Shame Setting & Symbolism

Shame Objects/Places

The Impossible Mountains

The Shakil family's name for what the tribal residents call the "Roof of Paradise," frequently rent by earthquakes. The mountains were the protagonist's first sight of the world.

The Loo

The hot afternoon wind that terrorizes Bilquìs Hyder.

Mohenjo

The Harappa country estate in Sind. Arid and treeless, Mohenjo is the site of Rani Harappa's exile after Isky began his affair with Pinkie.

Nishapur

The nickname that the sisters give to their massive house after their son Omar's birth, after the home of his famous namesake, the poet/philosopher/scientist Omar Khayyam.

Q.

A remote border town between Pakistan and Afghanistan where the protagonist was born and raised. Q. consists of two parts, the Old Town bazaar, where colonialized natives live and the foreign-dominated Cantt, marked by the domed Hotel Flashman. In between stood the enormous fortress-like Shakil mansion, which before Old Man Shakil's death controlled 85% of the region's arable lands.