Symbol: The Well
The Das house has an old well in its backyard where the children are not allowed to go, for fear of them falling into it. Aunt Mira is devastated when the cow she asked for falls into the well and dies; its body rots in the well and renders it unusable. The whole incident traumatizes Mira so much that, on her deathbed, she keeps trying to get to the well to jump in it; similarly, Bim jokes that she thinks about that, too. The well thus symbolizes death and decay. It is deep and dark and terrifying, a place where animals die and humans see their worst fears reflected back at them. It is uncanny and haunts their dreams, reminding them that beauty and life can be easily extinguished.
Symbol: Trousers
When Bim and Tara try on Raja's trousers, they are shocked at how powerful and liberated they feel. The trousers are a symbol of masculinity and the qualities that go along with it in a traditional, patriarchal society: freedom, rationality, power, and autonomy. Only men can wear pants and experience the ease of carrying out their daily tasks while women must wear modest clothing that does not allow them freedom of movement. Bim in particular wishes she could wear trousers and experience what Raja does.
Motif: Summer and Dust
The story is set in summer, including the flashbacks. The characters often remark on the heat, and they associate multiple elements of the season with different events. The concomitant of the heat is dust; the house is said to be dusty throughout the year and seems to accumulate more dust as the season progresses. While Tara finds it uncomfortable that Bim would allow the house to fall in such a condition, this shows Bim’s acceptance of the house and its conditions. She has accepted that howsoever she tries, she can’t keep the house running impeccably and instead of showing her helplessness, she tries to pass it off as something that is irrelevant to her. The heat and dust are part of life in Old Delhi and cannot be escaped. They may bring about ennui and lethargy, but they are also not things that can neither be raged against nor changed. They remain throughout childhood, young adulthood, and adulthood, and Bim's acceptance of them liberates her from discontent.
Symbol: Baba's Gramophone
Baba plays old music records all day in the house, repeating the same songs over and over again. While Bim has grown used to it, the noise distracts Tara and Bakul. When the needle of the gramophone breaks down, Baba is distraught over the silence that fills the house. He is so used to the songs that a break in the pattern fills him with a dread. The monotonous and unchanging nature of the songs symbolizes the unchanging nature of Baba’s psyche. He’ll never grow to be someone any different than what he is.
Symbol: The Car in the Driveway
The Das siblings were often neglected by their parents. Bim and Raja, who were eldest, learned to grow to be fierce and rebellious because of this, while Tara and Baba shaped up as reclusive beings. The absentee parents never shared much time of theirs with the children, and as a result the children were always waiting for them. Over time, they learned to ignore their absence and later began to enjoy it so much that the presence of the car in the driveway after their death made them uncomfortable. A car symbolizes journeys, adulthood, autonomy, and, for the Das children, absent parents; so, after Mr. Das's death, the presence of the car meant something unusual and a reminder of a strange time. Raja selling it off also symbolizes the complete severing of ties with their parents.
