*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week5.

In the final reading of A Thousand Splendid Suns, the reader encounters the most prevalent theme of motherhood. Mariam and Laila faced the greatest test of “motherhood” in the end of the book, when Mariam gives up her life so that Laila can live freely. Not only does Mariam show kinship, but Laila also does when letting Mariam turn herself in for killing Rasheed. Laila must “think like a mother” and do what is best for her children, just as Mariam does with Laila. Hosseini illustrates the importance of family through the experiences that Mariam and Laila’s family goes through. Hosseini also exemplifies how one’s family does not have to comprise of blood relatives, but a family can be any person that one would risk his or her life for.

Hosseini also portrays family through the letter that Jalil leaves for Mariam. The letter was meant to signify as a closure for Mariam to forgive her father, but now serves as a closure for Laila as she now knows about Mariam’s life and family. An allusion is made to “Pinocchio”, a movie that Jalil left for Mariam, symbolizing the lies he told Mariam, and how he wished to rectify what he did. The box left from Jalil serves as a remembrance for what Jalil did, and a closure to forgiveness.

As Mariam enters jail, she is forced to sign a contract for them to kill her. The only other time that Mariam has “ever signed her name” was when she “married Rasheed.” Mariam having only signed her name twice in her life symbolizes the cliché of Mariam “signing her life away.” Literally signing her life away when signing for her to die, and metaphorically when she signed to marry Rasheed, which meant signing away her freedom and innocence.

While in prison, the women that Mariam share a jail cell with “idolize” Mariam for why she was put in jail. Hosseini demonstrates female empowerment with the satisfaction that the entire women feel towards Mariam for standing up to the men in society. In Afghanistan, the Taliban portray women as a sort of creature in the world—not worthy of having freedoms that men do. However, Mariam changes the way that men are portrayed in society as she stands up for not only herself, but the entire female population when she murders Rasheed. This leads to the feeling of content that overcomes Mariam before she is sentenced to death. Mariam realizes that she made a difference in Afghanistan, and was “loved and loved back.” Mariam made a difference not only in Laila and Aziza’s life, but in the entire female population in Afghanistan.

The final pages of A Thousand Splendid Suns signify a new beginning in Kabul. The beginning is foreshadowed through Laila visiting Mariam’s home, which creates closure from the past to move on to a new beginning. The true meaning of A Thousand Splendid Suns is for the people in Afghanistan to “find a way to survive, to go on” after being “marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief.” Mariam is what causes Laila to view the true “thousand splendid suns” of Kabul- to look past the grief and misery that the two women did experience, and to move on and see the beauty in Afghanistan. Not only does Mariam signify a new beginning, but also the new orphanage that Laila works at as a school teacher, Laila marrying Tariq and experiencing the family she always dreamed of, and now another pregnancy, to bring a new life into the world of Kabul. Hosseini demonstrated the importance of moving on in one’s life after tragedy, and to see what the true “splendid suns” are in the world.

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week4.

As rules and regulations alter in Afghanistan in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, lifestyles begin to change for the women. The list of rules that Afghan women must obey, relates the reader back to those rules that Rasheed induced upon Laila and Mariam. Rasheed forbade the two woman to ever leave the home without wearing “a burqa at all times” and neither of the women could leave the home without being “accompanied by a mahram”, or a male relative.” Not only do the laws coincide with the beliefs that Rasheed previously enforced, but after the laws were conceived, Rasheed was “not at all bothered by the Taliban”, but embraced the laws. Rasheed symbolizes a microcosm of everything the Taliban stands for. Not allowing any freedoms for women, and holding men to the upmost superiority over all others.

While Rasheed is a microcosm of the Taliban, Zalmai is the epitome of his father’s personality. “Zalmai” means “young” in Afghanistan, which correlates with Zalmai being the “young” and youthful version of Rasheed- as he “easily held grudges” and “persisted in mischief” only around Laila, yet never did wrong when Rasheed was around. Rasheed contributes to Zalmai acting the way he does, as Rasheed bribes Zalmai with gifts such as a “new TV” which Rasheed never did with Aziza. The bribery and beloved emotional connection that Rasheed and Zalmai have foreshadow that Zalmai will turn out exactly like Rasheed—egotistical and abusive. The relationship also symbolizes a bigger picture- the power that the Taliban men have over the women and the negative, unfair, and bias treatment that the men have over the women.

