Cultural Themes In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Trauma and tragedy are inevitably regular and pervasive outcomes in romantic literature. Our literary heritage is filled with heartbreak, failed relationships and broken individuals. Wuthering Heights and Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns both exhibit broken relationships, through a backdrop of conflict in swar torn Afghanistan and the restrictions of Victorian social hierarchy played out on the wild and windswept North York Moors- destroying these implied impervious bonds.

Juned Lalani Mrs. Saldanha-Kuncharam Honors Global Studies 16 January 2014 Culture Analysis of Kite Runner Literature can be a way of expressing different cultures from a variety of regions and can provide the difficulties some regions may have. In the particular case of the emotional novel Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the reader is able to see the culture in Afghanistan. Kite Runner lets readers experience the South Asian culture through Amir, who faces many obstacles and emotional stress throughout his childhood. Kite Runner increases understanding of Afghan culture through role of women and the historical timeframe of the book.

For many years, women have been oppressed and treated as property. The opinion of a woman did not matter, being obedient to her husband was all that is required. Even if they were obedient to their husbands, women were property and only for the pleaser and likening to the husband. Mariam did all the her husband required of her, however there was one thing should could not. Which was give her husband, Rasheed, a son or any child. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Hosseini reveals the social issue of physical abuse and mental abuse by his use of imagery, diction, and dialogue.

Violence, war, discrimination, and poverty: these issues have long been a part of Afghanistan’s history. Even though things in Afghanistan are getting better, war fills the country, and women and children have to learn to endure abuse, caused by men and the Taliban; they also learn to endure poverty. Considering this, it is no wonder why Afghanistan is in the terrible position it is in now. Many Afghan cities like Kabul are filled with things like violence and discrimination, and the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini takes place in Kabul. This book follows the lives of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, as they suffer pain and discrimination received from the Taliban and their

Throughout his novel, “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, Khaled Hosseini explores the stories of different young girls in Afghanistan, each with their own unique story. One of the main divisions between each was their level of education and their families view on the necessity of having kids in school. It seemed that there was a direct parallel between a child’s access to education and their goals and initiative for the rest of their life. There were also strong divisions between adults and their views in educating females in school. Some parents were very open and enthusiastic about their daughters receiving an education while others thought they belonged elsewhere and going to school was a waste of time. The Taliban was a strong opponent to young girls and their educations and did everything in their power to prevent girls from going to school or becoming at all independent. Examining the importance of education from the perspectives of the Taliban, adults, and young girls in Kabul at this time creates an image of suppression and brings into question the motives of the Taliban’s reform rules and whether or not they could have been meant to distinguish the threat of educated generations weakening their power.

A world of peace and love is all anyone ever hopes for. Imagine having to say goodbye to your country because of war. Feeling safe is one of the most important things in life. You need to feel safe for a place to be home. “One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls”(Hosseini 347). In A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, the characters are threated in the country they call home, because of war. The cultural aspects, character storylines, and themes of the book is what make this book a cultural lesson.

Ultimately, Mariam and Laila attempt to escape, but fail, which in turn infuriates Rasheed even more. These two women then work together and protect each other, and in due course, kill Rasheed during one of his “ritual” beatings. In the end, Mariam is killed for murdering her husband, and Laila, with her children, Aziza and Zalmai, finds Tariq and marries him; then, together they start their own family. Throughout the course of the story, not only was a passionate, well-written story presented, but also a clear picture of what Afghan culture and its aspects are really like.

Explosions, Death, Loss, Fear- all are great symbols for war in A Thousand Splendid Suns. In this novel, Khaled Hosseini uses tumultuous environments to bring up some of the most interesting characters in the 21st century. The three strongest examples are Laila, Tariq, and Aziza. From losing your parents, to losing your leg, Hosseini uses these types of characters to almost make a connection with them. Because we see weakness in them it truly makes their triumph that much greater. War is a raging bull charging through the lives of many, but for some, it makes them stronger.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini takes a solid focus on the lives of two young women, Mariam and Laila, who grow up in a struggling and turbulent Afghanistan. This book emulates the lives of those who have actually been affected by the extreme changes of power within their culture. From the Soviets to the Taliban, these people are caught in a war they cannot win but must deal with the consequences of. The lives of Mariam and Laila are consumed and silenced by those with power over them, namely males with traditional values. The book conveys the idea that even with an immense amount of destruction and terror wrought throughout Afghanistan, underneath lies a beauty that has been muted but it still provides hope for the future.

