Thousand Splendid Suns
Diving Deeper into Literature’s History
Although our first instinct to learn about a culture is not to read a story from that time period, writings contribute immensely to the context by adding minute details facts cannot provide. A distinctive characteristic of each period aids in understanding the history of each culture, thus enhancing the story as well. Not only do the authors of each story contribute to the overall emotion of the novel, but also the way we connect with the story. The Tale of Genji, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and A Thousand Splendid Suns each has distinct aspects in which define the history, form an emotional connection, which reveals more about the author, and when broken down reveals each writer’s message.
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In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, communism and the Taliban take over Afghanistan causing issues including war and oppression, especially towards women. The Taliban was very aggressive towards women and would enforce vicious rules, “Attention women: You will stay inside your homes at all times. It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the streets. If you go outside, you must be accompanied by a mahram, a male relative. If you are caught alone on the street, you will be beaten and sent home” (Hosseini, 278). Women were not allowed to attend school, or even laugh in public without being penalized. Even marriage and love were entirely opposing each other, made known by Rasheed’s relationship with Laila and Mariam. We connect with Laila and Mariam due to the fact that they both were raised in differing lifestyles; Mariam grew up in a secluded “rathole” and was not able to go to school while Laila was born into a middle class family and attended school. By using characters from such different backgrounds, Hosseini enabled the reader to connect emotionally with one of both of these main characters. Death, violence, and the string of emotions can all be empathized with while reading this novel, especially towards the end in part three and part four, ““I 'm sorry," Laila says, marveling at how every Afghan story is marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief. And yet, she sees, people find a way to survive, to go on” (CITE). It seems as if the Afghans even knew that life was going to end badly, but had no control over it. We have all experienced some sort of hurt in our lifetime, whether it be physical or emotional, and it makes it that much easier to connect with Leila and Mariam. The heartbreak and turmoil exposed in this culture during this period illustrate what Hosseini escaped from by moving to America. Through his novel,
Response To Mahtab's Remedy
919 Words | 4 PagesThe language barrier between Mahtab and the locals is an obstacle in need of over-coming for Mahtab in order for her to settle into society “Gradually the writing book began to make sense.” Mahtab’s determination and resilience allows her to overcome the obstacles set as a refugee seeking asylum in
Musarrat Character Analysis
494 Words | 2 PagesIn the beginning of the novel The Swallows of Kabul, written by Yasmina Khadra, the audience is introduced to the character of Musarrat, Atiq’s wife. On first impression, she seems to be a lost cause clinging to any sense of normal life she has left; however, at the end of the novel, Musarrat becomes the unsung hero offering a glimmer of hope for the wretched city of Kabul. Through the use of her unconditional love for her husband, Khadra reveals how Musarrat became an image of hope for the audience, a daisy growing in the dump that is Kabul. In chapters eleven through fifteen, Musarrat’s image is opposite of the characters seen throughout the rest of the novel.
A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis
1177 Words | 5 PagesIn the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Khaled Hosseini gives two very different examples of women raised in a third world country. The book takes place in Afghanistan, starting in the mid to late 1900’s and coming to an end in about the year 2000. The two protagonists of the book, Mariam and Laila, are women who are brought up in two different environments. Mariam’s life is explored in the beginning of the book as being raised as an uneducated outcast who grew up in a small kolba on the outskirts of Herat. She had a mentally ill mother and an absent father, who would occasionally visit but only offer discouragement.
Silence In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner
1435 Words | 6 PagesHe uses characterization, conflict, symbolism, and flashback. These literary elements used by Hosseini help to prove that the relationship between two people can be built up by life’s conflicts along with the art of silence. Society takes on a tremendous role in the book. Every man in Afghanistan faces the standards that society sets everyday. This situation is similar to the branches and trunk of a tree.
Shame In A Thousand Splendid Suns
1256 Words | 6 PagesIn the late 20th century, Afghanistan was a war torn, male-dominated nation, where a culture of shame was perpetuated and women’s voices were seldom heard out. Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns focuses on two women’s experience in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan, and their struggles with shame and identity are central to the story. One character who illustrates this struggle is Mariam, whose troubled upbringing has left her with shame that never fully fades for the rest of her life. This shame manifests itself in Mariam’s interactions with others and in her own perception of herself.