Just as Rasheed has almost killed Mariam and Laila already in multiple ways, Zalmai is now denoted as possibly causing the death of them. When the Titanic becomes popular and widespread throughout the area, Aziza compares herself to Jack and Mariam to Rose, while Zalmai is the “iceberg” that caused the death of Jack and Rose. Zalmai being metaphorically compared to an iceberg denotes his icy and deadly personality and power in which Zalmai could possibly end up holding the future of the women. Laila then says that “everybody wants Jack to rescue them from the disaster” but, “there is no Jack…Jack is dead.” The true “Jack” symbolizes both the men in society, and that there is no one man that will stand up for the unfair treatment of the women. “Jack” also symbolizes the chances of the women ever being rescued from the miserable life they are living.

As Aziza is put in a orphanage, Zamen teaches her multiple facts in school, such as “tectonic plates” and how they “slide past each other, and release energy which travels to the earth’s surface and makes it shake.” Laila notices a “stutter” in Aziza as she speaks, which makes the reader realize the anecdote of Aziza’s studies symbolize more than what is on the surface. The “fractures” symbolize the pain one feels “deep down” but how all people see on the “surface” is just a “slight tremor.” The reiteration that Aziza speaks of symbolizes how she is trying to show her exuberance towards Laila so that she doesn’t feel bad about leaving her in the orphanage, but deep down Aziza is lonely and afraid.

Tremendous growth is illustrated in the characters of both Mariam and Laila. Mariam experiences growth when she learns the recurring motif of “endurance”—a lesson she learned from her mother. Mariam portrays motherly instincts as Laila is getting ready for birth a second time, and is forced to go to a “women doctor.” Mariam calls Laila her “daughter” which conveys the nexus the women have formed between each other. After the doctor says that there is no anesthesia available, Mariam volunteers to travel elsewhere to find some, just so Laila is not in so much pain. Mariam has grown from a bitter women afraid of Laila stealing away her husband, to a women devoted to empowering Laila and doing whatever it takes to make sure Laila and her children are taken care of.

Laila portrays growth when faced with the tough choice of abortion. Although Laila does not wish to give birth to something that is part Rasheed’s, Laila refuses to take the “bicycle spoke” and kill her baby. The selfless act of keeping the baby that Laila does not want depicts the morals that Laila has, even though the Taliban does not. Laila refuses to lose her morals even though everyone around her has.

The growth and connection that Mariam and Laila have formed between each other illustrates the power of the Afghanistan women. Standing up to Rasheed and taking brutal beatings along with Laila outlasting beatings from the Taliban just to see her daughter for an hour or two exemplifies the motif of “endurance” and the tenacity of the Afghanistan women. Hosseini illustrating the ruthless treatment that women face in Afghanistan everyday helps the reader understand what the women go through every day. Not only is Hosseini demonstrating the cruelty that women face, but also the strength of women through empowerment and endurance.

Although Mariam and Laila exhibit endurance, it is not always easy for the women. Laila has a dream that she is forced to bury her daughter, and can “taste the soil” as she dumps it over Aziza’s body. The dream that Laila has foreshadows that possibly in the future Laila will have to sacrifice her daughter perhaps to save her from the harsh treatment of the Taliban or the men in society. Or perhaps Laila will have to choose between her daughter and the man she loves, Tariq? If Tariq wishes to see Aziza, and Rasheed does not allow it, Rasheed may come after Tariq and kill him. Will Laila have to sacrifice her daughter in order to save the man she loves?

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week3.

Once again, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, the reader delves into a melancholy tone. The war continues on in Afghanistan, and although moments of gaiety occur when Laila’s parents agree to move from Kabul, the jovial tone is interrupted with a “whistling” and then a “flash of white” and an explosion that sends Laila “twisting and rotating in the air.” When Laila lands, she sees a “bloody chunk of something” and on it, the “tip of a red bridge” illustrating the death of Laila’s dad due to the war. Once again, when a character was so close to perfection in life, it is brutally interrupted. The death of Laila’s parents leads Laila into guilt, which shows the parallel between Mariam and Laila. Just as Mariam felt guilt for her mother’s death, Laila feels culpable for Hakim’s death because Laila believes that she “should have been the one inside the house when it happened.” The correlation that the reader discovers in Mariam and Laila advances the reader into the upcoming events of Mariam and Laila living together.

