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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Henna Artist, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Choice, Independence and Women’s Freedoms
Family and Responsibility
Societal Hierarchy vs. Unordered Intimacy
Care and Communication
Creativity vs. Possession
Summary
Analysis
Late that night, Lakshmi stands in the center of the house she is building, waiting for Hari and gripping her knife. She admires the detailed floor she has designed and reflects on Hazi and Nasreen, the Muslim courtesans in Agra who had first introduced her to the art of henna. Hazi, Nasreen, and their friends were from all over the world, and so Lakshmi’s designs reflected the many plants and animals they described to her.
Earlier, Lakshmi had panicked when Parvati asked her how she knew about that Turkish fig; now, Lakshmi reveals that her knowledge of the world (not to mention her knowledge of henna) comes from the elite sex workers she knew in Agra.
Themes
Each part of the floor means something specific to Lakshmi. There are saffron flowers that represent sterility, as Lakshmi is committed to never having children. The Ashoka lion, the symbol of independent India, represents Lakshmi’s ambition. Lakshmi stops admiring her handiwork when Hari arrives, almost handsome in the moonlight. He looks Lakshmi up and down, and she wants to pull her sari in tighter.
In both its content and its form, Lakshmi’s floor design represents her independence: not only can she select the saffron and the Ashoka lion (which represent bodily and political freedom, respectively), but she can also afford to design and own her own home. This independence stands in dramatic contrast to how Lakshmi feels with Hari. The fact that she pulls her sari in tighter especially suggests that Hari feels some ownership over her body, much to her chagrin.
Themes
Hari is baffled that Lakshmi could own this lovely house. Immediately, the two begin to fight. Hari accuses Lakshmi of abandoning him but then resolves to not reopen old wounds. Lakshmi is less amenable, as she is determined to never apologize to Hari—not after the way he treated her. Before the conflict can escalate, Hari mentions Lakshmi’s sister, which shocks Lakshmi, who knows no such person.
Lakshmi is very proud of her home, so it makes sense that she is wounded by Hari’s unwillingness to see her brilliance—and to acknowledge the independence and self-sufficiency she has so dearly fought for.
Themes
Sure enough, a young, skinny girl peers out from behind Hari’s legs. The girl calls Lakshmi “Jiji” (older sister), but she is unnerved when she notices the knife in Lakshmi’s hand. To convince Lakshmi that this girl is her sister, Hari lights a match, revealing that the two women share the same blue eyes. Lakshmi insists that her mother had two miscarriages, but Hari explains that this little sister was born the year Lakshmi left Ajar.
Readers have met both Lakshmi and Radha separately, but in this pivotal moment, the two sisters are finally united in the same space. The blue eyes suggest that despite having grown up separately, the two sisters share something deep and recognizable, a bond immediately noticeable to others.
Themes
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The girl introduces herself as Radha and deals another blow to Lakshmi: their parents have both died. Lakshmi panics, realizing that her family probably died in shame—the shame she brought on them by abandoning Hari. At the same time, Lakshmi recalls that Hari was violent and abusive, beating her severely because she could not conceive a child. Lakshmi had never been able to explain this violence to her parents, and now she will never get the chance to do so.
In this moment of loss, Lakshmi confirms what Radha has long experienced: that shame travels from family member to family member, and that reputation is shared. At the same time, what is considered shameful is not stable: the very lack of children that embarrassed Hari is a source of pride for Lakshmi (as evidenced by the design on her floor). It is vital to note how much fertility and sterility tie into gender politics and social standing.
Themes
The only saving grace in Lakshmi’s marriage to Hari was Lakshmi's saas (mother-in-law), a healing woman who took great care of Lakshmi and taught her how to use herbs and plants. Hari explains that Lakshmi’s saas has also died, and Lakshmi begins to tear up. Her whole life as a henna artist began with her saas, and she feels that she owes her survival to this beloved woman.
Lakshmi is not related by blood to her mother-in-law, but this woman seems to mean more to her than even her own parents. Lakshmi’s connection to healing is always inflected by her relationship with her saas—suggesting that just as Hari’s abuse led to Lakshmi’s abandonment of her husband, her saas’ care led Lakshmi to take care of others.
Themes
Lakshmi notices that her sister is bruised, and she realizes that instead of using the money she sent home for train passage, Hari squandered it on some less noble pursuit. Instead of yelling at him, Lakshmi begins to say a nursery rhyme her pitaji invented. At first, Radha does not sing along, but eventually she jumps in with glee.
Like the sisters’ shared blue eyes, this nursery rhyme often recurs as a marker of the history Lakshmi and Radha have in common—even though they have never spent time together before this exchange.
Themes
Hari tries to convince Lakshmi to rekindle their marriage. When she refuses, he insults her, asserting that there is no way she could have paid her for this house and declaring that both she and Radha are “liars.” Lakshmi quickly realizes what Hari really wants: money. Though she is reluctant to give him any, Hari reminds her that all he has to do to ruin her career is tell her clients about her checkered past.
Reputation and class stand hand-in-hand in Hari’s veiled threat: Lakshmi only has money because she is able to keep secrets, so she has to choose between giving him some of her wealth or losing it all. Hari’s distrust of both Lakshmi and Radha reflects what is clearly a pattern of misogyny.
Themes
Defeated, Lakshmi throws a giant stack of bills on the floor, even though she needs the money for her house. Both Hari and Radha are amazed by how much money Lakshmi has. Hari leaves, and Lakshmi whistles, a signal for Malik and his friends to show themselves. Lakshmi pays them for protecting her, but Malik pockets the bulk of the pay, impressing Lakshmi with his business skills.
There is real symbolic weight in the fact that Lakshmi must choose between the future (the home ownership she so desperately craves) and the past (the Ajar history she so badly wants to forget). Lakshmi’s interaction with Malik also shows that even kindness and loyalty is mediated by possession and financial exchange.
Themes
On the rickshaw ride home, Lakshmi refuses to say anything to Radha, not wanting the rickshaw-walla to hear any gossip. Lakshmi is a little disgusted by her sister, who is dirty and unkempt. In her mind, Lakshmi begins keeping a list of all the things she will have to teach Radha: to not stare, to not talk about private matters in public, and to not mention Hari to anyone.
Lakshmi’s concern about her reputation is so pervasive that every public interaction feels unsafe. It follows, then, that Lakshmi is less concerned with learning about Radha than she is with making sure Radha does not threaten the life and image she has worked so hard to forge for herself.
Themes
Lakshmi wonders if Radha is her penance for abandoning her parents. She is deeply upset that she will never get to welcome her parents into her home. Radha nods off, and Lakshmi notes the worry lines around her brow—Radha looks much older than 13. With horror, Lakshmi wonders if Hari has abused Radha in the ways he used to abuse her.
Lakshmi has said very few kind words to Radha—but when her sister is asleep, the extent of Lakshmi’s care is evident. In particular, Lakshmi wants to protect Radha from the physical and emotional wounds that she herself suffered—and it terrifies her to think she might already be too late.
Themes
Radha shivers, so Lakshmi removes her shawl and covers her sister. She wonders about how to explain this new sister to Mrs. Iyengar. Lakshmi does not know whether to enroll Radha in school or bring her to henna appointments, and she begins to fret about all the things she must teach Radha immediately.
Other than her clients and the servants she crosses paths with, Lakshmi has lived a relatively isolated life. Her confusion about what to do with another person—much less a person she is responsible for—reflects that even as Lakshmi has great expertise in healing and henna, there are also giant gaps in her knowledge.
Themes
