Discussion Topic C

In the dramatic novel "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini, illustrates the workings of how the future results in many ways, positive and negative, depending on the decisions we make and the ones we already made. You could have rewards or consequences, but that is based on our decisions. Some do not understand the gravity of the small events in our lives and how much it can affect the future, or as some call it, our destiny. They say that our future is already locked in its place and will never change, that is what our destiny is defined as, but of course that could always change. Meeting the love of your life can be based on the smallest event, such as not deciding to go to the coffee shop or missing the train by 5 minutes. One of the main characters in the novel named Mariam, has struggled through many hardships in life, even when she was just only a child. 

As a child growing up she was dealing with two parents that both shared completely opposite opinions towards life. A mother who constantly puts her down, and tends to nickname her as "harami", meaning bastard. Eventually overtime she finally understood why her mother kept calling her such a name, according to her she was "an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, and acceptance." Growing up to a broken family made a huge impact, the lifestyle that only her mother taught her was just for their own benefit, by just being in the house all day, and not wanting to go out in the outside world. Mariam's mother never liked the idea of having a education, she believed "there is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me needs in life, and they don't teach it in school...endure." Being able to withstand and tolerate anything was her only way of survival. Compared to her father, it was quite different by the fact he never treated her like crap, but on the downside he made a lot of disappointments towards Mariam. The way she was raised as a child made a huge impact in her.

During Mariam's life after Nana's death, things turned to a much difficult road for her in the future. She was being forced to marry some guy she doesn't even know without the help of her father's consent of saying anything to stop this whole arrangement. Eventually later on in the future a lot of ironic events start to occur, involving things to resemble into the past. Rasheed’s excitement about the baby, the celebratory dinner with his friends, and then the miscarriage, but the most ironic of all is Mariam’s prayer that God will not let their good fortune slip away, and then, of course it does. 

Throughout the novel Hosseini elaborates on how Mariam's life is reflected from her past, which is then attached to her forever as she lives life. But as she progresses, she tries her hardest to strive as much to enjoy the essence of life.

Discussion Topic A

In the heartfelt novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, incorporates the use of literary devices to showcase the issue of domestic abuse. The use of these literary devices such as personification and simile, can illustrate the countless abuses and sufferings the people had to undergo through. Hosseini's captivating narrative comprises of intimate details of life in a world where it's a struggle to survive.

The two main women that play a key role in the novel are named Mariam and Laila who survived two decades of warfare while being subjected to the worst kinds of domestic abuse imaginable. "Mariam wondered how so many women could suffer the same miserable luck to have married all of them, such dreadful men. Or was this a wifely game that she did not know about, a daily ritual, like soaking rice or making dough? Would they expect her soon to join in?" Hosseini incorporates the use of simile by comparing that men were playing games with their wives, and asking them if this was a daily ritual to them such as making dough or soaking rice. In a quote stated by Nana, she exclaims "Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam." The author uses this quote twice in the novel to reemphasize how unfair men treat women. Hosseini also inputs personification “A man’s heart isn’t like a woman’s womb, Mariam! It won’t bleed; it won’t make room for you. A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing. I’m all you have in this world, Mariam and when I’m gone, you’ll have nothing. You are nothing!"  In this quote, the character is using personification to show the qualities of a man's heart, not physically but emotionally, by stating that a man's heart won’t bleed and won’t make room for another person.

The use of these literary devices helps the reader understand the setting of the novel by how two women brought together by war, cultural mores, and marriage to the same abusive man. Mariam and Laila both had to overcome many obstacles to get to where they are now. The domestic abuse that these two people had dealt with shows a dramatic climax towards the end.