Pointless Toil Anonymous

Though Salman RushdieÃÂÂs MidnightÃÂÂs Children if full of comic details and humorous anecdotes of Saleem SinaiÃÂÂs family history, the overall tone of the novel is in sharp contrast. Destruction and deception pervade much of the novel, and in the end, even when Saleem is getting married, he still sees his future as a journey to obliteration. Though it seems that SaleemÃÂÂs destruction is necessary to allow Aadam Sinai, who seems even more determined and powerful than the previous generation of midnightÃÂÂs children, to continue the life of his parents and country, Rushdie implies that the future offers no hope for Aadam. Despite AadamÃÂÂs position as the new child of midnight, his family has been condemned to a life of repetition, and thus he will only experience another cycle of annihilation.

SaleemÃÂÂs family history is plagued by the curse of repetition. From the spell of the perforated sheet to the name changes to the switching of babies, each generation seems merely an echo of the one past. Throughout the novel, Saleem emphasizes the theme of repetition, saying that ÃÂÂthere was no escape from recurrenceÃÂ? (326) and that his own life is a ÃÂÂrepetitive cycle of my historyÃÂ? (477). Though not directly related to Saleem,...