Post B # 6

Tariq has finally returned. He has returned from what I first thought was the grave, but then realized that Rashid payed off Abdul Sharif earlier in the novel to lie to Laila. He comes back, 25 years aged, but still the same Tariq that Laila knew and loved in her youth. "He was an adult now, Tariq, a twenty-five-year-old man with slow movements and a tiredness to his smile. Tall, bearded, slimmer than in her dreams of him, but with strong-looking hands, with tortuous, full veins. His face was still lean and handsome but not fair-skinned any longer; his brow had a weathered look to it, sunburned, like his neck, the brow of a traveler at the end of a long and wearying journey (295)." When he comes back, even though we know he was never on the total brink of death, he seems like a risen man. He's wise, doesn't have the same childish cockiness anymore, but still loves Laila in the same way he did before. Earlier on in the novel, Tariq asked Laila to marry him, and move away. She very much wanted to get away with him and live somewhere safe, but couldn't because Laila knew it would crush her father. Now, as they finally meet up again, the feeling of regret comes about with both of them. "I [Tariq] should have tried harder. I should have married you when I had the chance (305)." This kind of talk fills Laila with guilt and she tells him to not speak that way. Tariq asks her if he should leave, and tells her that she just needs to say the word, and he will go away forever. She sharply tells him no, and finds she is clutching his arm to herself. In her darkest hour, a thin sliver of light has finally shown through the cracks of Laila's jail cell.

A Thousand Splendid Suns Post A # 6

Vocab
Pragmatic (259)- pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations
Alleviating (272)- pertaining to a situation where the pain is lessened

Figurative Language
"Laila remembered standing atop the bigger of the two Buddhas with Babi and Tariq, back in 1987, a breeze blowing in their sunlit faces, watching a hawk gliding in circles over the sprawling valley below (279)." This quote occurs after the reader finds out the Taliban have blown up the two great Buddhas, what Laila calls, "Afganistans two greatest historic artifacts." Hosseni uses IMAGERY like "sunlit faces," and "sprawling valley" to paint a picture of one of Laila's most happiest memories.

"In the morning, the bed was empty. I asked a nurse. She said he [Tariq] fought valiantly (187)." This sentence turns into DRAMATIC IRONY when the reader finds out on page 291 that Tariq is still alive.

Laila- "The man who came to give the new, he was so earnest...I believed him, Tariq. I wish I hadn't, but I did. [...] Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to marry Rasheed. I wouldn't have..."
Tariq- "You don't have to do this," he said softly, avoiding her eyes. There was no hidden reproach, no recrimination, in the way he had said this. No suggestion of blame.
Tariq is almost like Jesus in the novel. He is with Laila at the beginning, and she is the happiest she has ever been. When they part ways, Laila endures many hardships, as well as Tariq (his mother and father die of painful diseases). Just when Laila is almost on the brink of death, he returns. She regrets [her sin] leaving him. He completely turns her apology back, and tells her it is okay [forgiving her sin]. SYMBOL

Quote
"I spoke to some neighbors earlier," [Tariq] said. [...] I don't recognize anybody. From the old days, I mean (297)." This quote could mean one of three things. Laila and Tariq's original neighbors died from the bad living conditions, the Taliban killed them, or they fled, fearing the Taliban would kill them. All three scenarios are not happy ones.

Theme
Some things in life are worth the wait, no matter how painful that wait might be.

Post B # 5

"You think I want it this way [a Caesarian-section for Laila's second baby, without any pain medications]? What do you wan me to do? They won't give me what I need. I have no X-ray either, no suction, no oxygen, not even simple antibiotics. When NGOs offer money, the Taliban turn them away. Or they funnel the money to the places that cater to men (258)." Rashid begins to suspect that Aziza is the baby of Laila and Tariq. He taunts Laila about it, but says that he won't give her or Aziza away for death or imprisonment. Laila is now in the hospital with Mariam, and Laila is going through labor with Rashid's baby. It has been too long for the baby to be had normally, and a C-section is necessary. The only thing is, Laila will have to go through it without anything to nullify the pain. Because of the Taliban, almost every decent-to-good hospital is only for men. There is one hospital for women, and the Taliban have depleted that hospital of all of it's resources. Hardly any operation conducted there would be safe, much less pain-free. I'm willing to bet that needles would be used and reused, spreading blood diseases left and right. From this quote, I get the impression that this hospital had literally, nothing to use. The Taliban did many horrible things to the Afghan community as a whole, but it specifically targeted women with a long list of highly restrictive rules. After the Taliban took over, girls had to wear burqas, could not speak unless spoken to, could not laugh in public, and were not allowed to be educated. There is no wonder why Laila wanted to take Mariam and Aziza to Pakistan.

A Thousand Splendid Suns Post A # 5

Vocab

Upend(ed) (231)- To have been sat or turned on one end

Erratic (251)- varying from the usual or proper course in conduct or opinion



Figurative Language

"It is my responsibility, you see, to maintain order [...] As a matter of policy, we do not interfere with private family matters, hamshira (238)." Situational Irony The police officer says it is his duty to protect the city from disorder, but he doesn't bother to think about matters such as abuse.

