Migrant Identity in the Select Novels by Salman Rushdie - Dissertation Example

? Migrant identity in the select novels by Salman Rushdie Thesis Salman Rushdie is the who is searching for the mechanisms of a personal identity’s identification. He appeals for human body, gender roles, personal stories or external factors as crucial for self-identity. On the example of his characters, the author wants to show wanderings of Indians in the process of self-identification as well as identification of their nation. Introduction The novels by Salman Rushdie depict a magical transformation of a human identity. On the example of his novels “Midnight’s Children”, “Moor’s Last Sigh”, “Shame” and “Fury” a theme of migrant identity in these novels is discussed further on. Rushdie draws parallels between split identities of Indians who have no exact place of residence when different national borders are blurred and “hybrid” identities of the Westerners. A formation of self-identity of Rushdie’s characters occurred under the influence of their inner worlds, political and social history, and cultural background of their countries. In the result of new novels creation, Rushdie came to the conclusion that a hybrid identity is a perfect strategy for Indian nation to identify their migrant identities. Migrant Identity in the earlier and later novels by Rushdie In the novel “Midnight’s Children”, Rushdie shows an internal confrontation between national and personal identities. A migrant postcolonial identity is reflected on the example of the main characters of the novel by Salman Rushdie. The experiences of migration have influenced to the greatest extent on a formation of a diverse identity of a character. For example, let us consider relationships between Aadam Aziz and his future wife Naseem. At first, Aziz gets acquainted with the body of his wife in a fragmented manner: “So gradually Doctor Aziz came to have a picture of Naseem in his mind, a badly-fitting collage of her severally-inspected parts. This phantasm of a partitioned woman began to haunt him…” (p. 22). Thus, Naseem’s appearance presents a puzzle for Aziz. The fragmented identities of the characters are present throughout the novel. In such a way, Rushdie draws parallels between the importance of body and soul unity. With this respect, Rushdie underlines the dominant importance of spirituality for the Indian nation. Thus, Saleem talks about a “ghostly essence” of his mother and the way she behaved with his father. It was like a segmented relationship that influenced on the formation of his world outlook. All his life consisted of a set of fragments. A perforated sheet refers to identities of Aziz and Naseem as well as to identity of Amina. On the one hand she loves her husband, but on the other she has reminiscences of another man whom she loved. That is why her love with her husband is shaped piece by piece: “she divided him mentally, into every single one of his component parts, physical as well as behavioral…in short, she fell under the spell of the perforated sheet of her own parents, because she resolved to fall in love with her husband bit by bit” (p. 71). We can see that the woman does not have a spiritual unity of her inner world. Rushdie positions him as a surgeon of human souls, who wants to “sew up” spiritual wanderings of the main characters, which is the first and foremost way to restore a self-identity of the main characters. Therefore, the images of beloved persons are presented by Rushdie as postcolonial identities, split in a great number of separate fragments/bits/parts. In the process of searching for their identities, Aziz is not sure of God’s existence and thus there is “a hole in him, a vacancy in a vital inner chamber, leaving him vulnerable to women and history” (p. 4). Again, Rushdie underlines a spiritual immaturity of Aadam. The disintegration of Aadam’s identity refers to inner social turmoil in India. This can be read in the words of Saleem, who talks about “cracking” of his exterior. The characters realize their fragmentation and disintegration and it is hard for them to cope with their split identities. Therefore, in this novel fragmentation of characters’ identities can be referred to a deep-rooted conflict between tradition and modernity. Rushdie suggests “hybrid” forms of identity as an alternative for his characters, but shows that the latter are on the first stage of their self-identification. In the novel “The Moor's Last Sigh” identity of Rushdie’s characters is shown after a decade of independence. For example, when he discusses artistic searchings of his mother Aurora, he mentioned that it was not an easy task to determine one’s identity: “It was easy for an artist to lose her identity at a time when so many thinkers believed that the poignancy and passion of the country's immense life could only be represented by a kind of selfless, dedicated—even patriotic-mimesis” (p. 34). Therefore, Aurora’s self-identity has been shaped under a strong influence of the exterior. In case Western supporters talked about her, they abused her for ‘parochialism’”, and protagonists have accused her of “losing touch with her roots.'" An inner conflict of a character’s identity on the example of Aurora can be explained in the following terms: on the one hand, this artist depicts her dualistic self-split identity in her portraits, and on the other hand this migrant identity is complicated by exterior conflict of Western and Eastern worlds’ civilizations. Thus, Aurora tried to find her identity in her dreams, in her inner world. In this novel, Rushdie makes an attempt to show that a human body, an individual’s memory and history are borders for a human identity. A human body is a map of his history. Traits of a human body describe a certain story that cannot be ceased, but should be constantly retold and renewed. A story of every person can be either unchangeable or be in the process of a constant evolution. Identity for Rushdie implies a constant process of self-evolution that reinvents a person’s inner world through space and time and the necessity to avoid a rigid story of the self. In other words, in case a person is in constant searching for his self-identity, he would find more than Moor, whose identity was revealed in terms of “the flayed and naked unity of the flesh”. Nevertheless, the