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Representations of Veiling in Midnight’s Children
In the novel, Saleem Sinai’s sister, Jamila Singer, represents Purity above all. The
Sinai family refers to Jamila as the “Brass Monkey” both because of the color of her hair and
because of the mischief she creates in order to siphon attention away from Saleem, the
favorite child. Upon reaching adolescence and moving to Pakistan, however, Jamila
discovers both her amazing vocal talents and her penchant for obedience and piety. Jamila
gains national fame and fortune through her behaviors as the “ideal” daughter, Muslim, and
Pakistani citizen: As “The Voice of the Nation,” Jamila’s “character [begins] to owe more to
the most strident aspects of the national persona than to the child-world of her Monkey
years.” 6
Thus, unlike her brother, Jamila successfully sheds her colorful Indian past in favor
of Pakistani Purity. 7
The two siblings are divided by their opposing ideals: “the sacred, or
good, [holds] little interest for [Saleem], even when such aromas [surround his] sister as she
[sings]” (Rushdie, 364). However, Jamila’s intense, obsessive love of country seems like the
only viable option for assimilation into the all-encompassing homogeneity that Pakistan’s
Purity demands. Because of the fundamental unreality of the entire idea of Purity, those who
subscribe to it must do so entirely, for even the slightest glimpse of Reality would topple this
ideology. Jamila, firmly esconced in her gold-and-white veil, that symbol of Purity, is
thereby shielded not only from impurity, but also, consequently, from Reality.
The appeal of the veil repeatedly attracts the female characters of Midnight’s
Children because it seemingly provides a way for them to assert their identities within
cultural limitations; in reality, however, the veil becomes the woman’s identity, concealing
both body and soul. For example, Saleem’s highly traditional maternal grandmother,