Jounal+Entry

A Thousand Splendid Suns Journal Entry #4, pg 156-260

What plot twists or unexpected events happen as the novel goes on? After rockets began to rain down on Afghanistan, Laila’s life quickly started to fall apart. Her father, a man who puts great importance in education, has Laila drop out of school and become homeschooled as the streets become unsafe. Her good friend Giti is killed by a rocket, and Laila is struck with the grief that she hadn’t been able to summon at her own brothers' funeral. Tariq, her best friend and lover leaves Afghanistan because of his father’s bad health, and Laila cannot go with him. She is heartbroken, and makes him leave without saying goodbye. Seventeen days later, Babi finally convinced Mammy to leave Afghanistan. Overflowing with happiness that she’ll soon be reunited with Tariq, Laila eagerly carries out boxes too heavy for her. When she is out in the yard, Laila sees a bright flash of light behind her. Her home is destroyed, and both her parents were killed by a rocket. Laila lost everything familiar to her in a matter of days. She was rescued by her neighbour Rasheed, the shoemaker and his wife Miriam. After recovering and living with them for a few weeks, Rasheed suggests that Laila become his second wife to avoid being judged by neighbours.Laila says that she’ll consider it, but knows that she cannot because she’s in love with Tariq. A few days later a man comes to tell her of Tariq’s death, which leaves Laila heartbroken. Laila agrees to marry Rasheed, in order to stay in the safety of his home. Miriam, Rasheed’s wife is very angry with Laila for ’stealing her husband,' because Rasheed was very cruel to Miriam, but very kind to Laila. Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose? Even before she had learned of Tariq’s death, Laila had planned to leave for Pakistan, and escape Rasheed. She begins to suspect that she has conceived a child with Tariq, and no longer considers leaving as an option. She thinks of the child as all she has left of Tariq, and worries for its safety at a refugee camp. Laila tells Rasheed of her pregnancy, and convinces him that he’s the father. Rasheed immediately prays for a boy, as he lost his son many years before. The child was born some months later, a girl. Laila named her Aziza, and Rasheed lost all interest in the child. Aziza is an important character because she symbolizes hope, she keeps Laila’s hope alive along with her memories of Tariq. Aziza also brings Laila and Miriam to become friends. Miriam never liked Laila because she stole away Rasheeds attention, but now Miriam must help take care of Aziza, and finds that she has a fondness for the child. Laila is kind to Miriam, and they become friends. Their friendship helps them survive their relationships with the abusive Rasheed. Rasheed suspects that Aziza isn’t his child, and threatens to tell the Islamic government and have Laila killed. Laila and Miriam’s friendship grows stronger, and one day a familiar face shows up at their door. Laila immediately recognizes Tariq, and she’s filled with hope and happiness. Laila makes plans to run away with Aziza, and invites Miriam along to escape Rasheed. Eventually, Miriam agrees and they steal away during the night. Is there a message or main theme emerging in the book? How is it shown? The main theme of the novel is hope. The setting helps illustrate the theme because hope is scarce in the war torn country of Afghanistan, but Mammy keeps hoping that the Mujahideen will defeat the Soviets, which eventually comes true. When Laila’s parents are killed, her home destroyed, and she is married to a man who beats her, she keeps hoping to be reunited with the lover she believes to be dead. She tries once to run away from Rasheed, but is unsuccessful. Rasheed’s shop burns down, and they have little money for food. Life is almost unbearable. One day Tariq shows up at her door, and a new hope is found for Laila. Laila keep hope for the future, even when times were tough. The main character, Laila helps illustrate the theme because she is very determined and has high hopes for the future. There is a quote from the novel which I think best illustrates the theme of hope, “One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.” This line is from a poem written about Kabul, told to Laila by her father. The quote is about the beautiful things that the future will bring. The novels title is from this quote, which I think sums up the theme. I imagine it would be hard to maintain hope as a woman in the war-torn, desolate land of Afghanistan. Another main theme in the novel is the oppression of women. The two main characters, Miriam and Laila, are both young women that have had horrible this happen to them, although they had very different upbringings. Laila was raised by loving parents, who believed in the values of women’s education. Miriam was brought up as a // hiriami, // bastard child by her mother who told her she was useless. However, both women ended up with the same abusive husband, which relates to the next theme. Friendship is a theme in the novel as well, and how true friendship will help you through hard times. Laila and Miriam’s friendship helped them both survive their marriage with Rasheed, and Laila taught Miriam the meaning of true friendship. Miriam had never had someone who understood her, but Laila did, and Laila was the only person who was ever truly nice to her. When Miriam saw Rasheed attempting to strangle Laila, she kills him with a shovel, and sacrifices her own future for Laila’s. Miriam is sent to jail for a few days before her sentence, and meets many women, most of who had just been sent to jail for running away. Miriam finds an admirer in jail and is flattered by the attention she receives, which distracts her from the certain death she will receive.