[9], The title of the book comes from a line in Josephine Davis' translation of the poem "Kabul", by the 17th-century Iranian poet Saib Tabrizi:[10], Hosseini explained "I was searching for English translations of poems about Kabul, for use in a scene where a character bemoans leaving his beloved city, when I found this particular verse. 20% As Rasheed's daily behavior changes, Mariam perceives that Rasheed is courting Laila. Thus, he wants to arrange her marriage A Thousand Splendid Suns is Khaled Hosseini's second novel. 2023 Course Hero, Inc. All rights reserved. Due to a lack of food, Rasheed sends Aziza to an orphanage. A Thousand Splendid Suns Chapter 31 Summary and Analysis Part 3: Chapter 31 Summary Laila, Mariam, and Rasheed settle into a routine. On her fifteenth birthday, Mariam asks her father to take her to see Pinocchio at a cinema he owns and to introduce her to her siblings. Mariam is most changed by her relationship with Laila, as watching the younger woman teaches Mariam to stand up for herself, as highlighted in the scene where she saves Lailas life. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. The last date is today's Not long after they marry, Rasheed forces Mariam to chew pebbles as a punishment for undercooking rice. Then, one afternoon, after years of abuse and sadness, Laila is shocked to see a man standing at her front door: Tariq. As Mariam grows older, she learns her father has three wives and nine legitimate children. A few days later, Laila's parents decide to leave Afghanistan as well, but as they are packing a rocket hits their house, killing Laila's parents and wounding her. When Rasheed returns home from work, Zalmai informs Rasheed that Laila had a male visitor. She slowly grows accustomed to Rasheed and begins to enjoy her status as a legitimate wife rather than an illegitimate child. Once Laila announced that she was pregnant, Rasheed was ecstatic. Struggling with distance learning? He doesn't gloss over the horrors his characters live through, but something about his direct, explanatory style and the sense that you are moving towards a redemptive ending makes the whole narrative, for all its tragedies, slip down rather easily."[24]. For Mariam, even though she loses her life, she dies believing that she has gained more than she or her mother ever expected. It is co-produced by the American Conservatory Theater and Theatre Calgary. "[1] He also found his second novel to be more "ambitious" than the first due to its larger cast of characters; its dual focus on Mariam and Laila; and its covering a multi-generational-period of nearly forty-five-years in total. "[1] The characters "took on a life of their own" at this point and "became very real for [him]". The sugar bowl, part of Nana's prized tea set, features a dragon on its side, "meant to ward off evil." SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Her mother prepares her for a life of hardship, which she sees as their lot in life as women. They are taken to a police station and are returned home. She is expected by her parents and her friends to do something grand with her life, as opposed to simply getting married and having children. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. Mariam lives with her mother, Nana on the outskirts of Herat, in a small village named Gul Daman. publication in traditional print. Chapter 1 familiarizes the reader with Hosseini's style. Rasheed puts Laila on a pedestal and makes fun of Mariam in order to impress Laila. (one code per order). Other words, such as kolba and jinn are left for the reader to determine via contextual clues. "[18], A Thousand Splendid Suns received significant praise from reviewers, with Publishers Weekly calling it "a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan"[4] and USA Today describing the prose as "achingly beautiful". Mariam resents her limited place in Jalil's life; she wants to live with him, his three wives, and her half-siblings in Herat. Rasheed attempted to squash the possibility of Laila missing her ex-lover by arranging for someone to tell her he was dead; he is furious when his plan is overturned. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. The reference to "a thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls" likely refers to the women of Kabul, glowing beauties cloistered in hearth and home, tantalizingly hidden from the outside world but nonetheless providing vital life-giving warmth to Afghan society. Discount, Discount Code "A Thousand Splendid Suns Summary". It's better. 18 Apr. Since her youth, Laila has a close male friend named Tariq. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini Study Guide Summary Themes Motifs Symbols Quotes Quotes by Theme Summary Chapters 22-26 Chapters 22-26 Summary: Chapter 22 In January 1989, Laila and her family gather to watch the last of the Soviets leave the city. "[25], The New York Times writer Michiko Kakutani wrote a more critical review, describing the opening as "heavy-handed" and early events in the novel as "soap-opera-ish". You remember that, Mariam." ~Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Chapter 1, Page 7 "Look at me, Mariam.' Reluctantly, Mariam did. Tariq and Laila have sex before he leaves, a choice that creates lasting consequences. Upon discovering she is pregnant with Tariq's child, Laila agrees to marry Rasheed to protect herself and her baby, whom Rasheed believes to be his. She recognizes the sacrifice Mariam made and honors her memory by stating that she will name her unborn child after her if she is a girl. Tariq appears at the family home and reunites with Laila, who learns Rasheed hired a man to falsely claim that Tariq had been killed so that she would agree to marry him. With a shovel, Mariam kills Rasheed. [22] Lisa See of The New York Times attributed