"It made a sound like dropping a rice bag to the floor (267)." Simile

"'I swear you're going to make me kill you, Laila,' he said, panting (272)." Foreshadowing

Later on, Mariam actually kills Rasheed.

Quote

"It's a matter of qanoon, hamshira, a matter of law," Rahman said, injecting his voice with a grave, self-important tone. "It is my responsibility, you see, to maintain order (238)." A police officer is talking to Laila after Mariam, Aziza, and she try and run away. They are caught, and are now talking to the police. Rahman says this after Laila tells him to release them, to not send them back to their home. "We are not criminals (238)." First of all, the fact that women must be accompanied by their husband whenever they step outside, is an unjust law. Second of all, the fact that a man sold them out, just so he could suck up to the military police, is wrong in so many ways. I could tell the officer had a bit of an ego, and was really "excited" to have caught three "criminals" in the act. In the quote, Hosseni describes Rahman's manner of speaking as, "with injected garveness, and a self-important tone." It seems to me that Rahman just wanted to flex his muscles, when he caught Laila, Mariam, and Aziza.



Theme

It is important to not lose sight of the small details, when looking at the big picture. An example of this happens when Officer Rahman is questioning Mariam. He says, "I am forced to send you back to your husband, or put you in jail." She tells him that her husband is an abusive man who will greatly hurt both her and Laila if they return. Rahman is not swayed by that. Mariam proceeds to refer to him saying how it is his responsibility to maintain law and order, and asks him, "Will you be there to maintain order?"

Post B #4

Rashid is aging, but nonetheless, still a fat, chain-smoking jerk. He agrees to adopt Laila by marrying her. Mariam describes Rashid on page 191. "His hair had gone white, but it was as thick and coarse as ever. There was a sag now to his eye-lids and the skin of his neck, which was wrinkled and leathery...he still had stout shoulders, the thick torso, the strong hands, the swollen belly that entered the room before any other part of him did." Judging from this description, he may also be a drinker!
Here is another description of Rashid, but this time from Laila. "Laila had a full view of his sagging breasts, his protruding belly button, the small blue vein in the center of it, the tufts of thick white hair on his chest, his shoulders, and upper arms. She felt his eyes crawling all over her" (197). Talk about premature skin aging, jeez. Rashid is a old, saggy, hairy, chain-smoking, alcohol-drinking creep. Hosseni does a great job portraying Rashid. Rashid is a cruel tyrant, which has already been established by his actions (making Mariam chew stones), but right now Hosseni goes a step further to establish what this cruel tyrant looks like.
He also seems like a child molestor also. When he first married Mariam, she was only fifteen years old. Now, both of them have aged quite a bit. "Sex, mercifully, was a closed chapter in her [Mariam's] life" (199). The part that disturbs me is the fact the Laila is fourteen. Seeing as how he and Mariam aren't as intimate anymore (they never really were), he goes and decides to marry a younger woman for his own perverted agenda. For goodness sakes, Rashid must be in his sixties right now.
I'm hoping Rashid will meet an unfortunate turn of events on of these days...

A Thousand Splendid Suns Post A # 4

Vocab
Retching (195)- to vomit or try to vomit
Mottled (195)- spotted or bleached in coloring


Figurative Language
"Tariq's mother trapped in the lorry, upside down, screaming for Tariq through the smoke, her arms and chest on fire, the wig melting into her scalp..."(185). Hosseni once again paints a mental picture about the horrors of the the Taliban. A visitor comes to Rashid's house shortly before he marries Laila. He is telling (and lying) Laila that Tariq had been killed in a crossfire. She imagines the images of what his parents were doing around the time the crossfire had happened.
Imagery
"And that room smells like a sewer" (212). In the first few weeks after Laila has had her baby, all Rashid does is complain about how she is too loud, and creates unpleasant smells. He hasn't yet called her by her real name, Aziza.
Simile
"She had passed these years in a distant corner of her mind. A dry, barren field, out beyond wish and lament, beyond dream and disillusionment" (228). Mariam has had a horrible life so far, and she is in her midforties at this point. She compares the past years of her life to a dry, barren field, where no life grows. It is a lonely field where she had nobody to turn to.
Metaphor

Quote

"She [Mariam] is sturdy, for one thing, a good worker, and without pretensions. I'll say it this way, if she was a car, she would be a Volga.[...]You [Laila], on the other hand, would be a Benz. A brand-new, first-class, shiny Benz (199)."
Rashid has just married Laila as his second wife as he is saying this. It is obvious that he doesn't care for Mariam anymore. He makes a reference to Laila's age (14), when he says "brand new," clueing into the reader that he thinks Mariam is just an old hag now, who is only good for doing work.

Theme
When life gives you lemons, it is not always possible to make lemonade.
Mariam is a prime example. She is treated like crap, by her chain-smoking husband. Every day, all she does is chores. If she wants to run away, she will either get put in jail, because of a law forbidding women to run away alone, or she will be gunned down by the Taliban.