Since Mariam and Rasheed are the couple that discover Laila, Laila then lives with the two, and ultimately is asked if she will marry Rasheed, even though Rasheed is “much older” than Laila. Surprisingly, Mariam and Laila do not get along at all. At first, the reader thinks that maybe this is because Mariam doesn’t agree with the wretched and iniquitous manner of Rasheed’s and Laila’s marriage. However, the reader then understands Mariam’s reasoning for disliking Rasheed having another wife and “stealing [her] husband.” Because of Mariam’s past of not having a true father and losing her mother, Mariam is afraid that Laila will “steal” Rasheed away from Mariam. Although Mariam does not truly love, or really even like, Rasheed, he is all that Mariam has ever had. However, when Rasheed attempts to “whip” Mariam with a “leather belt”, Laila steps in front and “holds back Rasheed” protecting Mariam over herself. It is then when Mariam realizes that Laila married Rasheed not to steal him away, but to protect herself from the war and from loneliness, just as Mariam did. This is just the beginning of the relationship between Mariam and Laila.

As the reader continues, the relationship between Laila and Tariq grows stronger. Tariq symbolizes protection and comfort for Laila, and now that Tariq is gone, the protection is gone, along with Laila’s parents, home, and innocence as it was taken from the marriage to Rasheed. Just like Mariam believed her mother’s death was her own fault, Laila blames Tariq’s death on herself, because of her “lack of emotion” and sorrow when her brothers died. Laila believes that she is being punished because she wasn’t able to correlate to Fariba’s feelings and help Fariba during her time of sorrow. Tariq dying symbolizes the end of Laila’s protection, as she is now truly alone.

Before Laila and her family moves, Hakim reminisces back to a line he remembers in a poem about “the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.” Up until this point, the reader could not make a correlation from the title to the novel until now. Hakim remembering the town of Kabul as a “thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls” symbolizes that through all the grief and pain that one suffers in Kabul from the war and personal vendettas, memories will always remain in Kabul, even if the good memories appear to “hide.” The line also foreshadows that although Laila is unhappy in Kabul right now, that eventually Laila will realize a bigger meaning to her life, and figure out the “thousand splendid suns” that exist in Kabul.

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week2.

As the reader encounters Part II of A Thousand Splendid Suns, a new character, Laila, is introduced. Laila serves as a sort of duplicate to Mariam, as both girls have many characteristics and events in life in common. Although Laila has two brothers, she is technically an only child in that she lives alone with her mother and father because Laila’s brothers are older and in the war. Mariam, too, is an only child, just like Laila, which makes the personalities and effects of parental influence upon the girls more distinct. Before Mariam wed, she wished to obtain an education, but Mariam’s mother disagreed, and believed that “woman [didn’t] need an education.” Laila also wishes for an education, but unlike Mariam, Laila’s family is supportive of Laila learning and acquiring an education. Laila and Mariam both have mothers with a “sickness.” Mariam’s mother had “jinn”, which was a mental illness that caused seizure whenever Nana was stressed or upset. Laila’s mother, too, has a similar condition in that Mammy stays in bed throughout the entire day “under the covers” in a “dark room” and sleeps until “three in the afternoon.” Since neither women show any “physical signs” of ailment, the reader can conduce that the illnesses are caused from displeasure in life. While both characters mothers are laggards, Mariam and Laila both turn to their father for support and guidance. Jalil is a character that symbolizes the “outside world” for Mariam, and Laila’s father is the one that guides Laila to an education. The comparing personalities of Mariam and Laila impose the reader to question importance of their kindred relationship.

