The Beast (Symbol)
The beast described as residing with Sufiya is a symbol of unprocessed shame. Sufiya embodies the shame of the characters around her. From the moment she is born, she becomes a source of shame for her parents. They are both upset by the fact that she remains mentally a child for her whole life. Then she becomes further ashamed when she cannot really act as a wife to Omar. The shame within her that she cannot express leads her to feed this beast, which compels her to commit increasingly violent acts, including a string of vicious decapitations. In this way, the beast functions as a clear symbol for suppressed shame as it compels Sufiya to commit violence, in the same way that other characters are compelled to engage in similar actions.
Rani's Shawls (Symbol)
Rani's shawls work as a symbol for storytelling in the novel. Rani knits a series of shawls while living in relative isolation at Mohenjo. It is revealed that these shawls actually contain detailed depictions of Iskander's cruel leadership. Rani uses them to show Arjumand the true nature of who her father was. In this way, these shawls represent what storytelling can do. Rani uses rich artistic detail to convey a meaningful and truthful narrative about Iskander to Arjumand, in the same way the narrator tries to portray his home country.
Bombs (Symbol)
Bombs function as a symbol of political violence in the novel. Early in the narrative, there is a bombing at a local cinema. The cinema is showing a movie that people in the city object to as it has a romance scene that they claim is too graphic. This causes a great deal of unrest for days leading up to a bombing that kills Bilquìs' father. The narrator notes that there were many potential planters of the bomb and that no one was ever identified as the culprit. The bomb represents political violence in that it shows both how common its source was and what horrifying consequences it had.
Good News's Pregnancies (Symbol)
Good News has a huge number of babies with her husband Talvar, twenty-seven in total. All of this birth takes a severe toll on her physical health and appearance. She is constantly pregnant and completely exhausted by the whole process. Talvar shows no concern for her and is solely focused on having as many kids as possible. She eventually takes her own life, as she cannot bear to endure another childbirth. Her babies work as a symbol of women's oppression, as it shows how much pregnancy and childbirth put a strain on women while highlighting how thankless that role is.
Narrative (Motif)
Narrative is a major motif throughout the novel. The narrator frequently interjects it into the narrative, talking about himself and the goals he tries to achieve with this story. He discusses how he is unable to write a "realist" novel as he believes that he needs fantastical elements to truly illuminate his experience of Pakistan. He also notes that there are gaps in his stories. By constantly calling his own narrative authority into question, he reminds the reader that he is consciously shaping the story as it progresses. In this way, the motif of narrative works to show exactly how the narrator is attempting to convey his ideas through the plot.
