57 pages • 1-hour read
The City of Brass
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Symbols & Motifs
Dara’s Ring
Content warning: This section of the guide explores racism, enslavement, and murder.
Initially, Dara’s ring looks like an expensive piece of jewelry to Nahri. It represents the vast difference between the way Nahri and Dara see the world. The ring represents the multitudes within Dara—his captivity, history, and miraculous survival—but without hearing his story, the ring holds no meaning but potential profit for Nahri.
The ring is Dara’s vessel of enslavement, but since he does not know how he came to be freed of enslavement, he also does not know how the ring functions. He only knows that he cannot take it off. It represents the mystery of Dara’s life, even to himself. When Nahri gets too close, neither of them has a choice, and the ring shows Nahri some of Dara’s happiest and most painful moments. The ring represents Dara in that it is beautiful, bright, and enticing, but when Nahri gets close she learns painful truths.
When Ali cuts off Dara’s hand with the ring attached, Dara immediately turns to ash. Without the ring, he is no longer tethered to this world. In the Epilogue, Nisreen reveals that she has his ring, so because the ring survived, it is implied that Dara can come back. The ring’s existence then symbolizes the defiance of the daeva tribe as well as the hope for a better future.
Marks
Many characters have marks on their face or bodies that reveal something about them. Some are permanent, some made by the person themselves, and some are inflicted by an enemy attempting to leave their mark. Some demonstrate power, some honor religion, and some represent an individual or collective history.
Because these markings can usually be seen by anyone, their implications depend on the person viewing them. This emphasizes the importance of point of view and it also calls into question people’s honesty about who they are. The most powerful mark of all is Suleiman’s seal, which negates all magic when used. In this way, marks are a sign of power.
Dara has a tattoo marking his left temple that signifies that he is an Afshin. Little boys in Daevabad paint them on their faces as homage to the old warriors they thought were extinct. The Afshin mark shows Dara’s allegiances, the permanence of his actions, and his legacy in the daeva tribe. Daevas also wear ash marks on their forehead as a part of their religion. Ali scoffs at these marks just as he scoffs at their religion, but the daeva people choose to wear their marks proudly despite the way others may treat them. In the Epilogue, Nisreen stops Kaveh from removing an important mark with a secret purpose on his son, Jamshid.
Finally, the word “mark” is used to describe a person Nahri is going to rob or trick. She uses this term to describe her clients early on, then she says it to Dara to convince him that she is not friends with Ali, and then she uses it to describe Ghassan when she smiles in the final scene of the book. The word used in this way contrasts the public nature of physical marks. Nahri’s marks are marked privately, but they are marked nonetheless, and they represent her internal sense of power.
Names
One recurring motif is the importance of names. S.A. Chakraborty introduces this idea early on when Nahri asks Dara his name and he refuses to tell her, explaining that “[t]here is power in names” (41). Later, it is revealed that ifrit enslave daevas by asking for their name. When drowning, Ali tries to refuse the marids asking his name, but after they show him the destruction of his city, he complies.
Beyond being the key to possessing a daeva, names also represent the importance of perspective and often determine a character’s fate. For example, when Chakraborty writes from Ali’s perspective, she only uses “Darayavahoush,” whereas from Nahri’s she only uses “Dara.” Similarly, Dara calls Ali “sandfly” or “Zaydi” as a sign of disrespect, reminding Ali of his history and foreshadowing Ali’s fate as a rebel. When Dara snaps on the ship, he references the nickname “The Scourge,” which helped the Geziri turn him into a monster, and he then becomes “The Scourge” to fulfill his name. Ghassan explains the importance of Ali’s name late in the book and reveals that he fears that he may have determined Ali’s fate by naming him after a rebel warrior. Even the names of each tribe are significant—the daeva tribe, for example, takes the name that describes the entire race of people and uses it for their tribe and their city. The city’s name foreshadows its fate—it would not always be controlled by the daeva tribe, but it would still be full of daevas.
Nahri’s name is nearly forgotten when she comes to Daevabad, representing the fact that they do not deem her previous life important to her identity. Instead, they call her Banu Nahida, referencing her profession and bloodline, the only two things for which she is valued in Daevabad. Names reveal the perspective of characters and the value of people. They can also communicate control or power over another person.
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