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Theme Of Sacrifice In A Thousand Splendid Suns

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“The greatest sacrifice is when you sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of someone else”. In the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Khaled Hosseini writes a story about an Afghan girl name Mariam. Throughout the book it shows her life and growing up in Afghanistan. She learns about her country from events from her personal life and others. As these events grow throughout her life the color black appear more. As it grows it leads to her sacrificing herself for Laila and her children. A Thousand Splendid Suns develops the theme, human nature plays a factor in one who sacrifices themselves for the one they love through the archetypal uses of black, the mother figure, and the villain. In the story Hosseini uses the color black to …show more content…

“But in Rasheed’s eyes she saw murder for them both. And so Mariam raised the shovel high, raised it as high as she could, arching it so it touched the small of her back.” (349). This quote was the moment before Mariam’s life would end, she killed Rasheed to save the people she loved which was Laila, Aziza, and Zalmai. But, Mariam’s action would have conscious she knew that she would have to admit to the police. “I admit to what I did, brother,” Mariam said, “But, if I hadn’t, he would have killed her. He was strangling her” (P365). This shows that Mariam is willing to take responsibility for her action she knew that there would be conscious, but she also knew that what she did was to save Laila and her children. Mariam’s actions would lead to this moment, “Kneel here, hamshira. And look down.” One last time, Mariam did as she was told.” (371). The villain Rasheed was the reason why there was a sacrificer. Mariam saw the evil in Rasheed when he was trying to kill Laila and she knew that if she did not killed him, he would hurt the people she loved. Mariam killing Rasheed it lead to her taking the conscious and her dying, which is the moment Mariam became the sacrificer because she died for the one she loved. A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Hosseini, uses the color black, the mother figure, and the villain to show how one sacrifices themselves for the one they love. The importance for the reader to learn that there are times where one needs to be honorably and that it was destiny for them to save the one they love. Sacrificing your own happiness for the one you love shows you are not a selfish but a noble

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