Mistreatment Of Women In A Thousand Splendid Suns Essay
1495 Words | 6 PagesThe truth of her words is reflected not only in Jalil’s mistreatment of Nana, but also in Rasheed’s mistreatment of both Mariam and Laila. In addition, Naghma’s story of the mullah’s son who betrayed her emphasizes how the use of women as scapegoats did not just occur in the lives of Nana, Mariam and Laila, but throughout Afghanistan. Hosseini proves that the mistreatment of women throughout the novel stemmed from the tendency of Afghani men to blame women for events or circumstances that the women could not control or for which they were not solely
Kite Runner Interpretation
1076 Words | 5 PagesThe book pretends to enclose the entirety of Afghan culture and history, as seen when the main character expresses “to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a (…)”1 before describing, in two lines, his jovial friend, and servant; who, like him, never saw more of Afghanistan than the wealthy Kabul and its surroundings. Moreover, when dwelling into historical events, the books estimates it more important to further character development through fictional, story-telling events, rather than explain or detail in any way said historical events which the characters have been placed into (Russian, Taliban, and American Occupations, etc.). Thus, any competently critical reader with a sense of Afghan history, will place in doubt the portrayal of Afghanistan the novelist implicitly claims to have made; for example, some might think it a way to occidentalize Afghan culture for the masses, whilst others might deem it a brilliant way to put in question the narrator’s remarks, and thus expose the main character’s biased narration. In any case, the reading will change, and with it, the interpretation of the novel’s message. Outside the book itself, however, and within the novelist’s context, we can again find more facts that might change the readers’
Compare And Contrast Mariam's Relationship With Her Mother In A Thousand Splendid Suns
1317 Words | 6 PagesThe war and prejudice against women in Afghanistan changes everything for Laura. Her parents die in a bombing and she is left to find her way and determine her fate by herself. Just like Mariam, she is married and like fate would have it, as a second wife by Mariam’s husband, Rasheed. Laila however bears two children for Rasheen unlike Mariam who has none and is treated much differently from Mariam. He compares her to a brand new first-class shiny Benz.
How Does Hosseini Use The Weather In A Thousand Splendid Suns
877 Words | 4 PagesAfter the death of her parents, Laila accepts Rasheeds marriage proposal because she bears and illegitimate child, a harami. While living with Rasheed, Laila feels trapped and restricted so all she can think of is the “wide-open skies of her childhood” (231). The wide-open skies symbolize all the lost chances Laila will never have; she had an education and now, she is forced to stay home and care for a husband that she does not love. Laila and Mariam have lived many terrible experiences with Rasheed like getting hurt emotionally and physically. After going through the worst punishment they could receive, “the summer of 2000” came and “the drought reached its third and worst year” (302).
The Kite Runner
988 Words | 4 PagesThe Taliban have established a name for themselves, not a positive one, but a very well-known name. ES1: Who the Taliban are and their reasons for coming into power help for an understanding of the effect they have on the people they control. “The Taliban is a predominantly Pashtun, Islamic fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when a US-led toppled the regime for providing refuge to alQaeda and Osama Bin Laden.” (Laub, 2014 p.1).
Examples Of Conflicts In The Kite Runner
1128 Words | 5 PagesThe main character had to manage his father’s neglect while growing up. All Amir really wants is to be “looked at, not seen, listened to, not heard” (Hosseini 65), and while this conflict shapes the way that Amir grew up, readers are exposed to the
Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns
978 Words | 4 PagesA Thousand Splendid Suns Essay Women in the 1990’s had it rough after the Mujahedeen take over. After his takeover, an increased number of laws were made to limit the freedom of women when before, women were happy, they could get educated and roam freely. The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini demonstrates the life of an Afghan woman before and after the Mujahedeen take over. Babi, the father of Laila tells the reader that women were lucky to be living during their time, “It’s a good time to be a woman in Afghanistan.”
Gender Inequality In A Thousand Splendid Suns
1093 Words | 5 PagesIn the story, the women are oppressed by the society. This is narrated through the delivery of the main antagonist’s id, the gender inequality in enforcing laws and the marginalization of women. As a result of Rasheed’s id, Mariam and Laila are consistently physically and emotionally
Taliban Influence In The Kite Runner
811 Words | 4 PagesTaliban women were forced to live under the Taliban’s laws and restrictions. Some of the laws are women can’t be treated by male doctors, can’t talk loudly and they can’t be seen outside their house. Men and women can’t listen to music, order people to change their names to Islamic ones, forced
Feminism In A Thousand Splendid Suns
1539 Words | 7 PagesKhaled Hosseini has an interesting way of portraying the two female protagonists. He discloses the tyranny and hostility that the Taliban enforce on women just because of their sex. A critic viewed the novel as ‘a powerful portrait of female suffering’ making the reader explicitly aware of the harsh environment Mariam and Laila had to tolerate. One review expressed that ‘Hosseini defends the rights of women to decide what to be in life’ , this could show that Hosseini directed the novel to be in favour of feminist views. Hosseini’s first book ‘The Kite
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