63 pages • 2 hours read
Deepti KapoorAge of Vice
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Fathers and Sons
The ancient, archetypal motif of the devouring father eating his own children plays out in Age of Vice. In Greek mythology, the Titan god Kronos cannibalizes his offspring. Age of Vice uses this motif to flesh out its exploration of violence and toxic masculinity. Bunty and Sunny’s relationship is portrayed as contentious from the very beginning, with Sunny’s naïve idealism clashing with his father’s hard materialism. Sunny is always hungry for his father’s approval and curiously defensive about him. When Neda quizzes Sunny about Bunty’s unethical business practices, Sunny counters that Bunty has committed no crime: “The only thing he’s guilty of is ambition. Of rising above his station” (232). In Sunny’s eyes, Bunty is a hero because he is a self-made man. Yet Bunty does not return Sunny’s respect. He considers Sunny too soft. Worse, Sunny’s ideas are in conflict with his. Sunny thus threatens the Indian archetype of the obedient son and must be subdued. When Bunty squarely plants his shoe in the middle of Sunny’s chest, the act symbolizes the old order, represented by fathers, stamping out the threat of change, represented by sons.
By the novel’s final section, Sunny has been devoured by his father; Bunty has caused Sunny to lose his individuality as well as his naïveté. On the surface, Sunny is an obedient son who is marrying into wealth to please his father; on the inside, Sunny is a broken man. In a way, Sunny is said to be paying for his father’s sins. This motif repeats itself when Neda aborts her pregnancy: Sunny’s unborn child also atones for its father’s crimes.
To overcome overbearing fathers and the dominant social order, sons must overthrow the pretense of obedience. Sunny allies himself with Dinesh Singh, the son of Ram Singh, to take down both their controlling fathers. Bunty’s death at the end of the novel should symbolize the victory of the new order. However, the novel suggests that Vicky is Sunny’s biological father, meaning that Sunny is still under paternal control and the code of toxic masculinity.
Cars and Symbols of Luxury
The Mercedes that crushes the pavement-dwellers to death is not the only reference to a luxury car brand. Age of Vice references several large and luxurious cars: Ajay drives Sunny’s Toyota Land Cruiser, and Manoj’s brother buys a Lamborghini Gallardo priced at nearly three crore rupees or over $210,000. At Sunny’s wedding celebrations, a guest is given a Maserati Quattroporte, costing over $150,000, as a party favor. These grand cars symbolize the disparity between the wealthy and the poor, as well as the social aspiration of Delhi society in the novel. Cars represent freedom and power, as well as injustice and death. Above all, they symbolize the socioeconomic schism and contradictions of the novel’s universe.
Other symbols of luxury and excess abound in the text, illustrating the massive inequality between the haves and have-nots. Symbols of luxury promise access to power, freedom, and privilege. Part of Neda’s attraction for Sunny is that he spoils her with luxury. This does not imply Neda is greedy for wealth per se; rather, she is attracted to the sense of freedom and power luxury implies. Neda’s memory of the initial headiness of her love affair with Sunny is mixed up with her experience of luxury. She recalls that “their first meal was perfection […] Alone in that private banquet room. Kobe beef, a 1993 Romiscaro Barolo […] a dazzling Sake, drank in square wooden cups” (254).
The Photo of Ajay’s Sister
The photo of Ajay’s sister is both a key symbol and plot point. To Ajay, the photo symbolizes the contradictory emotions of hope and fear. The existence of the photo suggests his sister Hema is alive, giving Ajay himself a reason to live. After Mary’s rejection of Ajay, Hema is the only family he has left.
Ajay feels that he wronged Hema by running away when she was assaulted. The proof of her being alive presents an opportunity to atone for his supposed abandonment. Once he receives the picture in prison, Ajay holds onto it almost obsessively. Even though the photo depicts Hema in a seedy brothel, Ajay makes a promise that “he wouldn’t judge her. He would save her” (379). The photo becomes a talisman to ward off the negative emotions his prison stay inspires.
At the same time, the photo represents “obedience and slavery” (379), as it was clearly sent to Ajay as a threat. If Ajay does not do as he is told, Hema’s life will be compromised. Ajay understands that the photo is a sword hanging over his head. It indicates: “You’re never comfortable. You’re never happy. Thinking you have power, you’re in control, this is a mistake. Never make that mistake again” (379). It is a sign that Ajay can let his guard down. In the larger context of the novel, the photo symbolizes Vicky Wadia’s moral corruption and sadism. He deliberately sends Ajay a semi-nude photo of his sister to emphasize her compromised state. By shaming Hema’s sexuality and suggesting a sexual threat against her, Vicky deliberately strikes Ajay where it hurts the most.
The photo also furthers the plot. It is the reason Ajay kills Karan and later decides to run away to Manali. Believing Rastogi’s lie that the photo is not really that of Hema, Ajay loses both hope and fear. Unsure of how to live next, he simply flees. At the end of the novel, Rastogi has a hold of the photo, indicating he may use it to trace Hema in the novel’s sequel.
