs inspire Mary’s decision to switch Shiva and Saleem, and his ghost later compels her to confess her crime.

        • Commander Sabarmati

          A high-ranking official in the Indian navy. After learning that his wife, Lila, has had an affair, Commander Sabarmati shoots her, kills her lover, and then surrenders. He temporarily becomes a national hero.

        • Homi Catrack

          A film magnate, and resident of Methwold’s Estate. Homi Catrack has an affair with Lila, the wife of Commander Sabarmati, and is subsequently murdered by the commander.

        • Lila Sabarmati

          The wife of Commander Sabarmati. Lila’s husband shoots her in the stomach for having an affair.

        • Doctor Narlikar

          A doctor, and Ahmed’s business partner. Dr. Narlikar devises a scheme for reclaiming land from the ocean but dies before he can implement it.

        • Alice Pereira

          Mary’s sister. Alice eventually works for Ahmed Sinai and is responsible for Mary’s chutney factory.

        • Farooq, Shaheed, and Ayooba

          Three soldiers assigned to work with Saleem in the Pakistani army. Each one is eventually killed during the war.

        • Narlikar Women

          An unnamed, unnumbered group of “grossly competent” women who take over Dr. Narlikar’s affairs after his death.

        • Mian Abdullah

          A political figure before independence. Mian Abdullah is the founder of the Free Islam Convocation, an organization dedicated to resisting the partition of India along religious lines.

        • Ghani

          Naseem’s father. Ghani is a blind, wealthy landowner.

        • Tai

          An old boatman from Kashmir. Tai is a mysterious, ancient, and wise figure who remains resentful of the world’s encroachment into his territory until his death.

        • Ramram Seth

          A prophet who predicts Saleem’s future while Amina is pregnant.

        Next section Saleem Sinai
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        Popular pages: Midnight’s Children

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