William Methwold Character Analysis

The former owner of Methwold’s Estate in Bombay, where protagonist Saleem Sinai grows up. Methwold sells the four mansions that make up his estate as the British begin to exit India in preparation for independence. Saleem’s parents purchase Buckingham Villa, a mansion on the estate, for a cheap price. Methwold insists that Saleem’s parents, Ahmed and Amina, purchase and retain his mansion with all its contents, and he refuses to make the transaction official until India’s independence on August 15, 1947. Methwold’s strange requests mirror British colonialism and the European influence left behind in India, even after independence, as the residents of Methwold’s Estate continue to observe his customs long after he is gone. Ironically, Methwold is also the biological father of Saleem. After Mary Pereira switches baby Saleem with baby Shiva, it is revealed that Saleem’s true father is none other than Methwold, who had carried on an affair with Saleem’s biological mother, the wife of Wee Willie Winkie. Following India’s independence, Methwold leaves Bombay and is never heard from again.