23rd Annual Student Research Conference
Reliably Unreliable: Saleem Sinai as Narrator in Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Ira J. King
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
In an essay titled, "Errata: Or, Unreliable Narration in Midnight's Children," Salman Rushdie writes, "My subject had become the way in which we remake the past to suit our present purposes, using memory as our tool." By employing an unreliable narrator in Midnight's Children, Rushdie calls into question the act of remembering, examining the filters that memory passes through. Central to the novel is its narrator, Saleem Sinai, linked with the nation of India through birth date. Midnight's Children is an adult Saleem's attempt to tell his tale and put it in the proper historical perspective. In the spirit of several earlier novels Rushdie's narrator offers a confused and muddled version of events. Through Saleem, Rushdie is emphasizing the personal nature of historical reminiscences. This paper will analyze Rushdie's exploration of the qualities of memory and history through the guise of the unreliable narrator.
Keywords: Literature, Narration, Novel
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 13-3
Location: VH 1304
Time: 8:30