52 pages • 1-hour read
The Widows of Malabar Hill
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Symbols & Motifs
Lillian the Parrot
Content Warning: This section includes discussions of racism, addiction, abuse, and violence.
Lillian is an Alexandrian parrot and the Mistry family pet. Throughout the novel, she symbolizes female independence or lack thereof. Caged or caught birds are a common literary symbol that represents a lack of freedom. Famously, in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the titular heroine avows her independence from her lover by declaring that she is not a bird but rather a free person with an independent will, including the capacity to leave. While Massey’s depiction of Lillian might first be interpreted similarly, representing how Perveen is “trapped” in the Mistry home, Perveen’s family is loving and supportive, encouraging her to get an education and pursue a career. As a result, she sees her home as a refuge, especially after leaving her abusive and unhappy marriage to Cyrus. Lillian is also free and not confined to her cage. Rather than being trapped, she “stayed outside for hours, sipping water from the birdbath and monitoring the garden for avian intruders” (76). Perveen thinks that “Losing Lillian wasn’t a worry […] like a prodigal daughter, she always returned” (76). The novel thus inverts the traditional bird-in-cage symbolism by allowing Lillian to represent Perveen, who can roam on her own and find safety back at home.
Lillian and the Farid widows are also compared to each other. Because the women live in purdah, Perveen initially assumes that they are helpless and perhaps even trapped or persecuted. However, she comes to revise this idea after getting to know them and their belief systems better. Perveen thinks about how Lillian is dependent and insists on being fed by humans: “Perveen had once believed the Farid widows were similarly helpless, but she didn’t anymore. It must have been maddening to have a household agent thrust into their world” (339-40). She also corrects Alice when her friend compares a bird-like moth to the widows, saying “They’re utterly trapped” (245-46). Perveen reminds her that “it’s their preference to keep away from men” and compares them to Alice’s mother, the aristocratic Gwendolyn Hobson-Jones, who even after years in India, is still frightened of natives. Initially, the widows appear helpless, but Perveen comes to understand that they view purdah as a sanctuary rather than a cage.
Grandfather Mistry’s Portrait
A large portrait of Perveen’s grandfather hangs in the family law office in Mistry House. The portrait symbolizes Perveen’s complicated but ultimately loving relationship with her family. When Perveen marries Cyrus, her grandfather is angry and refuses to come to the wedding or engagement events. Perveen, in turn, is angry with him for refusing and requiring her mother to sequester herself during menstruation when she was a young bride. Perveen explains that “a barrier had risen between her and Grandfather Mistry” (168), clouding their previously close relationship. When she returns to her family, her grandfather has died and the two are unable to reconcile. Instead, his portrait hangs in their office as a reminder of him.
The portrait is “towering” and done by “Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin, who studied under John Singer Sargent” (230). It is striking but not particularly friendly. Perveen thinks: “It always seemed as if her grandfather were watching from the long portrait guarding the entryway. His eyes, as inky black as his flat-topped fetah, were all knowing but not warm” (4-5). However, Perveen perceives her grandfather’s stern “visage” not as “a mark of criticism” but as a kind of guardian figure: “She hoped he would watch out for her now, as he had when Cyrus has appeared” (231). When she struggles with the Farid case, she believes her grandfather is watching her and feels the portrait’s “stern eyes […] upon her” (291). For Perveen, the portrait is a stern guardian urging her toward correct behavior but also watching over her and wanting the best for her. Like her relationship with her family, these feelings are complex but ultimately loving.
Jewelry
Throughout the novel, jewelry recurs as a motif for women’s worth both literally and symbolically. When Perveen learns about the two-part dowry, or mahr, that the Farid widows received from their husbands, jewelry is one such payment. Sakina’s first dowry gift was “a diamond and emerald jewelry set comprised of earrings, a necklace, and bangles” (16). When Perveen visits Sakina and discusses the jewelry, Sakina tells her, “As a young bride, I saw how much my husband valued me with this gift” (92). Perveen is taken aback by this businesslike attitude and thinks that “perhaps [her] earlier thoughts of love between the husband and his three wives had been too sentimental” (92). Sakina sees the jewelry as a one-to-one equation between wealth and her perceived value to her husband.
Perveen herself is furious when her father compares her to jewelry when he discusses the legal case for dissolving her marriage with Cyrus. He reminds her that Cyrus has no motivation for agreeing to the separation since Perveen is “a lost asset” (233). Perveen angrily responds, “What rot! You speak as if I am a jewelry set!” (233). Having lived a life where she was loved and cherished, it is shocking to imagine her selfhood reduced to mere financial or material matters. This conversation is a stark reminder that Parsi marital law sees wives as assets that husbands and fathers trade. Perveen’s father tells her that she would have to be a clever lawyer to change the law, and she realizes that she must pursue a legal career to right these kinds of injustices toward women.
After the marriage separation goes through, Perveen returns to the jewelry motif in a conversation with her father. She tells him that she must leave for law school in England because, “as Grandfather Mistry would have said, every bead of my reputation is sold” (238). Massey again equates her worth to jewelry, this time a cheap beaded necklace. Her father reluctantly agrees to let her go, saying “You’ve had a terrible time. Mamma and I want to hold you close to us and make sure you’re all right” (238). Despite wishing that she could rest in the love of her parents, Perveen insists that she needs to leave for England. She thinks, “If she became Bombay’s first woman lawyer, that would string the beads back on the ruined necklace and turn them to diamonds” (238). Not only does she imagine that her career would restore her reputation but she also believes it will allow her to transform her life into something precious beyond measure. She will be able to work on behalf of herself and other women, challenging an unjust legal system.
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