THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

1. THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS Author: Khaled Hosseini

2. Analysis • A Thousand Splendid Suns portrays the lives of two women, Mariam and Laila, during the Afghanistan’s last thirty-three years of the country’s history of war and oppression and the struggle to survive. • The book is divided in four parts and each part focuses excessively on Mariam and Laila. The first part of the novel focuses on Mariam and takes place in a small place outside of Heart in the year of 1974. • Mariam`s birth was as accident due to her mother’s relationship with a rich man whom she was working for as a servant. Her father, Jalil, is a rich businessman and had to throw out Mariam and her mother due to the pressures from his three wives. • She warns Mariam that Jalil will abandon her someday like he did to her. Mariam does not believe her mother and loves her father dearly. • On Mariam’s birthday, Mariam goes to Jalil’s house on her birthday to visit him without her mother`s permission. When she went to his house he was not there so she was waiting for him until he comes back. It got really late and she decided to come back home, where she finds that her mother hung herself from a tree in the fear that Mariam had abandoned her and ran off to live with her father. • During the time she was at his house, he was looking for a groom for Mariam to marry so she can support herself. He got Mariam unwillingly married to Rasheed, who was 30 years her senior. After the marriage, Mariam told Jalil never to talk to her again because after several years, she knew her mother was right. She did get betrayed by her own father who she thought was an aspiring figure to her.

3. Analysis • In the start of her marriage to Rasheed, everything seemed alright. Rasheed treated her in a fairly decent way and did nothing to harm her. He did demand her to wear a burqa when going out and that she could only go out with him only. • Rasheed changed after the miscarriage of Mariam`s first baby and then Rasheed got more violent after several miscarriages afterwards. When Rasheed found out that Mariam is not able to have a baby, he started abusing her very harshly and treating her in a very hurtful way. • The story then shifts to another girl named Laila. She is born to Fariba and Hakim and is the youngest of their three children. Her two older brothers went to war when she was little. She does not really remember them that well. Her mother has been detached from her since her two older sons went to war. Throughout the story, Fariba kept mourning her two son`s loss. Hakim too does mourn his son’s loss but not as much as his wife. Laila gets frustrated because she feels that her mother does not love her. • Laila also has a childhood friend whom Laila develops an intense love towards as they grow up together. Tariq has lost a leg because of a landmine when he was five. Even with his one leg, Tariq is portrayed as a confident character and would do anything for Laila since he too loves her. • In the midst of all of this, the war of Afghanistan is going more intense as the days go on. This leads to the circumstance of Tariq going away to Pakistan with his family. • Tariq asks for Laila`s hand. Laila said she cannot leave her father because she is all he has got. After the emotional farewell, Laila and her parents also decide to leave Kabul.

4. Analysis