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Foreshadowing
Book 1: Under the Carpet
Explanation and Analysis—Narrative and Time:
Saleem, the narrator of Midnight's Children, tells his family history and the history of Indian independence in a series of flashbacks. Saleem writes this narrative in the modern day, and his modern-day commentary on the past serves as the novel's frame story. The interplay of frame story and frequent flashbacks emphasizes the complex relationship between time and narrative.
While Saleem shares his family history with the reader, his narration and documentation of events in the present (i.e., Padma's commentary) serves as a framing story for the central narrative. In a meta-narrative move that prompts readers to reflect on the nature of storytelling and truth, Saleem provides constant reminders of the frame story's existence. Take, for example, the following passage:
Alia’s face acquired a weightiness at this time, a jowly pessimistic quality which she was never entirely to lose. (‘Now then,’ Padma reproves me, ‘that’s no way to describe your respected motherji.’)
Here, the frame story reinserts itself into the narrative, providing Padma with the opportunity to comment on what Saleem has shared thus far. While Saleem's commentary often appears all-knowing to the reader, Padma serves as a stand-in for Saleem's audience, engaging in dialogue with Saleem over controversial or confusing aspects of the story. She is often wrong (note that Alia does not turn out to be Saleem's mother), but she nevertheless serves as an important counterpoint to the narrator.
Related Themes:
