Fabric Symbol Analysis

As a substance that can outwardly transform people through clothing, fabric symbolizes the internal transformations that various characters undergo throughout the novel. Sergeant Farrat, for example, uses plain fabric, which is usually used to make curtains and tablecloths, to make himself stylish women’s clothes. Similarly, when Tilly attends the Dungatar Ball, she wears a beautiful, fitted dress she has for made herself out of georgette, which is usually deemed a shapeless fabric that is hard to manipulate. This suggests that even plain or cheap fabrics can be transformed into stunning creations with the right amount of imagination and skill, just as people who do not necessarily appear grand on the surface (like Farrat and Tilly) may be extremely impressive underneath.

Furthermore, the characters who are the best at working with fabric, Tilly and Sergeant Farrat, are the two characters who change and transform the most throughout the novel. Tilly starts the novel wary and emotionally closed-off and grows more open as the novel progresses. Toward the novel’s end, she transforms once again and becomes an avenging force in Dungatar—she takes revenge on the judgmental townspeople for all the outsiders that they have shunned and victimized. Similarly, Sergeant Farrat changes from someone who is afraid to stand out in Dungatar to someone who actively defies and goes against the townspeople. In this way, Tilly and Farrat’s flair for turning ugly fabric into beautiful creations parallels their ability to turn themselves from shy outcasts into confident individuals who have agency over their own lives.