Just by reading the first sentence of A Thousand Splendid Suns you can expect an emotional journey where you will read about things that you could never before imagine. As you continue to read, you will discover that these expectations come true all at once, overwhelming you with emotion. Sometimes so overwhelming that you wish you could talk to the author and ask him “why?” Why did Nana have to kill herself? Why did Tariq have to leave? Why couldn’t Laila leave her parents and go with him?

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini utilizes symbolism to convey the positive progression in Mariam’s personal life. As a child, she experiences pain from her mother’s death and later pain from Rasheed, her abusive husband. She fails to control anything in her life and when she kills Rasheed, she realizes that for the “first time” she would have the power to enforce a decision in “the course of her own life” (349). Immediately, Mariam senses control as she liberates herself from the daily pain in her life. She encounters the Taliban and confesses her actions in hope to save the life of Laila and begin a new life together. Hosseini develops the theme of enduring throughout the novel as Mariam encounters hardship with the Taliban. Mariam, a woman in Afghanistan, represents the overall conflict, pain, and suffrage women encounter throughout their lives; therefore, requiring the fight for happiness. Ultimately, Mariam realizes her fight for happiness will require her to suffer the consequences of her actions to provide Laila happiness and freedom of pain in her new life with Tariq. Mariam analyzes that “living on the run, like fugitives” will only bring hardships in their lives and therefore, accepts her fate (358). The fate of a cruel execution, freely transfers happiness to Laila and her family. Hosseini emphasizes the unfairness of women

Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns is a four part novel that takes place in Herat and Kabul, Afghanistan and Murree, Pakistan from 1964 to 2003. Major themes in the novel include subservient role and abuse of women in Afghan culture, on-going struggle for political power in Afghanistan form 1970s to the present, destructive impact on a country and its people, and perseverance of the human spirit in the face of extreme adversity. The New York Times articles “Afghanistan Said to Overturn Death Sentences in Woman’s Lynching,” “Mullah Muhammad Omar, Enigmatic Leader of Afghan Taliban, Is Dead,” and “Waves of Suicide Attacks Shake Kabul on Its Deadliest Day of 2015” can relate to the characters and events of the novel.

In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, main character Mariam is forced into exile after a horrific set of experiences. After her mother’s suicide, she is removed from her home and is later arranged to marry a random man she never met before. Before her departure, Mariam lived in a “kolba,” a small hut on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. With no other place to go, she disapprovingly lives with her father for a short period of time before being shipped off to her new husband. Her encounter with exile is almost unbearable, yet she endures and grows into a hardworking and respectable woman. For Mariam, exile is both alienating and enriching; it illuminates how withstanding life’s challenges and learning to overcome them with love will ultimately be beneficial in the end, no matter what happens.

The plot of A Thousand Splendid Suns revolves around two protagonists: Laila and Mariam. Most of the story’s characters are round, but Mariam and Laila are exceptionally complex. Mariam is a harami, a bastard, that leaves her mother, Nana, in order to live with Jalil, her father. Jalil rejects her, and Jalil and Mariam later regret the decisions that they made at that point in their lives. Mariam is a quiet, thoughtful, and kind woman who was born in Herat, and her face has been described as long, triangular, and houndlike. She is forced into marriage at the age of fifteen with a much older suitor named Rasheed who abuses her brutally once he learns that she cannot provide him with children. She is also revealed as a very dynamic character early in the story. Mariam quickly develops a mistrust toward men, and she realizes that her mother had been right all along. Another example of a significant change Mariam goes through is the animosity she feels toward Laila that quickly transforms into their friendship when “a look passed between Laila and Mariam. An unguarded, knowing look. And in this fleeting, wordless exchange with Mariam, Laila knew they were not enemies any longer.” (page 250). Later in the story, Mariam, who was a forty-two-year-old woman at that time, is executed by the Taliban for murder.

The authors Khaled Hosseini and Kurt Vonnegut write novels of critical acclaim. Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns explores the life of Mariam and her struggles with her husband and society, however, she finds reason to fight through a religious tutor. Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five examines the life of Billy Pilgrim who goes through the bombing of Dresden and is kidnapped by an alien species, the Tralfamadorians, who have him apply a new philosophy. Using traditional techniques, Hosseini constructs Mullah Faizullah, the religious tutor, as a wise mentor. The persona of a hermit guru was used by Vonnegut as a non-traditional guide in the form of the Tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse-Five. Hosseini uses foreshadowing and a comforting