The dysfunctional relationship between Jalil & Nana and Fariba &Hakim illustrate the iniquity of forced marriages. Fariba and Hakim portray the relationship that was forced into marriage, and are now unhappy together, causing Fariba an illness that was all in her head. With the relationship between Jalil and Nana, Hosseini depicts the wrongdoings of forced marriages by not being with each other. If Jalil would have not married the other nine women, perhaps Jalil would have married Nana and Nana would still be alive. Hosseini also conveys the transgression of forced marriage in the unhappiness of both Mariam and Rasheed.

Mariam and Rasheed depict a struggling relationship, with many ups and downs. In the beginning, Mariam was unsure of the nexus between the two, but after becoming pregnant the relationship between Mariam and Rasheed blossomed. Mariam was so excited that “everywhere she looked,” Mariam saw “bright colors” as if a “rainbow had melted into her eyes.” Rasheed, too, was filled with gratitude “drumming his gloved fingers and humming a song.” However, by now the reader realizes that with every positive event in the story is followed by a wretched occurrence. The elation shown from the pregnancy foreshadowed the miscarriage that Mariam had in the “hamam.” Mariam then had a miscarriage “six more times in four years.” The miscarriages symbolize Mariam’s inability to be nurtured, therefore not able to nurture something herself. The miscarriage also foreshadows the displeasure that Rasheed has in the marriage, leading to the violence and abuse towards Mariam and forcing her to “chew” the “mouthful of grit and pebbles.”

“Endurance” is a recurring motif throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns, along with the color green. The color green and endurance coordinate with each other, in that the color green symbolizes feelings of endurance. In the first reading, Nana told Mariam that “to endure” is “all that women have.” As Mariam grows up, she begins learning the importance of endurance. The snow that falls upon the road during the time of the miscarriage signifies the “sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman” somewhere in the world, and how “we must endure all that falls upon us.” Mariam occurs the motif of endurance again when burying the “blue coat” that was meant for her baby. The burial not only contributes to the motif of endurance, but also symbolizes how Mariam is able to “bury” her past and move on, whereas Rasheed is not able to. Signs of Rasheed failing to move on are shown with the picture of his wife and child in his room and also refusing to be a part of burying the coat.

The color green strengthens the motif of endurance in the characters of Mariam and Laila, as both characters encounter the color green multiple times in the novel. Mariam has “green eyes” and when living with Jalil, Mariam’s room is “green” suggesting how Mariam must “endure” the death of her mother and the new living arrangement. When Mariam gets married, she has a “green veil” showing the endurance she must undergo in order to adjust to her new life yet again. Not only does the green symbolize stamina, but also youthfulness, as Mariam was very young when each event took place in her life. Thus far, the reader denotes the “green eyes” of Laila as signifying the nexus between Mariam and Laila. Yet, the reader does not know thus far what the connection will be between Mariam and Laila.

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week1.

Commencing the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini establishes a detrimental tone through the character of Nana. The mother of the main character of Mariam, Nana brands Mariam as a “harami” conducing “unwanted thing.” The reader learns that Mariam is denoted as a “harami” because Nana became pregnant with Mariam and was not wanted by Jalil.

Although Nana is Mariam’s mother, Nana does not convey a nurturing nor solicitous personality towards Mariam. The “Jinn” that takes over Nana’s body at difficult times depicts the remorse that Nana has towards Mariam. From religious believers who entrust in Allah, a Jinn was created from fire whereas human beings are believed to be created from clay. Jinns are invisible to the human eyes, however, the Jinn can see us. The Jinn that enters Nana’s body is a dark spirit, one which symbolizes punishment for the result of Mariam. The Jinn conveys not only a burden on Nana, but also Mariam, as it reminds her of the “lingering pain” she puts upon Nana.

While Nana signifies a pessimistic outlook, Jalil appears a foil character to Nana. Nana’s anecdotes to Mariam educe a feeling of burden. Even simple stories such as the birth of Nana forced “recrimination” and “burden” upon Mariam, as she apologized for her own birth. Little did Mariam know at the time the “unfairness of apologizing for her own birth.” Jalil, however, retorts the stories in a manner antithesis to Nana’s. In the first meeting of Jalil, he portrays a wholesome father- one that makes Mariam feel she is a “good daughter.”

