The Penguin Canadian Dictionary defines Identity as "Who somebody or something is." An identity is something everything needs, whether it wants it or not. For example a nerd is identified as a nerd because of the way he or she acts and a "brainiac" is identified as a "brainiac" because he or she appears to know everything. An identity is a universal tag. It can vary from place to place and time to time but in the end one constantly has an identity. The book Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie is a prime example of showing how identity can be changed and mutilated by time and place. The prime examples of the are when ones identity is shattered and must be redefined.
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A prime example of this is when India earned its independence from Great Britain. The former India had been split into the three countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. Each of these three countries had a definition left over for them by the former India but these definitions were all the same. However when you peeled back all the external cues you had three very different cultures, all requiring three very different identities.
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Another good example of identity fragmentation in Midnight's Children is the constant changing of tense. At some times in the book Mr. Rushdie will be narrating with the present tense and then he will refer to the protagonists past to fully describe the situation the protagonist finds himself in now. It leads to an effective, if not confusing, way to keep the plot moving forward quickly while still describing the current situation in excruciating detail. .
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The Final example of fragmented identity I have for you is the MCC, or midnight's children conference. The two main members, Padma Parvati and Saleem Sinai, are linked. Each of them has a hole that is filled by one-another. If one suffers so does the other, and visa versa. Their identity is not complete until they are together, until they are recognized as being together.
