Motif

One motif in ‘Heat and Dust’ would be the //hijras.// They are mentioned through out the book and are a small way for the author to bind the narrators and Olivia’s experiences together. Olivia and the narrator both see the hijras dance and both get pregnant. The Nawab “called in his attendant young men and ordered eunuchs to be brought to sing and dance” for Olivia and for the narrator Inder Lal was the person who she saw the same hijra dance as Olivia had seen a few decades before. There are several other connection made with the use of hijras in the novel.  Other motif would be pianos. At the start of the book Olivia playes a piano constantly. The songs she playes are usually pretty sad and gloomy. As the book continues the amount and songs she plays change, along the other changes s he has in her life.
 * Motif. ** A repeating image, word, phrase, represented object or action that tends to pull together a literary work or that may be clarified into a more general theme. Also, a situation, incident, idea, image, or character type that is found in many different literary works, folktales, or myths.