Why should you read "Midnight's Children"? - Iseult Gillespie
-
0:10 - 0:13It begins with a countdown.
-
0:13 - 0:16On August 14th, 1947,
-
0:16 - 0:22a woman in Bombay goes into labor
as the clock ticks towards midnight. -
0:22 - 0:27Across India, people hold their breath
for the declaration of independence -
0:27 - 0:31after nearly two centuries of British
occupation and rule. -
0:31 - 0:34And at the stroke of midnight,
-
0:34 - 0:41a squirming infant and two new
nations are born in perfect synchronicity. -
0:41 - 0:46These events form the foundation
of "Midnight’s Children," -
0:46 - 0:51a dazzling novel by the British-Indian
author Salman Rushdie. -
0:51 - 0:56The baby who is the exact same age
as the nation is Saleem Sinai, -
0:56 - 0:58the novel’s protagonist.
-
0:58 - 1:02His narrative stretches over
30 years of his life, -
1:02 - 1:06jumping backwards and forwards in time
to speculate on family secrets -
1:06 - 1:09and deep-seated mysteries.
-
1:09 - 1:13These include the greatest enigma of all:
Saleem has magic powers, -
1:13 - 1:17and they’re somehow related
to the time of his birth. -
1:17 - 1:19And he’s not the only one.
-
1:19 - 1:23All children born in and around
the stroke of midnight -
1:23 - 1:25are imbued with extraordinary powers;
-
1:25 - 1:30like Parvati the Witch,
a spectacular conjurer; -
1:30 - 1:34and Saleem’s nemesis Shiva,
a gifted warrior. -
1:34 - 1:36With his powers of telepathy,
-
1:36 - 1:41Saleem forges connections with a
vast network of the children of midnight— -
1:41 - 1:45including a figure who can step
through time and mirrors, -
1:45 - 1:49a child who changes their gender
when immersed in water, -
1:49 - 1:52and multilingual conjoined twins.
-
1:52 - 1:56Saleem acts as a delightful guide
to magical happenings -
1:56 - 1:59and historical context alike.
-
1:59 - 2:03Although his birthday is a day
of celebration, -
2:03 - 2:07it also marks a turbulent period
in Indian history. -
2:07 - 2:10In 1948, the leader of the Indian
independence movement, -
2:10 - 2:13Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated.
-
2:13 - 2:17Independence also coincided
with Partition, -
2:17 - 2:19which divided British-controlled India
-
2:19 - 2:23into the two nations of India
and Pakistan. -
2:23 - 2:31This contributed to the outbreak of
the Indo-Pakistani Wars in 1965 and 1971. -
2:31 - 2:34Saleem touches on all this and more,
-
2:34 - 2:38tracing the establishment
of Bangladesh in 1971 -
2:38 - 2:41and the emergency rule of Indira Gandhi.
-
2:41 - 2:46This vast historical frame is one
reason why "Midnight’s Children" -
2:46 - 2:50is considered one of the most illuminating
works of postcolonial literature -
2:50 - 2:52ever written.
-
2:52 - 2:56This genre typically addresses the
experience of people living in colonized -
2:56 - 2:59and formerly colonized countries,
-
2:59 - 3:06and explores the fallout through themes
like revolution, migration, and identity. -
3:06 - 3:12Rushdie, who like Saleem was born in 1947,
was educated in India and Britain, -
3:12 - 3:17and is renowned for his cross-continental
histories, political commentary, -
3:17 - 3:19and magical realism.
-
3:19 - 3:23He enriches "Midnight’s Children"
with a plethora of Indian -
3:23 - 3:26and Pakistani cultural references,
-
3:26 - 3:32from family traditions to food,
religion and folktales. -
3:32 - 3:37Scribbling by night under the
watchful eyes of his lover Padma, -
3:37 - 3:42Saleem’s frame narrative echoes
that of "1001 Nights," -
3:42 - 3:47where a woman named Scheherazade
tells her king a series of stories -
3:47 - 3:48to keep herself alive.
-
3:48 - 3:50And as Saleem sees it,
-
3:50 - 3:571001 is “the number of night, of magic,
of alternative realities.” -
3:57 - 3:59Over the course of the novel,
-
3:59 - 4:03Rushdie dazzles us with
multiple versions of reality. -
4:03 - 4:06Sometimes, this is like reading
a rollercoaster. -
4:06 - 4:08Saleem narrates:
-
4:08 - 4:12“Who what am I? My answer:
-
4:12 - 4:19I am everyone everything whose being-in-
the-world affected was affected by mine. -
4:19 - 4:23I am anything that happens
after I’ve gone -
4:23 - 4:26which would not have happened
if I had not come. -
4:26 - 4:29Nor am I particularly exceptional
in this matter; -
4:29 - 4:34each 'I,' every one of the now-six-
hundred-million-plus of us, -
4:34 - 4:36contains a similar multitude.
-
4:36 - 4:39I repeat for the last time:
-
4:39 - 4:44to understand me,
you’ll have to swallow a world.” -
4:44 - 4:47Saleem’s narrative often has
a breathless quality— -
4:47 - 4:51and even as Rushdie depicts the
cosmological consequences of a life, -
4:51 - 4:57he questions the idea that we can ever
condense history into a single narrative. -
4:57 - 5:01His mind-bending plot and
shapeshifting characters -
5:01 - 5:04have garnered continuing
fascination and praise. -
5:04 - 5:09Not only did "Midnight’s Children" win
the prestigious Man Booker Prize -
5:09 - 5:10in its year of publication,
-
5:10 - 5:16but in a 2008 competition that pitted
all 39 winners against each other, -
5:16 - 5:19it was named the best of all the winners.
-
5:19 - 5:22In a masterpiece of epic proportions,
-
5:22 - 5:26Rushdie reveals that there
are no singular truths— -
5:26 - 5:30rather, it’s wiser to believe in several
versions of reality at once, -
5:30 - 5:34hold many lives in the
palms of our hands, -
5:34 - 5:40and experience multiple moments
in a single stroke of the clock.
- Title:
- Why should you read "Midnight's Children"? - Iseult Gillespie
- Speaker:
- Iseult Gillespie
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-should-you-read-midnight-s-children-isuelt-gillespie
It begins with a countdown. A woman goes into labor as the clock ticks towards midnight. Across India, people wait for the declaration of independence after nearly 200 years of British rule. At the stroke of midnight, an infant and two new nations are born in perfect synchronicity. These events form the foundation of “Midnight’s Children.” Iseult Gillespie explores Salman Rushdie’s dazzling novel.
Lesson by Iseult Gillespie, directed by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:51
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