A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - Essay Example

Literature Novel Essay A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is an exquisite novel, which paints the lives of the oppressed people in Kabul, Afghanistan during the Taliban rule. It is a heart wrenching story about how the lives of two oppressed yet dauntless women beautifully bring out the meanings of the lines of poet Tabrizi , “One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.” (Hosseini 1). The women depicted in this story truly have the beauty of the moon, which was kept hidden behind the burqa, which formed the walls. Yet the solid walls of the burqa could not hide their passionate and fiery characters which shone through like a “thousand splendid suns” even thorough beneath the oppression of the wall like burqa. The dauntless spirit of the women of Kabul which shines through like thousand splendid suns reinforces the literary elements utilized by Khaled Hosseini in his novel which points to the central theme of the novel that is hope amidst oppression. The major theme, which is portrayed through the novel, is the theme of hope amidst oppression. Oppression of women is found from the starting of the novel, which underlines the confiscation of rights of women. Mariam’s mother Nana teaches her, "Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a mans accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam." (Hosseini 7). The thought, which is underlined in this quote, is that no matter what happens the women will always be oppressed by the male dominating society of Kabul. On one hand, the oppression clouds the novel yet the rainbow of hope pierces through in the form of the news of pregnancy of the protagonists. The lines, which embody Mariam’s joy, are, "When Mariam thought of this baby, her heart swelled inside of her. It swelled and swelled until all the loss, all the grief, all the loneliness and self-abasement of her life washed away."(Hosseini 87). These lines quoted above embody Mariam’s hopes and feelings on revival of her life through the birth of a child and birth of new hopes. Even the novel ends with the hope of Kabul’s rebirth with the symbol of Laila’s wanted pregnancy with Tariq’s child. The use of imagery also reinforces the constant fights between oppression and hope. Nana, Mariam’s mother, almost teaches Mariam the truth of life when she says, “Like a compass needle that points north, a mans accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.” (Hosseini 7). This simile becomes a truth as it describes Mariam’s later life when her husband, Rasheed neglects her and reduces her to a stature of a punching bag. This quote clearly demarcates the physical and mental oppression that the Afghani women had to suffer in the hands of their men. Another quote of imagery, which demarcates the presence of hope amidst the oppression in the play, is “But we’re like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing.” (Hosseini 132). The taxi driver while trying to describe the condition of Afghanistan to Tariq and Laila proposed this simile. It is an apt description where the fearless Afghanis are compared with the battered walls of the fortress. It carries the inner meaning that although these people were constantly battered and harrowed they did not fall apart. They lived on despite the harsh treatments meted out to them. Hosseini had filled the novel with poignant symbols, which clearly pointed out to the constant struggle between oppression and the hope. The following quote illustrates it, “Then she added a fourth column. A solitary, eleventh pebble.” (Hosseini 27). This quote is the symbol of Mariam trying to fit herself into Jalil’s family where she was the solitary eleventh pebble. The word “solitary” reinforces that throughout her life Mariam was an outcast. By birth, she was an outcast as she was an illegitimate child and even after her marriage, her husband too treated her as an outcast due to her miscarriages and her inability to bear his children. The incident of arranging pebbles came to life when one day while cooking, she burnt the food and her husband forced her to chew pebbles which broke her molars. The symbol of hope, which pervades the plot of the novel, is through the numerous pregnancies that the protagonists bear. We find that Aziza’s birth in the novel marks the friendship between Mariam and Laila and later at the end of the play; Kabul is portrayed as a country filled with hopes of new beginning. The following quote reinforces that through Laila a new generation of hope will be born “The orphanage playground has a row of apple saplings now along the east-facing wall. Laila is planning to plant some on the south wall as well as soon as it is rebuilt.”(Hosseini 411). This quote is a powerful symbol of hope that even though the people of Kabul is bereft due to war and many families have been shattered and torn apart due to death, yet the hope of new lives continues through these new children. Laila is depicted as the mother figure that would nourish the hopes of the tomorrow, the children, raise them and provide them a new life. Throughout the play Hosseini depicts the plight of the women in patriarchal society. The constant strife between oppression and hope shines through the plot. Mariam’s life, Laila’s life and the lives of all other characters bear witness to it. The other wise sad and dark novel gets a ray of hope through Laila’s pregnancy which is symbolically represented through the lines where she hopes to plant some more saplings once the walls are rebuilt. The walls being rebuilt symbolises the recovery of Afghanistan. In this manner the all the literary elements used in the novel contributes to the central theme of the novel. Work cited Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. 1st ed. New York: Riverhead Books, 2007. Print. Read More