Nana and Mariam’s house is “two hundred yards upstream, towards the mountains” and in the “center shade of the willows” is the “clearing” of Nana and Mariam’s home. The seclusion that the two live in conveys the feelings that Jalil has towards the two- that they should be isolated away from Jalil’s other “nine wives” as Nana and Mariam are sort of the “embarrassments” of the family. While Nana realizes the selfishness that Jalil portrays, Mariam fails to see that side of Jalil. To Mariam, Jalil represents the “world at large.” The existence of “presidents, trains, soccer, and museums” outside of the remote “kolba.”

Mariam quickly discovers the misinterpretation she had of Jalil and her mother. Nana’s reasoning for bashing Jalil was because she was afraid of Mariam leaving her. Hosseini foreshadows Nana’s suicide in the very beginning of the book with the “shattering” of Nana’s mother’s “Chinese tea set.” The “porcelain piece” that “slipped from Mariam’s fingers” foreshadows the death of Nana was from “slipping” through Mariam’s fingers when Mariam chose Jalil over Nana.

The next instance of foreshadowing occurs in the jinn that overtook Nana whenever Jalil was involved in her life. Whether or not Nana was falsifying the religious spirit and was really just a “disease” that could “be cured with pills”, or if the jinn actually occurred in Nana, the reader can induce that Nana nuanced Jalil with a “dark spirit.”

Once Mariam made her own decision to see Jalil, Nana was found “dangling” from “rope drooping high at a branch.” The death of Nana symbolizes the “death” of Mariam’s childhood, as she is now forced into making her own decisions and living for herself. Mariam chose to disobey Nana, and the death of Nana exemplifies the new, adult life that Mariam must now undergo.

Before Mariam left Nana for Jalil, one of Mariam’s games was to take pebbles, each representing one of Jalil’s children from each wife, and would arrange them in “four separate columns.” Rather than arranging all the pebbles altogether, the separation of the columns implies that Mariam does not belong with the others. This point is clearly shown when Mariam is rejected from Jalil to see him, and while leaving, the pebbles “spill from her pocket.” The spilling of pebbles imply that Mariam is not wanted nor meant to be a part of Jalil and his other wives family which foreshadows the forced marriage that occurs later in the novel.

Throughout the book thus far, Mariam has witnessed the feeling of not being wanted from her mother, her father, and now the women that Jalil live with. After Nana’s death, Mariam lives with Jalil for a short period of time, but soon discovers she is not wanted there. Jalil’s wife force a marriage upon Mariam to a man named Rasheed. Now that Mariam no longer has a mother or father, she is completely on her own

The man that Mariam marries, Rasheed, is a complete antithesis to Mariam. Starting with appearance, Rasheed has a “big square, ruddy face and a hooked nose…watery, blood shot eyes, and bush eyebrows” compared to Mariam who has a “narrow chin” and a “long, triangular face.” The personalities of the two also differ, as Rasheed expects Mariam to do all the cooking and cleaning. The marriage between the two depicts the basic routine in Afghanistan of forced marriage. Rarely in Afghanistan is a woman not married by the time she is 16 years old, which Hosseini shows through the young age of Mariam and the old age of Rasheed. Along with age, Hosseini conveys the problem with forced marriage when Rasheed expresses his feelings that Mariam’s job is to do the cooking, cleaning, and the “job of a wife” in which Rasheed believes is sex. The unpleasantness and uncomfortable feelings that Mariam constantly feels in her marriage to Rasheed depicts the negativity of forced marriages. In bed, Mariam “looks at the frozen stars in the sky and a cloud that draped the face of the moon like a wedding veil” a metaphor that denotes Mariam’s feelings on her marriage in which she is “frozen” in her marriage-- frozen with fear, regret, remorse, and disappointment.

Along with Rasheed’s inhumane outlook on marriage, he also forces Mariam to wear a “burqa” that completely covers her face and body from other guys looking at her. Rasheed hates the “married women” that walk around without enough clothing on. Hypocritical to what Rasheed says, Mariam discovers “magazines” in Rasheed’s room that show “beautiful women who wore no shirts, no trousers, no socks or underpants.” The hypocritical views of Rasheed shows the controlling side that Rasheed has over his wife, making the reader wonder if Rasheed had something to do with the death of his previous wife and son and makes the reader wonder if Rasheed will “control” Mariam too much and again make Mariam feel unwanted ultimately resulting in Mariam being left by Rasheed along with her parents.

