In this unique tale of suppression and suffering the distinctive traits of the characters is what holds the attention of the reader and brings poignance to the narration. Here’s a quick look at the characters that make China Room the fascinating tale that it is.
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Mehar
Mehar is the first character we are introduced to in the book. She enjoys a life as carefree as any child until news breaks that she is to be married to a man she has never met at the age of 15. Following this marriage, she starts living in a small room with two other women. The three of them were married to three brothers in a single ceremony, but they cannot identify their husbands. Mehar constantly develops tests and theories despite the risk to determine which one is hers. Any questions related to the identity of the brothers are rebuffed, and Mehar soon discovers that all her efforts for clarity and independence only bring danger and threats.
Mehar is one of the two protagonists of China Room.
The Great Grandson
Fast forward to 1999 and an unnamed young man from the UK, lonely, alienated and isolated, ground down by the relentless racism (overt and hidden) and the violence of the life he has experienced, culturally estranged, finds himself in the throes of a heroin addiction. Despite knowing little of India, he finds himself in the family home in the Punjab to address his addiction prior to starting university. During his stay he meets a young local woman who he strikes up a friendship with and this changes the path his life takes thereafter.
He is Mehar’s great grandson and even though his story unfolds in less detail than hers, he is the second protagonist of China Room.
Mai
Mai, being a widow, is the matriarch and prototypical overbearing mother-in-law to three new brides. She is a hard and unrelenting task master to everyone she comes across including her own sons. She has sequestered the girls from contact with the men—except when she summons them to a darkened chamber at night in the hope that they become pregnant with a son. She is a tyrannical figure who makes everything about the young girls’ lives oppressive and hard, the work, the claustrophobic veils and small suffocating areas that they had to work in and sleep. She guards the identities of her sons from her daughters-in-law fiercely.
Harbans and Gurleen
The other two new brides that married into the family along with Mehar. Gurleen is a meek and diligent worker, while Harbans likes to grumble and banter. They, along with Mehar, spend their days doing chores. Mehar considers them both her sisters.
The Three Brothers
The three brothers, of which one is our protagonist Meher’s husband, are an enigma in this story. The author doesn’t reveal too much about them so they are as much of a mystery to the readers as to their spouses, but they seem to be detestable characters. They are described as individuals who are sweaty and carry strong odours, to the extent that it is their individual body odours that Meher uses to identify them. They work hard all day and physical labour is their main contribution to the family’s economy, but there is something quite despicable about their overt masculinity.
