Notebooks

When Konrad and Hiroko live in Nagasaki, Konrad makes mobiles out of his various notebooks and hangs them in trees, where the narration notes that they look like birds, a creature of peace (9, 46). In this way, Konrad's work of learning new languages in wartime becomes a physical depiction of peace.

Flowerpots

While he is still a young man living in Delhi, Sajjad believes that flowerpots are a fitting symbol for the too-tidy sense of order that the English have imposed on India during their occupation. As Sajjad muses to himself: "No trees growing in courtyards for the English, no rooms clustered around those courtyards; instead, separations and demarcations" (33).

"Grief-eaters"

In Sajjad's early Urdu lessons with Hiroko, he teachers her about the Urdu concept of "grief-eaters" ("ghum-khaur"), and mentioning this subject represents Sajjad's desire to respect Hiroko's past with Konrad, while he also wishes to pursue her...