SSC Selection Post 2025 PYQ — Question 17

SSC Selection Post - Matriculation Level - 31st July 2025 - Shift 1 • General Awareness • Q17

Who is the author of the Booker Prize-winning novel "Midnight's Children"?

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B

Explanation

Correct Answer

Salman Rushdie

Explanation

"Midnight's Children," published in 1981, is a landmark novel written by British-Indian author Salman Rushdie. The story revolves around the life of Saleem Sinai, who is born at the exact moment of India's independence from British rule, and it uses magical realism to explore the transition from British colonialism to the independence of the nation. The novel was awarded the Booker Prize in 1981 and was later named the "Booker of Bookers" in 1993, recognizing it as the best novel to have won the award in its first 25 years.

Key Points

The novel is celebrated for its complex narrative structure, historical scope, and its significant contribution to post-colonial literature. It uses the protagonist's telepathic connection to other children born at the same hour as a metaphor for the multifaceted, often chaotic, and vibrant identity of modern India.

Important Questions and Answers

Question: In what year did India gain independence, the backdrop of the novel's beginning?

Answer: India gained independence in 1947.

Question: Besides "Midnight's Children," for which other novel is Salman Rushdie famously known, due to its controversial nature?

Answer: "The Satanic Verses."