Midnight's Children

Throughout Midnight’s Children, Saleem uses the image of a perforated sheet to illustrate how his family and his country is severly fragmented. Before the wedding, his grandparents were a little strange. His grandmother grew up wanting to remain unseen by men. This proved difficult when she became sick, so her family allowed her to be examined by a doctor. The doctor could only view the patient through a seven inch hole in sheet. Over time, the doctor grew to fall in love with the many body parts of his patient (including her blushing bottom); the pair was married. After the wedding, the good doctor realized it was only the parts of the woman he loved—not the whole woman. Saleem’s mother could not love her husband as a whole—instead, she had to break him into parts. She could love the pieces, but not the parts. In addition to these parallels, Saleem and India are handcuffed or chained to one another. Since Saleem is falling apart (cracking up), it can only be assumed that India is falling into pieces as well. And who wouldn’t? This country included so many different fragments of culture and religion that India represents the fragmented history of Saleem and his family.
Now if I could only figure out why Brass Monkey burns up shoes…