Symbol: Red (Bayen)
Chandi's hut flies a red flag, and Chandi wears red clothing: the significance of this is that red symbolizes several things, including blood (the violence associated with witches), menstruation (her gender), and power and aggression and anger (her putative characteristics). It is implied that these tokens of clothing and warning (the flag) were provided to her by the villagers in order to warn people about her.
Symbol: Banyan Tree (Bayen)
The banyan tree appears in "Bayen" and symbolizes Chandi and her profession. As HowStuffWorks explains, "in India, the banyan is associated with the god of death, Yama, and is often planted near crematoriums outside of villages. In Hinduism, it's said that the deity Krishna stood beneath a banyan tree at Jyotisar when he delivered the sermon of the sacred Sanskrit scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. And Hindu texts written over 2,500 years ago describe a cosmic 'world tree,' that references an upside-down-growing banyan that has roots in heaven and extends a trunk and branches down toward Earth to deliver blessings. Over centuries, the tree took on significance as a symbol of fertility, life, and resurrection." Chandi is also "resurrected" (in terms of her reputation) when she dies.
Symbol: Breast (Breast-Giver)
The breast is a symbol of the mother, of the woman, of life-giving and nurturing. It is what Jashoda is identified with and why she is considered valuable; in fact, it is what she is more or less reduced to. But when she is no longer needed for her breasts, her entire worth is obliterated—woman-as-symbol instead of woman-as-individual is a tool of the patriarchy here.
Symbol: Cancer (Breast-Giver)
Jashoda's getting cancer of the breast is not just a physical affliction—it is symbolic of the way patriarchy afflicts, spreads, and destroys women. She is only valued for her body, her husband uses her, people discard her when she is no longer useful, and she dies alone. Patriarchy is also insidious because it cudgels women into thinking this is normal; Devi writes of Jashoda that she had an "unreasonable, unreasoning, and unintelligent devotion to her husband and love for her children," a mindset that leads to her miserable fate.
Symbol: Dopdi's Name ("Draupadi")
From her mistress Dopdi receives the name "Draupadi," a name that is rife with symbolism. It is a name of the heroine of the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian text, and suggests power, femininity, and prestige. It places Dopdi on a higher level of social significance, asking the reader to compare her actions to those of the ancient Draupadi and see the connections between them.
