"Midnight's Children" Post 4a

The conflict between Mary, Saleem's new ayah, and Musa, the family's servant for years, shows that the issue between the Muslims and Hindus in India (a) is not as simple as it seems, with other religions and viewpoints complicating it, (b) may not be solved by the creation of Pakistan and (c) also must work with the difference of generations and ages. A quote on page 164 defines the struggle between Mary and Musa: "What remnants of guilt fear shame, pickled by time in Mary's intestines, led her willingly? unwillingly? to provoke the aged bearer in a dozen different ways- by a tilt of the nose to indicate her superior status; by aggressive counting of rosary beads under the nose of the devout Muslim; by acceptance of the title mausi, little mother, bestowed upon her by the other Estate servants, which Musa saw as a threat to his own status; by excessive familiarity with Begum Sahiba- little giggled whispers in corners, just loud enough for formal, stiff, correct Musa to hear and feel somehow cheated?" (164). This section outlines a conflict not only between Mary and Musa but most likely across India. On one hand, we have Musa: old fashioned, aged, devout Muslim, clinging onto his life and afraid of it being pulled out from underneath him. On the other hand, we have Mary: a Western, Christian name to compliment her faith, familiarity with her masters, Catholicism as her religion. Perhaps it wasn't always the Christian-Muslim conflict, but the meeting of the old ways and the rapidly encroaching new ones must have been quite a struggle. And of course, the fate of Musa tells all: he is convicted of stealing from the house and leaves of his own accord, dooming his own fate.