Final answer:
The author's decision to start with Thaljiyeh's birth positions her as a sympathetic character and introduces the reader to her life journey. In 'Midnight's Children', the setting is crucial, with the character's life being tied to the country's history, highlighting the blend of personal and historical narratives in Rushdie's style.
Step-by-step explanation:
The author's choice to begin the story with a description of Thaljiyeh's birth primarily impacts the story by establishing Thaljiyeh as a sympathetic character. This literary strategy is used to form an immediate connection between the character and the reader and often sets the stage for the character's development throughout the narrative. By introducing the character at birth, a universally relatable experience, the reader is invited to engage with the character's life journey from the very outset.
In Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children', the significance of setting is immense, as the time and place of the narrator's birth are intricately linked with the political and historical context of the country. This establishes the character's life as being 'handcuffed to history', suggesting that the personal is intertwined with the political. The narrative style of Rushdie, which intricately weaves the personal with the historical, enables us to gauge the significance of the setting as not merely a backdrop but as a pivotal player in the events and themes of the book.