Summary
The novel starts with a description of three sisters who live in the mansion of Nishapur. Their names are Chhunni, Munnee, and Bunny Shakil. They grow up in strictly enforced solitude and live by the rules established by their father, referred to as Mr. Shakil. At the beginning of the story, their father dies and they then discover that they have no money, as he has wasted their entire fortune. They spend a great deal of time together and vow to always remain a trio in all aspects of their lives, even in raising their children.
Subsequently they decide to host a ball, ignoring their bad financial situation. They invite a number of British officials. After this, one of them becomes pregnant, but they conceal this sister's identity. They all show signs of pregnancy. The baby is born and named Omar Khayyam. They raise him together, all acting as his mothers. They raise Omar in complete isolation in Nishapur and never allow him to leave the mansion.
As he begins to grow up, Omar starts to resent his mothers and his home in Nishapur. He educates himself with various books from their library and develops an increasingly intense desire to see the outside world. He develops nocturnal habits, moving around the house late at night in a dark cloak. Due to this behavior, he later receives the nickname "Little Bat" from his mothers. He becomes sullen and frustrated with his sequestered life. They teach him that shame is a harmful emotion and that he should not feel it. Omar also becomes interested in hypnosis.
At the same time, the narrator describes the difficulties he faces as he writes about his home country of Pakistan in the form of this narrative set in Peccavistan. He says the events depicted both are and are not accurate to his experience of growing up in Pakistan. When Omar turns twelve, he asks to be allowed to leave home and his mothers agree. They send him to a nearby school. Initially, he is teased for being overweight but when the bullies discover he does not react to their taunts, they leave him alone.
At school, Omar becomes a voyeur, frequently watching couples engage in sexual acts through a telescope. He develops a close relationship with a teacher named Eduardo Rodrigues. Eduardo encourages Omar to go to medical school and become a doctor. Farah Zoroaster, the daughter of a local clerk, becomes part of Eduardo's class and the three of them are commonly seen going around town.
Omar begins to have romantic feelings for Farah. However, she says that she finds him to be physically repugnant. One day, he hypnotizes her and they have sex, resulting in her becoming pregnant. Farah is taken in by Eduardo and Omar abandons both of them. At the age of eighteen, he returns home and informs his mothers that he has received a large scholarship to attend medical school.
At the end of the chapter, Omar talks briefly with an ice vendor before departing for Karachi. The narrator then describes the rest of Farah Zoroaster's life, as she is shunned by the community for having a baby out of wedlock. She leaves town with the baby and Eduardo, but returns with neither, leading to widespread speculation. In her older age, she goes to bars and recalls the time she spent with Omar. The chapter concludes with Omar enjoying ice on the train and later learning he has a younger brother named Babar.
Analysis
One of the key themes of this early section is tradition. It explores the impact that traditional values have on the home lives of the characters. Chhunni, Munnee, and Bunny grow up under a strict set of rules, enforced by their very religious father. However, once he dies they choose to radically rethink their lives. One of them becomes pregnant out of wedlock, which was considered an incredibly shameful act at the time. Rather than bow to societal pressure, the sisters choose to all act as though they are pregnant, effectively protecting the identity of the actually pregnant sister. They then raise Omar as all of their sons. By refusing to get married or leave their mansion, the sisters are able to push back on the power of shame, as they take an event that is viewed unfavorably and turn it into something joyful. In this way, their rejection of tradition allows them to escape the social pressures of their time.
Loyalty is another major theme of this section. The sisters choose to live in a sequestered world. They make a pact to live as a trio, experiencing every part of their lives together. They experience the side effects of pregnancy together and manage to conceal the actual birth from sight. Their servants are sworn to secrecy and essentially never venture into the outside world. They evidence their devotion to one another constantly, as their entire living situation hinges on their ability to remain loyal to one another. They are loyal to the point of being continually attached to one another.
Shame also plays a significant role in this part of the book. Omar's mothers instruct him to live a life without shame, as they believe it is a harmful emotion, used to manipulate people. He follows their instructions but seems to embrace shamelessness too readily. At school, he sees a young couple embracing and subsequently begins watching other couples through a telescope. Unaffected by the feeling of shame, he engages in this behavior without guilt. The narrator seems to suggest that for all of the problems that shame causes, shamelessness also can lead to harmful outcomes. This becomes even more apparent after Omar develops feelings for Farah.
In another act of shamelessness, Omar uses hypnosis to convince Farah to have sex with him. She becomes pregnant as a result and is taken care of by Eduardo, who seems to tacitly claim fatherhood for the child. Omar chooses to have no involvement in the matter and feels no remorse for his actions. Like his voyeurism, his lack of shame allows him to dismiss any real connection to these events. He returns home and then travels to Karachi without a single thought of Farah. Without shame, Omar feels no sense of obligation to Farah, despite putting her in a terrible position. He is given the luxury of shamelessness while Farah is forced to endure the weight of shame in the community of Q.
The snapshot of Farah's life at the end of the chapter touches on the oppression of women. Following her pregnancy, Farah leaves town with Eduardo for a time and then returns. She is shunned and lives a relatively isolated existence. In later years, she takes up drinking and sometimes reminisces about her time with Omar. Despite maintaining her dignity, Farah is forced to contend with a great deal of social pressure and criticism as a result of a pregnancy she did not want. In this way, the book shows how unjustly women are treated, as they are the ones largely required to bear the brunt of shame. In this instance, Omar was the one interested in sex, but Farah was forced to pay for it socially.
