A Thousand Splendid Suns Post A #1

Vocab
Culpable (4) - deserving blame
Demurely (5) - in a shy and reserved manner

Figurative Language
"Like a compass needle points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman" (7).
This sentence is a simile because it uses like to compare two situations.

"And so, your father built us this rathole" (9).
This sentence is a metaphor because it does not use like or as, but simply states the house as a "rathole."

"Mariam caught a glimpse of what was eneath the tree: the straight-backed chair, overturned. The rope dropping from a high branch. Nana dangling at the end of it (34)." This quote is an example of the powerful imagery Hosseini uses. When I read this, my stomach jumped a little, and for a second I felt a bit sick. His words gave me a sickening mental image of Mariam's mother's body blowing back and forth in the wind, hanging from the tree.

Quote
"Like a compass needle points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman" (7). My mom wasn't sure whether I should read this book, and she told me that there were some graphic descriptions of the Taliban mistreating women. This quote is said by Nana to Mariam. She has just finished telling Mariam how her father was out horseback riding when she was in labor with Mariam. By saying the words, "A man's accusing finger always finds a woman," Nana foreshadows to many more times that Jalil (and other males) will mistreat Mariam (and other females in the story).

Theme
Right away, I see the theme "You never appreciate something until it's gone." Before Nana hanged herself, Mariam believed her father Jalil and every lie that came out of his mouth. He told her that he loved her, gave her gifts, and pretended to spoil her. Mariam finally decided to go and try to live with Jalil, and decided to leave her mother Nana. When Nana realized that Mariam wouldn't be coming back, she hanged herself. After she had done this, Mariam realized that Nana was right about everything. She was right about Jalil being a liar. She was right about the fact that Jalil didn't care about her. She was right about Jalil being a cruel man. It is sad that Mariam only realized this after her mother was gone.