*Death of a Salesman--Day 6.

In the final reading of Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller concludes the play with a somber, yet promising tone for a new beginning. Before Willy ultimately ends his life, the reader views Willy in his garden “planting seeds.” The seeds symbolize a new beginning, and a nurturing side that Willy wasn’t able to exemplify for his children and wife. Because Willy wasn’t able to “produce” a wealthy business as a salesman, the garden that Willy plants portrays another chance for Willy to provide money for his family.

In the garden, Willy speaks to Ben about the “massive funeral” that people would come to from “Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey” just to honor Willy at his funeral. The death of himself, Willy believes, will prove to Biff how many people “liked” Willy and how “well-known” Willy is. If Willy commits suicide like he has planned to, then Biff and the rest of the family will receive the “proposition” which is “twenty thousand dollars on the barrelhead” of Willy’s premium. The suicide of Willy enables a new future for the Loman family, as they are able to make “the last payment on the house” and are “free”—free from the burden of house payments and also from the unhappiness of Willy. The death of Willy proposed a new beginning for his family as a way to move on and live each one’s own life.

In the end as Willy speaks to Ben, Ben again comments about how “the jungle is dark but full of diamonds.” Not only do the “diamonds” that Ben speaks of portray wealth, but also equate to Willy. A diamond has a shiny appearance, one like Willy wishes to have, but a diamond is also “rough and hard to the touch”-equating to the personality of Willy ultimately conveying the message that although something may appear to glisten on the outside, the inside is “rough.” Along with a diamond’s appearance, the diamond in the “dark place” symbolizes that Willy believes that he must die in order for his family to prosper.

An occurring motif throughout the play is false portrayal of oneself. All three of the Loman men portrayed a life that was a facade from reality. Willy was not the successful “well liked” business man that he claimed to be, Happy was not the “assistant buyer” but was an “assistant to the assistant” and Happy and Willy attempted to make Biff believe that he was a high-end business man when in reality he was just a “shipping clerk.” Biff finally speaks up and lets the family know that they haven’t told the truth for “ten-minutes”- but that their lives have all been “phony.” Each character made-up the ideal life so as not to disappoint the other. However, in the end, the only way each could move on in life and truly live the “American Dream,” was to seize reality, which Biff helped each character do.

*Death of a Salesman--Day 5.

In the commencement of the play Death of a Salesman, writer Arthur Miller implements various items that the reader does not understand the deeper meaning of until the play progresses. The “laugh” of “the woman” is not understood until further on in the play, and when the reader does unearth the meaning, the reader discovers the woman was Willy’s mistress in Boston. The reason Willy always hears the woman laughing in his memories, is because the woman was laughing when Biff saw her with Willy. Another symbol used to foreshadow Willy’s infidelity is the stockings. Previously in the play, Linda was mending her “stockings” and Willy became upset with her and told her to “throw them out.” The simple use of stockings denotes a deeper meaning within Act II. Stockings, being an undergarment, symbolize something sensual- therefore symbolizing Willy’s infidelity. When Biff catches Willy and the woman together, the woman is asking Willy for the stockings he promised to bring her. The reader then correlates the distress occurred in Willy when Linda was mending her old ones. Willy wants Linda to have new stockings to she has a better appearance to her- an image like Willy’s mistress.

Thus far, the characters have been dealing with a constant struggle of fighting with memories from the past. Falsifying reality is the main characteristic of Willy thus far, and is also occurring in the characters of Happy and Biff. When meeting with strangers, Happy recites that his family is “successful” and “wealthy” and that Biff is the “quarterback for the New York Giants” and that Willy is a great salesman. When Biff meets with Bill Oliver about working for bill, Biff realizes that he never actually was a “salesman for Bill” in his past, but was a “shipping clerk.” The Loman’s wanted the appearance of success so badly, that they made Biff believe that he actually worked for Bill Oliver. Biff is finally realizing that Happy and Willy are trapped in their demented minds of the past, and cannot move onto the future and what is happening now. The reader can predict that Biff will be the one Loman that will move forward and life and hopefully help Happy and Willy move forward also.