the book's success to Hosseini "[understanding] the power of emotion as few other popular writers do". Mariam has always been disrespected and thought of as lesser due to her illegitimate status; she is accustomed to being treated as such. Laila and Mariam struggle with raising Zalmai, whom Rasheed dotes on and favours over Aziza, causing difficulties in managing Zalmai's behaviour. For instance, when Mariam expresses fear that the "jinn" has returned to her mother, the reader must rely on the context Mariam is being punished for breaking the sugar bowl to understand that jinn is something uncontrollable that comes over Nana. Part One is entirely told through Mariam's point of view, and Part Two is told through Laila's. The characters converge in Part Three and alternate until the book's climax, or the height of the tension. and any corresponding bookmarks? [12], The Washington Post critic Jonathan Yardley suggested that "the central theme of A Thousand Splendid Suns is the place of women in Afghan society", pointing to a passage in which Mariam's mother states, "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. As Laila recovers from her injuries, Rasheed expresses a romantic interest in her, much to Mariam's dismay. To Mariam, he is the loving father who relieves the monotony of life with his weekly visits; to Nana he is the coward who would not stand by her after getting her pregnant. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% Grossman, Lev; "The 10 Best Fiction Books"; "For 'A Thousand Splendid Suns,' a well-timed journey from the page to the stage", "Arts, Briefly; 'Kite Runner' Author To Release a New Novel", "A Thousand Splendid Suns: The plight of Afghan women only partially depicted", "Jonathan Yardley: A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS", Grossman, Lev; Top 10 Fiction Books; time.com, "A Woman's Lot in Kabul, Lower Than a House Cat's", "A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini", "100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts", "Khaled Hosseini, Kabul's Splendid Son (Extended Interview)", "Khaled Hosseini: 'If I could go back now, I'd take The Kite Runner apart', "One Community Acquires 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' By 'The Kite Runner' Author Khaled Hosseini For Limited Series", "Seattle Opera's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' is a poignant, timely tale", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Thousand_Splendid_Suns&oldid=1143972196, Print (hardback & paperback) and audio CD, This page was last edited on 11 March 2023, at 01:40. . Jalil reluctantly agrees, but then never shows up to take her to the film. A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis. He later becomes increasingly abusive. Culture Shock When Hosseini arrived in California as a fifteen-year-old, he only spoke a few words of English. Tariq and Laila visit together over the next few days, and Tariq describes his past. After battles with the Mujahideen, or Islamic fighters supported by the United States, the Soviet Union finally withdraws its last troops in 1989 and the Mujahideen take over. [1] It continues some of the themes used in his previous work, such as familial dynamics, but instead focusing primarily on female characters and their roles in contemporary Afghan society. [27], The depictions of the lead female characters, Mariam and Laila, were praised by several commentators. A Thousand Splendid Suns is told through two different perspectives. Laila feels devastated again. Despite the loss of Lailas close friend, Lailas story also ends on a note of hope. Complete your free account to request a guide. As she enters her teens, Lailas relationship with Tariq deepens and becomes more flirtatious. Rasheed finds a job at a hotel and can sustain the family again. When he was fifteen, his family came to the US as asylum seekers and settled in California. You can do this by starting with something as simple as, "Nana says this when." 9/15. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. only the systematic business of beating and being beaten. Physical abuse is so ubiquitous in the household, particularly when Mariam is the victim, that it seems merely routine. For the first time in the story, Mariam takes agency over her own life and kills Rasheed. A rare beauty, Laila grows up intellectually encouraged by her ex-schoolteacher father but ignored by her unpredictable mother, who thinks only of her sons fighting in the Mujahideens army, against the Communists. He prayed for a boy and held Laila in even higher esteem. Tariq agrees. The Taliban rise to power in Kabul and impose harsh rules on the local population, severely curtailing women's rights. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. The novel was a strong critical success as well, with its portrayal of the lead female charactersMariam and Lailadrawing particular praise. Wed love to have you back! Due to the rising violence in Afghanistan, both of her brothers have been killed. Part 4 is from Laila's perspective. It becomes clear that Rasheed's only use for Mariam is in her ability to replace the son he lost years ago. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of Jalil, and her status as a bastard child is something she will struggle with overcoming. Mariam, an illegitimate teenager from Herat, is forced to marry a shoemaker from Kabul after a family tragedy. Mariam, a young girl in the 1960s, grows up outside Herat, a small city in Afghanistan. When Laila hears Rasheed beating Mariam, she thinks the sounds she heard were those of a methodical, familiar proceeding. A Thousand Splendid Suns Summary Mariam, a young girl, lives in a small shack with her mother, Nana, outside of the city of Herat in Afghanistan. Please wait while we process your payment. