The Palace of Illusions

“Impatient as mustard seeds supporting in oil, that’s what you are […] Each story will come in its time.” 

The importance of narrative is a central theme of the novel. Thus, the novel aptly opens with a reference to a story. Panchaali begs Dhai Ma to tell her stories because listening to stories is her favorite pastime, especially stories about her origin. Her obsession with narrative points to its centrality in this world and the way it feeds Panchaali’s passions. It is important for her to understand where she came from.  

“At the best of times, a story is a slippery thing.”

Exploring the theme of narrative, the narrator makes a statement about the nature of stories. Stories are not always linear and stable. Instead, the same story can take on many forms. They are mutable and cannot always be trusted.  

“Dhri, too, sometimes wondered if I wasn’t learning the wrong things, ideas that would only confuse me as I took up a woman’s life with its prescribed, restrictive laws.” 

The novel’s world is full of prescribed gender roles. Women are not supposed to become educated the way men are. Here, even Panchaali’s brother, who is her ally, questions whether Panchaali should expand her intellect through education. Thus, the author shows that these gender norms are pervasive.