The Daemon
The Daemon is probably the most significant symbol in the story. Part One is titled “The Struggle with the Daemon” and it recurs throughout. The narrator directly describes the daemon as “a quiet presence that seemed to threaten my sanity and sense of peace” which stimulates her to remain constantly preoccupied in order to avoid allowing its “lingering loneliness” to overwhelm her. The precise meaning of the symbolism is ambiguous and open to interpretation by each person to read into it what one’s own perception.
Spiderwebs
The narrator considers the duality of the spider’s webs. It is life for the spider and death for any creature caught within it. The creation of the web is sheer survival. A short while later she condenses this idea into symbolism for herself in which her own survival is dependent upon her mind weaving stories about distant places. This spinning of the life of the mind becomes her own means of survival.
Marriage
As it is in most robustly patriarchal cultures, marriage is a symbol of subjugation and submission. For the women, that is. Although, it is also strongly suggested that marriage is no great shakes for every man in such a culture.
Meal Apportioning
The apportioning of the food during family meals becomes a symbol of not just patriarchal culture, but the way that women become unwitting accomplices. Serving sizes are dealt out according to importance and the males are assured of getting more than the females even to the point of the mother who has prepared the meal sometimes going completely without.
Parched Earth
Parched earth is only part of the title with the rest making it clear that it is a love story. Therefore, the symbolism of parch earth must necessarily be connected to love. Love is presented as a desperate search that is rarely satisfied. Earth that is parched desperately needs water to avoid becoming a desert. Desperation is the symbolic significance here.
