Friday, April 6, 2012
Oskar?
As a class we've already noticed the similarities between Tin Drum and Midnight's Children. It's too early to tell but I wonder if Rushdie deliberately sent Aadam to Germany to make a direct allusion to Tin Drum. I wonder if he could have go to any other country but choose Germany purposely. Furthermore it is interesting to think if the use of a character named Oskar is a direct allusion or not.
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5 comments:
I agree with you. Maybe it's still a little early to tell but so far there seems like a lot of similarities between the two works. Both books start out with kinda self-centered, cheeky narrators first acknowledging they are writing what they are writing for a purpose, establishing they are unreliable, then proceeding to tell the story of their heritage. Both have some kind of monumental birthday coming up and both feel trapped; Oskar in the home and Saleem by history. Also it seems like both narrators are connected to social history of their country; Saleem to Indian independence, and Oskar to Poland, Kristallnacht, and WWII. Both characters seem to show a tension in the split between nationalities: Oskar between Germany and Poland and Saleem already seems to be torn between India and Pakistan. I just hope that Saleem doesn't start narrating in third person or harassing nurses though...
I think that both characters are related but im not completely sure if it was on purpose. I also think that it is partly the writing style that makes the characters seem so similiar. The way Rushidie writes really puts the reader into Saleem's head just like the reader is put into Oskars head. The way the characters think is very similiar.
Oh I definitely think Rushdie has read Oskar's tale or at least heard of the Tin Drum. Many core ideas resonate between the two novels. The fact that they both start with one narrator's telling of his life story is a strong suggestion of their similarity. Sara makes a great analysis that both characters are related to their country and also torn with the idea of "identity".
I did not think about this until you mentioned it. I just assumed that it was a coincidence that Rushdie's writing was so similar to Grass'. But now that you pointed it out, I can't help but believe that Rushdie read the Tin Drum, especially considering that Grass is his predecessor.
Shown by my other post, the nationalism or lack thereof, is a main theme. India was a country not born out of unity, only hatred towards British. So many Indians assimilated into the British culture, completely forgetting their own culture. So when the sepoys rebelled in 1857, it was an assertion of the indian identity and the first step towards independe in the 20th century.
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