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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Compass Needle:
In the following passage from Chapter 1, Nana uses a particularly telling simile to explain gender relations to Mariam:
Nana said, "Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam."
This simile reemerges much later in Chapter 47. Mariam recalls her mother's words while she herself is in prison for Rasheed's murder, listening to another female inmate's backstory:
Listening to Naghma, Mariam remembered [...] that long-ago morning when Nana had said to her, Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.
Mariam reveals that Naghma received a five-year prison sentence for eloping with her lover. She took the fall for both of their actions after her male partner accused her of bewitching him, promising to repent his sins and refrain from further sexual indiscretion. Naghma's lover went free, while she resides behind bars.
Through Nana's compass simile, Mariam reflects on the hypocrisy and injustice of her male-centered society. Women like Naghma and Mariam frequently take the fall for the men in their lives, blamed for any trouble with an "accusing finger." Their suffering protects these men from the consequences of their actions.
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