The Nose Ring

Throughout the narrative, the women’s nose rings symbolize marriage. When Farah and Preity ask Geeta to remove their nose rings, they are asking her to kill their husbands so they can be free from the confines of marriage. Later on, when Geeta starts wearing her nose ring again, she is symbolically resigning herself to the fact that she has to honor her marriage to Ramesh, despite her frustrations. If she had not reinserted the jewelry, the lack of a nose ring when Ramesh returns, would have indicated that she was not entertaining beginning a life with him again.

The Loan Group

The author utilizes the loan group as a symbol for tokenism. While the loan groups are lauded for giving agency to women, by extending loans for small businesses, the village men control the lending system. Geeta is aware that if the men...