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A Thousand Splendid Suns

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Disappointed, Mariam starts walking one could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls”
- Saib-e-Tabrizi
(‘Kabul’. Translated by Josephine Davis)
The title of the epic and simultaneously devastating as well as inspiring novel,A Thousand Splendid Suns comes into existence from the above lines. Khaled Hosseini has openly dedicated his book to the woman of Afghanistan. Cover of the book shows a young woman, whose head and face is covered with a veil. She is walking down a rough patch of land under the scorching sun. The cover in itself speaks a million words about the condition of afghan woman such as poverty, abuses and broken family relationships.
All this is the reflection of the …show more content…

He is a physician by profession and a citizen of United States of America. The oldest of five children, his father Naseer was a moderate Muslim who worked as a diplomat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, while his mother worked as a Persian language teacher in a girl’s high school. Both his parents originated from Herat, the place that Hosseini has referred to in his book also and talked about it at length. In 1976, the foreign ministry relocated Hosseini’s family to Paris. Later in 1980 they were ready to come back to their homeland but did not due to the invasion of the Soviet army. So they moved to the San Jose, California in the United …show more content…

However her growing years are disrupted by the afghan war, for which both her brothers leave to join the army. Laila then finds comfort in the company of Tariq, her best mate who was just a few years older than her. When Laila is an adolescent, her family is struck by grief due to the death of both her brothers in the war. A few years pass, and the war reaches the streets of Kabul. By now, Laila and Tariq are teenagers and have fallen in love. Tariq tells her that he and his family are fleeing to Pakistan soon. The couple then makes love for the first

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Margareta Kulusic-Ho Mr. Schmidt English 3I March 29, 2022 A Thousand Splendid Suns Mariam Characterization Essay In literature, characterization is a key element in how characters are represented and described. Through different experiences, characters can evolve to demonstrate how unique experiences can change their nature and give the characters depth. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini displays Mariam’s progression, as one of the protagonists, who is burdened with shame for being born out of wedlock, going on to marry an abusive man, Rasheed. Mariam begins the story as an innocent and hopeful child, then as the novel progresses she grows from a resentful and inferior woman to being able to defend herself.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns is a beautiful story of the struggles of Afghan women. Two of the character, Mariam and Laila, both have a different beginnings to their lives, but both lives entangles themselves and makes for an interesting story with its own rollercoaster of emotions. On page 250 of the novel, the “unguarded, knowing look” that passes between Mariam and Laila is enough to show that their adventures have just started and that the relationship has much to flourish. Throughout the book, you will see Mariam and Laila prosper and grow as characters and ladies in general. To know the details of their struggles, inner turmoil, and honest victories you will just have to read the book.

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Hosseini is the founder of the Khaled Hosseini Foundation, which partners with the United Nations Refugee Organization. He leads this foundation with his wife. The goal of the foundation is to reach out to the people his novels focus on. His book, A Thousand Splendid Suns it focuses on children and women. He returned to Afghanistan and was astonished at the destruction of his home country.

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This is the poem "Kabul" by Saib Tabrizi, and it was used as an inspiration for Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. Here the beauty of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is seen. However, the book also reminds us of the ravages of the Afghan wars and the harsh rule of the Taliban. Location is a very important element of A Thousand Splendid Suns because it is gives the characters their personality and objectives. One of the most important events in the book are the marriages.

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This especially shows with Laila, when she continues to try and visit Aziza every day in the orphanage, even though Rasheed refuses to accompany her anymore. And so Laila's life suddenly revolved around finding ways to see Aziza. Half the time she never made it to the orphanage. Crossing the street, she was spotted by the Taliban and riddled with questions....

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Brad Cain Jeana Link World Lit 04 May 2023 Lives of Struggle A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel by Khaled Hosseini that tells the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, in Afghanistan. Both Mariam and Laila differ and have similarities in their personalities, relationships, and struggles. Firstly, the personalities of Mariam and Laila sets them apart from each other.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns is a historical fiction novel published by Khaled Hosseini in 2007. In the novel, Khaled Hosseini emphasizes the vicious acts of cruelty and punishment bestowed upon Afghan people, particularly children and the women of the households. This book will change your perspective of life and how you view it and the people around you. In this novel , Hosseini helps the people who are outside of Afghanistan acknowledge and be aware of the treacherous events and despair that takes place inside of Afghanistan. Can you imagine you no longer being an outsider?

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The book “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini is a novel about a young girl, Mariam, a young girl. The book takes place in Afghanistan from the early 1960’s to the early 2000’s. She lives with her mother, Nana, who is stubborn, and her father, Jalil, who only visited Mariam once a week. Her mother committed suicide. Mariam ends up living with her father, his three wives and the other nine children he has had.

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She knew how much of an abomination killing her husband would be to society, but she loved Laila enough to risk the punishment. Instead of running away from Kabul with Laila, Mariam stayed behind so that Laila would never get in trouble for killing Rasheed. She was then arrested and later shot for murder (371). Mariam sacrificed her own life so that Laila could marry Tariq and live happily and freely with her family. She gave up everything, even her life for those whom she loved, even though they biologically were not her children.

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They represent the plight which the Afghan women have been facing since ages. These characters give hope to the countless women who still suffer the dominance and hardships of the Afghan society. The actions of these characters symbolize their strength to endure things as they join together and retaliate against the man, and in turn the society, who has taken away their rights to live their lives according to their own choices. The ‘thousand splendid suns’ represent the thousands of Afghan women with immense potentialities who are still under the clutches of patriarchal domination and are forced to hide behind the walls. Khaled Hosseini has beautifully portrayed the cruel realities of the lives of Afghan women through Mariam and Laila and this is what separates A Thousand Splendid Suns from literary works that deal with Afghan women.

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He is the first person to read and praise Amir’s stories, something that has great impact on Amir. Through simple yet genuine remarks, Rahim is able to “encourage [Amir] to pursue writing [more] than any compliment” has done, indicating the value of his words in Amir’s eyes, and the strong bond that the two share (Hosseini 14). As Amir transitions into adulthood, Rahim’s role in the friendship shifts into someone who must push Amir to do what is best. He understands that the only way to convince Amir to go back to Afghanistan is through painful reminders of the past, demonstrated through telling Amir that “there is a way to be good again”, and by questioning Amir’s courage, accusing Amir of being a “man who can’t stand up to anything” (Hosseini 2, 233). In contrast, Rahim also exhibits a sense of tenderness and caring when needed.

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In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Khaled Hosseini emphasizes the importance of education in woman. With the importance of education in women comes the endurance of woman. Hosseini displays the endurance of hardships that women face in Afghanistan through his female characters in the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Mariam wants to go to school and be able to learn like other children,“She pictured herself in a classroom with other girls her age.

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Positive attributes of community in a thousand splendid suns were the family oriented, religious, and hopeful. The attributes in A Thousand Splendid Suns were more negative. The book portrays a lot of adversity. Misfortune and heartbreak, difficulties, gender based discrimination and cruelty were the underlying attributes in the community.

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The 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.

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In regards to the historiography of gender politics in the Victorian era, the social position of women and femininity had become a problematic issue. Similarly, the gender apartheid instilled prior to the civil war in Afghanistan. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, initially published in 2007, is set in Afghanistan from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. In this, it explores the story of Mariam and Laila as the protagonists, who teach the reader the reality of life as a woman in a backward Islamic country. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny seen from the perspectives of these two women and observes how they become to create a bond, despite having come from previously living in very different backgrounds.

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