What was Salma burning at the end?
And why?
shareShe was burning her husband's remaining clothing, including night clothes which daud had worn the night he stayed because of the curfew.
shareAnd why?
shareWhy was Salma burning the night clothes which Daud had worn when he had to stay the night? Salma and Daud were getting very close, Salma showed her fondness for the young lawyer when she cleaned his office and put in plants. She was interested in him, in his little girl whom he had left behind in Moscow. Note how Salma had been leaving her hair uncovered, putting on lipstick when Daud was present. Salma and Daud even kissed in one scene. So when Daud, as expected for him in that society, became engaged to a young lady with whom he had studied and who was an important man's daughter, Salma, proud and rejected, burnt the clothing which Daud had worn. it is a sad symbolic gesture of saying permanent goodbye to a lost dream as well as a way of cleansing her desires, forbidden in her culture.
shareI thought she was burning just more than the clothes Daud wore. I assumed she had figured ten years was long enough to be grieving the loss of her husband and she was letting that burden go. It seemed like maybe the feelings Daud brought up in her let her feel that she could love again, so burning her husband's clothes was a way to let him go and allow for space in her home (and life) for someone new.
shareI too felt she was putting an end to the part of her life that included her husband by burning his clothes. Hopefully she took down that intimidating picture of him off the wall and put it somewhere more private. That picture certainly would scare off suitors.
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