The setting imagery
This story is not going to make a lot of sense unless the imagery of its setting is properly understood. The novel takes place in a time of Persian history which is far in the past (17th century Iran), but which still explores much of Persian culture to this very day. As the reader might expect, the issue of gender and the historical tension between Persian women and their community's expectation for them. The setting also explains how the unnamed female hero can succeed in the community; by being a masterful craftswoman.
Rug design
The imagery which shapes the hero's arc most is the imagery which brings her from a position of true chaos and randomness into a lengthy series of challenges at the end of which she accomplishes greatness. That is the beautiful imagery of Persian rug design. She loves crafting with her hands, but when Gostaham is ruthless and critical, she is pushed past her limits emotionally. After this, a long process of crisis and confusion leads her to accept rug design as her destiny, and her pursue mastery and succeeds.
Female narrative
The narrator is unnamed, so the character's experience is suggested in an abstract, representational way. The female narrator experiences a community where men largely discredit her personally by patronizing her, and women become her main friends and community support. She experiences unique feminine frustrations, like the sexually objectifying suitor who uses her and then ashames her by leaving for someone else. The imagery of female power and ability is held in tension with the conservative notions of Joonam's community.
Conservativism
The proto-Iranian culture of this novel seems to offer a candid criticism of blind conservatism. The idea of the novel is not that culture is terrible and evil (in fact, rug smithing is literally participation in her zeitgeist), but rather that when people use culturally accepted notions about gender role, the whole community suffers and the women are pitted against each other, symbolized by Gostaham's wife. The idea is that beautiful and helpful aspects of culture could remain without denegrating women and disenfranchising them. This imagery defines the community experience of the protagonist.
Visual imagery for the comet
The author's mother saw the "Sunderer of Heads, which burned red in the night sky." The Iranians believed in astrology. The sighting of the comet was accorded special importance in the villagers' lives. The imagery emphasizes the celestial light; the reader can create a vivid mental image of the burning comet.
Visual imagery for the Iranians' cultural dress
"Most of the women were wearing bright bell-shaped tunics over slim trousers, with fringed headscarves over their hair, while the men wore long white tunics, trousers, and turbans. But Hajj Ali wore a black turban," This visual image depicts the traditional Iranian attire in color and shape. For instance, the women wore bright (color) bell-shaped (shape) tunics and slim (size) trousers.
Visual imagery for Iranian Cultural/architectural design
Mosques are the icons of Isfahan's Islamic culture. For example, the author talks about a "small mosque, with a "dome sparkling with tile."(p1.) She also describes the hammam (religious ablution room for young women). It was "steamy inside and dappled with light."(p1)
