Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Character Discussion
Because I have yet to find out a lot about the main character, Saleem Sinai, I will instead write about his grandfather, Aziz. I think it is interesting how he always seems to not fit in India anymore. He foolishly married Naseem and has since never been happy because they are very different people. They are constantly fighting and this could have been avoided if Aziz had followed his nose and not married Naseem. I think it is interesting that Saleem's power is an amazing sense of smell when the family trait seems to be having a large and sensitive nose, that can help lead them in the right direction. I wonder if the other children that were born on the day of India's independence have the same traits that were passed through their families. Aziz seems to be a very nice guy though, who cares about other people and tries to do the best for his children. Although he is foolish because he seems to no longer trust his nose. His nose seems to foreshadow bad events that could have been avoided. I think it is interesting how Aziz and Naseem have such different personalities. Aziz is modern in thinking and wants political reform, while Naseem is traditional and very controlling. I wonder if Saleem is destined to be who he is because his family seems to have such difficulties that Saleem was chosen to be the one to embody all the problems.
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That's an interesting point about Saleem being destined to embody all the family's problems. Perhaps he is destined to bring the family together despite their differences. On a broader scale, maybe his destiny is to unite India, which seems to be very politically and socially fragmented.
ReplyDeleteI found it really frustrating that Aziz never learned to trust his nose. I mean, the boatman guy from his village told him when he was a kid that he should pay attention if his nose is itching and he didn't and he ended up in multiple unhappy situations because of it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think that Aziz and Naseem are kind of a cute couple. I mean, they're such opposites that they kind of fit together, you know?
In someways Aziz is more modern but not all the time. He still prefers the old ways of medicine as opposed to the new stuff with side effects. Also Aziz seems kind of stubborn as he continues to ignore his nose even though those itchs could really help him out if he paid attention
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me like Aziz ignoring his nose is an example of dramatic irony, because we can tell it is sending him important messages but he doesn't think it will matter. That's an interesting point, Marcella, about Aziz and Naseem being a cute couple. I had been thinking she's just very irritating and he could do better, but perhaps her traditional ideals have a good influence on him. And it is kind of cute (in a disturbing way) how Naseem is too stubborn to feed Aziz and he is too stubborn to eat. They're both ridiculous in their own ways.
ReplyDeleteAziz does seem to be rather stubborn. I agree that in some ways he is modern, but not all the time. He wants his children to have good education and is against discrimination based on religion. However, he is sort of modern by not superstitiously believing in his nose, but that seems to have hurt him.
ReplyDeletethe religion thing really goes back to when he hit his nose on the earth while he was praying and the blood that came from his nose turned to rubies and his tears to diamonds. hmmm maybe this has something to do with how his nose itches when there is trouble and maybe even Saleem's powers.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying Aziz is traditional because he supports education and freedom of religion? I think those are rather modern viewpoints. I agree that he is stubborn, but I can't think of ways in which he is traditional. Adam mentioned that he favors traditional medicine, but I don't remember reading that... maybe I'm just not that far in the book yet.
ReplyDeleteSorry if I was unclear, I am saying that he is modern because he supports education and freedom of religion. But am supporting the idea that he is not always modern. I kind of feel that he got married in a more traditional way, he did sort of follow his heart, however he didn't ever talk to his future wife or go on a date with her, before he wanted to marry her. I also feel that being modern doesn't always help him because of the whole not trusting his nose thing.
ReplyDeleteI think that Tai for a while was sort of playing the part of the fool in the story if this was another Shakespearean play. For example he tells Aadam to listen to his nose if it itches, but Aadam doesn't listen because Tai is sort of like the fool and is wise in his own way. If he had listened to him he would have known not to marry Naseem and it would have saved him a lot of trouble. I also agree with what Christin said, in that he should have been a little more modern and gotten to known Naseem before he married her. If he had spent more time with her then maybe not only he would've realized they weren't right for each other, but his nose would've had more opportunities to warn him.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Aadam was foolish to marry someone who he was sort of "tricked" into marrying. The whole task with the bedsheet was so obviously a scam, and he didn't need to trust his nose, he should have trusted his HEAD!
ReplyDeleteFirstly, how do you mean when you say that his nose seems to foreshadow? Literally? Or like, his continuation of ignoring his nose will build up and eventually result in tragedy? Secondly, although Naseem and Aziz are very different when referring to personalities, they are a perfect match when it comes to balancing each other out and caring about each other. Yes, it is unfortunate that he was tricked into this marriage, but how do we know if was a mistake? It's cool that you focused mainly on the relationship of Naseem and Aadam and brought out their characterization that way rather than just a summarization. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the marriage front, Christin. He married a beautifl girl who he had barely seen, met or talked to. Honestly, how did he see that working out? However, the whole nose thing makes it seem like Saleem isn't such an amazing child and anomily.
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