Symbolic value of the pickling process: all the six hundred million eggs which gave birth to the population of India could fit inside a single, standard-sized pickle-jar; six hundred million spermatozoa could be lifted on a single spoon. Every pickle-jar {you will forgive me if I become florid for a moment} contains, therefore, the most exalted of possibilities: the feasibility of the chutnification of history; the grand hope of the pickling of time!
In Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children," the symbolic value of the pickling process reflects the immense potential contained within a simple jar. The idea that six hundred million eggs, which represent the beginnings of India's population, could fit into such a small container illustrates the concentration of possibility within each individual. By comparing spermatozoa to items lifted on a spoon, Rushdie emphasizes how life, history, and identity are encapsulated in that jar,...
