Will Kromer: Character

So far, in the novel, Saleem Sinai, the main character and narator has been almost entirely absent from the plot. Instead, he has chosen to tell the story of his grandfather, Aadam Aziz. Saleem begins by telling the story of how Aadam became non-religious. He was praying and he bumped his nose on the ground and instead of blood there were rubies and instead of tears there were diamonds. He also tells of Tai, a ferryman who shares philosophical interchanges with Aadam on his boat. Saleem also speaks of Aadam's family's dificulties. For example, his mother works by making jewlery, however Aadam is a doctor, and is highly valued in his community. When the daughter of Ghani, the landowner, falls very ill, Aadam goes to examine her. When he arrives, he realizes that Ghani is blind. When he is finally admited to examine her, he is only allowed to examine her through a seven-inch hole in a sheet. He then ends up falling in love with her and they eventually become married. Saleem theorized that this love filled the hole left by his renouncement of his religion. His friends and family begin to drop like flies, and Aadam decides to take a possition at Agra University . He proposes to Naseem, and she accepts. When in Amritsar, Aadam is involved in a non-violent protest and his nose starts to itch(Tai has told him that this is a bad omen), then he sneezes and dodges a bullet. I think that Aadam was a very introverted, mindless person. But after his recouncement of his faith, he began to think for himself. I also beleive that Aadam is a very introverted person because he keeps his love hidden for 3 years.