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Mariam asks Laila if she would accept Rasheeds hand in marriage, and Laila answers at onceyesshe is pregnant and wants Rasheed to think that the baby is his. When Rasheed begins hitting Laila, it comes as a surprise: It was as if a car had hit her at full speed. The womens contrasting reactions to Rasheeds violence stem from their different upbringings and their expectations for their own lives. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance The narrative, which takes place in Afghanistan, is speckled with Afghani phrases that only sometimes are directly defined. Despite her father Hakim's emphasis on attending school, Laila must quit because the streets are too dangerous. They develop a friendship. In addition, this lesson is designed to provide educators with a core . Renews April 24, 2023 Already a member? Laila and Zalmai pick up Aziza and leave town. date the date you are citing the material. When they attempt to run away, they are discovered and returned home, where Rasheed punishes them brutally. He cares little for Mariam or Laila. After this tragedy, Mariam is for a while installed in Jalils guestroom. A stranger asks to speak to Laila's parents and her father tells her to go upstairs. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! Instant downloads of all 1715 LitChart PDFs At Part Twos conclusion, when Lailas parents are killed in a rocket explosion and she is gravely wounded, the violence in Kabul seems insurmountable. I remember watching them walking in pairs up the street, trailed by their children in ragged clothes, and wondering how life had brought them to that pointI spoke to many of those women in Kabul. This structure allows Hosseini to explore the effects of Afghanistans history across decades while crafting complex relationships between the characters. Jalil's wife tells Mariam that Mariam is to be married off to a shoe shop owner named Rasheed in Kabul. This almost maternal sacrifice allows Laila to escape with Tariq. The box contains a letter apologizing and providing an update for Mariam. I realized that I had found not only the right line for the scene, but also an evocative title in the phrase 'a thousand splendid suns,' which appears in the next-to-last stanza."[1]. The story, epic in scope and spanning three decades, follows these two indomitable women whose fortunes mirror those of their beloved and battered country'nothing pretty to look at, but still standing'and who find in each other the strength they need to survive. Hosseini best develops the themes and characterization in his novel through the books organization. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! While Mariam grows up in rural Herat and lives in a small hut, Laila lives in Kabul, a more progressive city center. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Laila awakens in Rasheed's and Mariam's house. A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis . After the fall of the Taliban, they decide to return to Kabul to be present for the rebuilding of Afghan society. Eventually Rasheed refuses to go at all, so Laila risks the walk alone, often suffering beatings by the Taliban. The novel concludes with Laila becoming a teacher and making efforts to improve Kabul. After becoming a bestselling author with the publication of. Their most outward show of defiance comes when they try to escape with Aziza to Pakistan. Mariam is taken to Jalil's home after her mother's funeral. Laila stops in Herat first and visits Mullah Faizullah's son and the kolba. Contact us Never truly knowing her older brothers, Laila grows close to Tariq, a carpenters son whose leg was blown off by a land mine. This reflects both their physical proximity and change in circumstances but also thematically represents their growing bond and sense of family. At first Rasheed treats Mariam decently, but after she suffers miscarriage after miscarriage, he abuses her both physically and verbally. Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? And when Laila becomes pregnant, she decides that if she has a girl, she'll name her Mariam. After Rasheed's death, Laila is determined to leave Kabul. Mariam gets pregnant seven times but loses the baby each time due to a health complication. Laila had planned to run away from Rasheed soon after Aziza was born. You'll also receive an email with the link. Rasheed searches for work elsewhere but has trouble. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. In this novel, both religious and political dimensions of the afghan society is depicted. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Rasheed does his best to pit the two women against each other. She sleeps outside Jalil's house waiting for him, but he will not see her. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The tension between Mariam and Laila thus lifts; Mariam appreciates Laila for defending her. He succeeds in making the emotional reality of Mariam and Laila's lives tangible to us, and by conjuring their day-to-day routines, he is able to give us a sense of what daily life was like in Kabul both before and during the harsh reign of the Taliban. The lessening violence in Afghanistan at the turn of the century offers her a rare chance to realize the other part of her dream, which is to live in her homeland. However, by not translating it, jinn retains a certain mystery and power that seems appropriate: as a child, Mariam is not sure how or why the jinn enters her mother just as the English-speaking reader is not sure to what sort of feeling or condition the word refers. Suspicious of Laila and Tariq's relationship and suspecting he is Aziza's real father, Rasheed beats Laila and attempts to strangle her; Mariam strikes Rasheed with a shovel, killing him. 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