The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams

Content Warning: This section contains discussion of death and violence.

Mara’s jade sash is a motif that explores the theme of The True Roots of Accident and Destiny. Throughout Mara’s appearances, her jade sash—usually used to tie back her hair—is consistently the first thing Monkey notices about her, even before her beauty. Jade, as a color and a gemstone, is consistently associated with positive things, particularly in Chinese culture; despite this, the jade headband symbolizes the contradictions inherent in Mara’s nature and in Monkey’s love for her. The jade sash is a beautiful object that hides the darker side to Mara’s livelihood—that of an Accidentalist and an assassin—but just as accidents and destiny are not wholly true, this contradiction between Mara and her beautiful sash is not a binary, either. The novel ends with Monkey claiming the sash as his own and saying, “I pray that I will see her again someday” (197), despite all that Mara has done to hurt him and Samir. The sash represents the complexities of Mara as a person, which are then transferred to Monkey when he makes peace with them and with himself. Mara is a cruel person, yet Monkey accepts that this is true and still retains his fondness for her, using the sash as a bridge between the Mara he first saw and the Mara he has come to know and love.