The various woven textiles in Khatti Ugal function as a motif that embodies The Illusions of Utopia. On the surface, the brilliantly dyed cloaks, complex belts, and the massive, living fabric represent the kingdom’s prosperity, harmony, and unique culture. These beautiful objects are the most visible evidence of Lab’s seemingly benevolent rule. However, this aesthetic beauty conceals a horrifying truth: The textiles are the mechanism of Lab’s control, woven from the souls of shipwrecked castaways who have been transformed into livestock. 

The colorful cloaks are actually shrouds, binding the dead to the queen’s will and sustaining the illusion of life in her kingdom. The great fabric is the literal fabric of Khatti Ugal’s reality, its patterns holding the enchantments that maintain the city. This motif is fully realized when Amina witnesses the shrouded dead disintegrate into dust once their cloaks are removed. The shocking revelation exposes Lab’s paradise as a necropolis. The textiles serve as a constant, tangible reminder that societies appearing perfect on the surface often depend on the exploitation and erasure of the vulnerable, whose very beings are consumed to maintain the faҫade.

Storytelling and history operate as a central motif that explores the power of narrative to shape, conceal, and destroy reality. The novel opens with a scribe reflecting on how history is “notably fallible. Or rather malleable—by those who tell it” (ix), immediately establishing that the truth is a matter of perspective and control. This idea is woven throughout the narrative. Jamal’s folkloric tale of Queen Lab as a lusty, foolish witch contrasts sharply with the terrifying, immortal sorceress Amina eventually confronts, demonstrating how stories can obscure and diminish the truth. 

Queen Lab’s entire kingdom is a constructed narrative, a false history built to satisfy her need for control. The interludes detailing the spindle’s origins serve as a counter-narrative, revealing the secret history that Lab’s illusion conceals.