character of Moor tries to define his identity in terms of normality/abnormality, in constant and altering modes. In case a person crashes his story, he has no chance to look for his identity in unreality. “No-body” does not mean the absence of the body for Rushdie, but it means the absence of a recognizable identity. Moor experiences an external influence on his identity and his “abnormal” right hand scares off people from him or attracts few of them. Moor reveal hi real self in the following way: “I found, for the first time in my short-long life, the feeling of normality, of being nothing special, the sense of being among kindred spirits, among people-like-me, that is the defining quality of home”. (p.305) Therefore, in this novel tries to determine identities’ shaping factors for his characters on the background of their personal histories or under the pressure of the exterior. In the novel “Shame” by Rushdie, a migrant self-identity of the main characters is analyzed on the background of turbulent relationships between Pakistan and Britain: “In Pakistan, England just wouldn't go away. Despite the Lahore lawyer, despite everything, England was very much on the minds of the Pakistanis. Relics of the Raj were everywhere: buildings, monuments, Oxford accents, libraries full of English books, and newspapers. Many Pakistanis had relatives in England; thousands of Pakistani families depended on money sent from England.... It was happening all the time--the closeness of the two societies, and the distance”. (pp. 24-25). Therefore, the main characters have to make a puzzle of their identities that are torn into many small fragments by Pakistani and British cultures. The most advantageous for the Indian nation is to get rid of Indian hybridity become a cleansed and pure nation with deep-rooted ethnic basis. Nevertheless, this strategy is irrelevant to the modern historical context, where hybridity of nations have shaped a new globalized world. The unequal power relations between Britain and Pakistan, a split conception about national identity, have caused a destructive impact on Hyder and Happa families. To define his or her identity in this novel is a crucial issue not only for the characters of the novel, but also for the whole nation. For example, Omar is in a constant process of self-identification. He does not have a strong masculine object to follow and acts as a weak woman. Another female character from Happa family idolizes her father and neglects her femininity by wrapping her breasts. Thus, she wants to avoid playing a social role given to her by her source culture. A masculine personality is more attracting for her and thus it is easier for her to be more rude and brutal in comparison with other females around her. In a metaphoric manner Rushdie wants to underline the absence of a social unity in the Middle East in general. Still, it is relevant to consider Rushdie’s position concerning self-identity of his characters in a more profound manner: the author tried to explain that all rigid norms and strict regulations of Eastern culture could be violated by the nation (e.g. Omar’s or Happa’s daughter attempts of identity findings). On the example of gender roles they play and a real political background, it is easier for the western readers to identify complexities of self-identification that occur in the countries of the Middle East and “gender” is only one aspect of human lives in the Middle East that is oppressed by rigidity of the centennial history. In the novel “Fury” a problem of self-identity is shown on the background of mystical issues within the inner world of the main character: “The Furies pursue us; Shiva dances his furious dance to create and destroy....This is what we are, what we civilize ourselves to disguise--the terrifying human animal in us, the exalted, transcendent, self-destructive, untrammeled lord of creation” (p. 12). Thus, it is possible to trace Freudian motifs in Rushdie’s narrative. A dark It sits inside every person and It sets a tone of our lives. America was chosen as a background of the novel not unintentionally. Rushdie is an antagonist of a digital age and anti-digital themes are dominant for him in this novel. A high-speed development of digital technologies has programmed American nation and they have to comply with the directions of a dark It sitting inside of them, as well as being constantly driven by their Furies. A crush of American dream is the reason for identities’ crush. Though Solanka is being constantly persecuted by Furies, he chooses a Dream and returns to his family. His identity can be found within an imaginative positive world about the nation who has survived thanks for their Dream. Jumping higher and being able to touch the sky (p. 259) is a conclusive action of Solanka, signifying a unity of his spirit and body and revelation of his identity. Therefore, this character is the representative of a person with a hybrid identity. It is the latest novel by Rushdie in comparison with other novels discussed in this research project and it can be claimed that, finally, in this novel a character has found a right way to his self-identity identification. Conclusion Therefore, the issue of migrant identity is a central theme for Rushdie. In his earlier and later novels, Rushdie tries to develop a strategy for self-identification on the example of his main characters. A metaphoric correlation of self-identity with the issue of identity of the Eastern nation enables Rushdie to be not only a professional psychologist, but also a perfect historian and narrator. In his novels he appeals for the Western audience trying to draw them closer to political and social complexities of the Eastern World and asks the Westerners about their identity, if they really know who they are or no. A multiplicity of searches for Indian identity is an allusion to a reach and incomprehensible Indian culture. Moreover, in an allegoric manner Rushdie claims that self-identity of every individual is an integrative unity of body and spirit, of self-and national identification. Works Cited 1. Rushdie, Salman. Fury. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2002. 2. Rushdie, Salman. Midnight’s Children. Penguin, 1991. 3. Rushdie, Salman. Moor’s Last Sigh. Pantheon, 1996. 4. Rushdie, Salman. Shame. New York: Picador, 1983. Read More