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Noses (and Knees) Noses and smells play a prominent role for several members of the Aziz/Sinai families. Tai, the boatman of Kashmir remarks that Aadam has "dynasties waiting inside it [...] like snot."
The use of smells is a strategy perhaps for
making abstract emotional and moral concepts
objectifyable. Saleem's nose can detect for
example that "unfairness
smelled like onions."
It is also Saleem's nose that seems to give him
magical powers. Saleem's rival Shiva
seems to have, by contrast, remarkable knees and
he uses these in often quite shocking acts of violence.
See the list of other prominent motifs.
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