"Midnight's Children" Post 5a

"In a country where any physical or mental peculiarity in a child is a source of deep family shame, my parents, who had become accustomed to facial birthmarks, cucumber-nose and bandy legs, simply refused to see any more embarrassing things in me; for my part, I did not once mention the buzzing in my ear, the occasional ringing bells of deafness, the intermittent pain. I had learned that secrets were not always a bad thing" (194), "This was it; the beginning of the repayment of their investment; my first dividend- first, I was sure of many" (187). These two quotes show the relationship between Saleem and his parents, most likely similar to the relationship of children and parents across India. Here, Saleem feels that he must repay his parents for the time and effort that he has put into raising him, most likely a social obligation expected of children. It is sad that his parents have no room to understand him; it seems that children are an extension of their parents and some of the standing of the parents is based on the standing of the child. In this setting, it takes a rather extreme measure when Saleem's father beats him as recompensation for attempting to tell them about the voices in his head. However, this is not a specific cultural aspect to India: some of the odd relationship in the expectations of parents for their children is still found today, here in the United States. All of the parent pressure regarding colleges, grades, and sports ties into this connection between a child's success and their parent's standing. Unfortunately, this seems only to complicate Saleem's family further.