Honor

Smita Agarwal is the protagonist of Honor, with her story being told through a third-person narrator. Smita is a round, dynamic character, a journalist of two worlds. The narrator reveals her inner struggles throughout the novel, as she works toward reconciling the India of her past to that of her present and potential future. She often lives in a state of denial and rationalization: For example, Smita lies to her father about being in India due to the family’s painful past in Mumbai. She suppresses her trauma until she finally reveals it to Mohan late in the novel. She also tries to talk herself out of her growing feelings for him, insisting he is pampered and uninterested in her as a love interest. It is not until the end of the novel, when Smita meets a young girl named Meena—the name of her journalistic subject and living reflection of her past—that she finally accepts her feelings.

Smita is a familiar character in postcolonial literature, someone who struggles with her hybrid identity (as a half-Muslim, half-Hindu woman). Born in India as Zeenat Rizvi, she and her Muslim family emigrated to America due to being forced to convert to Hinduism; specifically, she and her brother Sameer were sexually abused by anti-Muslim men.