What is the importance of Shakespeare's comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, in the novel, East Indian?

Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream is symbolic of the position that Tony feels he (and other people of color) occupy in the colonial enterprise. Although the Indian child in A Midsummer Night's Dream is central to the plot—and is indeed fought over by Oberon and Titania—he does not have a speaking role and is eventually forgotten by the play's conclusion. This liminal presence reminds Tony of his own experience in the colonies.