Earthquake
The very first line of the novel introduces an earthquake. The circumstances in which the characters go about telling their individual stories to reflect the theme of how random fate intervenes in the lives of everyone. The quake itself as a result of hitting at just the moment the fate of all these characters brought them to that one place becomes the central symbol of the unpredictability of fate.
The Diversity
The office that is the center of the story is an Indian consulate in an unnamed American city at which people apply for a travel visa. The people who happen to be there on that particular day are a diverse group that includes an elderly Indian-Chinese woman and her granddaughter, a female Indian-American grad student, a young Muslim man seething at the treatment toward Islamic society since 9/11, an older white married couple, an African American veteran, and two Indian consulate employees. Collectively, they symbolize the famous American melting pot in which people of all cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds are forced to blend together in an attempt to try to find common ground so they can work together for a shared purpose.
Malathi’s Sari
The female consulate employee named Malathi is dressed in an electric blue traditional Indian sari. Throughout most of the first part of the story, she is noted as constantly adjusting her appearance and fit. Eventually, it is determined that her clothing needs to be sacrificed as material for making bandages and a sling and is swapped for the replacement of a sweatshirt. The male employee explains Malathi’s negative reaction by saying that the swap will also sacrifice her “womanly modesty” even though, ironically, the sari had exposed more of her body than the sweatshirt does. Ultimately, it becomes clear that the sari is a symbol of more than mere modesty, it represents the very essence of her Indian identity. With only the sweatshirt to wear, she is actually more exposed than it seems because the sacrifice of the sari is like the sacrifice of her individuality to satisfy the needs of the collective.
Jiang’s Secret
Jiang is an elderly Indian-Chinese woman who has brought her granddaughter to the consulate with her. When Uma makes the suggestion that they all tell a story of one amazing thing that happened in their life, she volunteers to go first and shocks her granddaughter by speaking in English. Everyone, including the girl, assumed that she could only speak Mandarin. The shock of this revelation that extends even to her own flesh and blood foreshadows the revelation of deep secrets in the stories that follow and in a large sense symbolizes how we never know absolutely everything about even those who are closest to us.
Cameron’s Inhaler
Cameron is the former soldier whose training in survival makes him the de facto leader of the group in the aftermath of the earthquake. He is appropriately aggressive when necessary and reveals the brute strength desired in a leader of men under such dire circumstances. Acting out of a sense of duty that is not really his responsibility, he takes on the challenge of pushing himself to the limit. Unfortunately, he is subject to very definite limitations to both his physical and mental ability to rise to the occasion as a result of severe asthma requiring an inhaler that reflects his finite limitations, With each inhalation, the supply of the inhaler is lessened, and it wasn’t full when he left home. The inhaler comes to symbolize the precarious grasp on life facing all the characters. For Cameron, it is literally a lifeline that brings him closer to death with each puff. This symbolically mirrors the situation they all find themselves in where supplies of the necessities for life are limited.
