Part 5

Balram has an obsession with chandeliers, since he sees them as a symbol of wealth, power and, both literally and symbolically, light.  Perhaps his most prized possession is the chandelier in his office.  The midget fan on it represents both the distorted Light he sees and the power he craves to be able to manipulate the Light and Darkness.  However, it also can be seen as a manifestation of the barrier which prevents Balram from truly being fully in the Light, since not only is it already far too small for the room, but it is also, as Pinky Madam said, 'tacky' to have a chandelier.  The whole false grandeur of the chandeliers is equivocal to the power and wealth of the well-off, both fake and wrongly accumulated.  Balram's chandelier in his bathroom is in a sense meant to show how Balram is above Ashok, since Ashok wanted one but never got it put in place, but also shows how scared he is.  He says earlier on that his only fear is of lizards and that lizards are afraid of the light.  In this case, lizards may actually represent fear in general and the fact that he has a chandelier in his bathroom is meant to make him feel safer.