Most frustrating part of Midnight's Children!

We discussed this briefly in class but I am still kind of flustered about this part of novel. As the four men escape the War Saleem seems to turn into this sort of half-man, half-god, and beast of a man. Of course we all know that he is to represent the country of India as a whole. So I’m wondering what everyone else thought was being implied at this part of the novel. I wasn’t really sure what to make of it at all. I felt like the author wanted us to be confused about the state of India itself at that moment in time. The country couldn’t find its’ identity until Saleem realized who he was again. But was the whole part-beast vs. part-man some sort of tongue in cheek reference to who was right in the conflict? Are we supposed to take away that the Pakistanis are brutish, or are the people of Bangledesh supposed to be viewed as the beasts? Also the idea that the venom helped him remember everything was very strange. The only part of the novel I could connect that with was of course the whole “snakes and ladders” theme. I understood most of the strange analogies that were made throughout the novel, just not the part where he becomes the “man-dog.” Any clarifications?

First thoughts

Hmmmm, so far I don’t see that anyone else has posted anything about Jane Eyre. I definitely had that “déjà vu” feeling we were talking about in class when reading this book. It reminds me of a certain fiction story I read in my grade school days. Something about witches and wizards and quidditch. Let’s assume if Harry Potter ever met Jane he’d put one of his crazy little love spells on her. Or maybe they have too much in common? The narration in the novels is much different but the two characters seem to be very similar to me. Both of them start out as outcasts. They live with their “family”, not immediate family of course, aunts and uncles. They both have a jerk-face male cousin they can NOT stand one bit. And of course the most obvious thing that they have in common is the fact that their parents are deceased. I also feel like Jane would have the hots for a certain other orphan named Oliver Twist. Just kidding. But Brocklehurst does remind me of a sort of Snape like character…. With a bigger nose and a much darker personality. Does anyone else get a “déjà vu” feeling when reading this novel? Oh and speaking of Harry Potter….