Shame

Omar’s brother Babar appears only briefly in the novel but has a lasting impact. Though his appearance is mostly limited to the story of how he died, Babar’s role as a periphery figure illustrates Omar’s lack of involvement with his family in the years since fleeing his mothers’ mansion. It is important to note that he does not know Babar at all and barely acknowledges his brother’s existence until he learns of Babar’s death. His refusal to engage in family matters—particularly since Babar’s birth seems almost miraculous in nature, given the reclusive nature of his mothers—illustrates his lack of interest in maintaining a strong relationship with his family. He may send his mothers money, but he does not associate with them. His mothers notice this detachment and resent Omar for it. Later, they will ignore him in a similar fashion and abandon him to his sickbed. Similarly, they will resent him for his association with Raza, the man who is responsible for Babar’s death. Because Omar makes no effort to understand any of this in the earlier stages of the novel, he remains ignorant of his mothers’ motivation for revenge against Raza, and toward the end of the story, he will not realize his fatal error of bringing Raza to his home until it is too late. Thus, the theme of Shame Versus Shamelessness persists, for although Omar’s shamelessness allows himself to detach himself from important family matters, his decision to limit Babar to the periphery of his thoughts lays the foundations for tragic consequences in the future: consequences with roots in the forbidden emotion of shame itself.

Just as the relationship between Omar and Babar shows how family issues can lead to tragic consequences, the broken bond between Haroun and his father, Little Mir, foreshadows Little Mir’s own tragedy. Little Mir spoils his son, but he cannot bring his son to love him. Annoyingly for Little Mir, Haroun idolizes Little Mir’s cousin and sworn enemy, Iskander. Haroun shares this idolization in common with Arjumand, which gives him the title of being the only man whom Arjumand ever considered to be worthy of her hand in marriage. Haroun and Arjumand are united by their shared reverence for the man Little Mir loathes. Haroun’s love for Iskander is almost a spiteful renouncement of his father, a way to deliberately make his father as angry as possible. This broken family relationship is much more pronounced than the estrangement of Omar and Babar, but no less impactful. Little Mir will be killed by Iskander’s men and, later, both Haroun and Iskander will be charged with his murder. Because the son loathes the father so much, the crime takes on another dimension. Haroun is villainized in absentia for the crime of patricide, becoming a propaganda tool in a war he never intended to fight nor which he ever fully understood. Haroun and Iskander both suffer as a result of the joyful disrespect they harbor for Little Mir, who exacts his revenge long after his death. Thus, the theme of Partition and Duality extends far beyond the political realm and invades interpersonal family dynamics as well.

Part 3 ends with two weddings. The two weddings could not be less similar. Good News is supposed to marry Haroun, but she betrays her fiancé and has an affair with Talvar instead. The day before the wedding, she reveals this scandal to her family. Good News is the favored daughter of Raza and Bilquis. They praise her as much as they criticize Sufiya, viewing her as the embodiment of everything good whereas Sufiya’s existence is seen as a mark of shame. Far from being a joyful affair, the wedding takes place in the shadow of a coup, with a hastily replaced bridegroom and an agreement that no one will ever discuss the matter again. To make matters worse, the ritual of the wedding is further damaged when Sufiya leaps across the room and attacks Talvar, nearly killing him. The wedding—supposedly a social event designed to shore up the bonds between two rival families—is therefore an absolute disaster on every level. In a stark contrast to this travesty, Omar marries Sufiya in a quiet ceremony. However, even though Omar might never admit it, the seclusion of his wedding has an almost surreptitious nature; the narrative therefore makes it clear that a judgment of shame is being placed upon him, for everyone except Omar and Sufiya is ashamed of the union. They do not believe that the much older man should marry Sufiya, who has the mind of a child. Just as they believe the wedding to be shameful in and of itself, the guests also feel ashamed of themselves for permitting it to take place at all, especially in the wake of the previous, disastrous wedding in which Sufiya played a rather shocking starring role. However, Omar once again embodies the ongoing theme of Shame Versus Shamelessness, for he remains impervious to the shame of the event, while Sufiya cannot grasp the nuances of the situation. Therefore, both weddings are mired in shame: one social and the other personal.