Weavingshaw

The salt circle Leena draws around her bed each night is a symbol of safety. As in many stories, salt offers a barrier that repels the supernatural in Weavingshaw. In a world where the boundary between the living and the dead has collapsed for her, the unbroken circle is the only barrier Leena can erect against the constant assault of ghosts who seek to possess her. Its integrity is paramount to her physical and psychological safety, as its violation leaves her completely vulnerable to the spirits that haunt her. The narrative emphasizes this fragility when a mouse breaks the barrier, leading Leena to a terrifying realization of her precarious situation and ensuring that she “never slept easy again” (44).

In addition, the author links the symbol to the Systemic Oppression of Diasporic Groups. Salt is an abundant resource in her homeland, but Leena “had to save for months to afford” enough to encircle her bed due to “the heavy taxes on exports from Algaraa” (239). In contrast, “such a cost would mean nothing to Mr. Martin” (239), offering another example of the socioeconomic inequities in the novel and the precarity faced by displaced communities. The salt circle is a microcosm of Leena’s broader struggle as a refugee and a working-class woman; it is her small, self-made border in a hostile world, a desperate claim to a space that is solely her own, free from the intrusion and control of outside forces, whether they be spectral or societal. The salt circle’s symbolic function aligns with the author’s usage of fantasy elements to address real-world social issues.