TOPIC A: M.MENDOZA PERIOD 7

In Khaled Hosseini’s doleful novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, the author, through the use of literary elements, is able to portray the unfortunate and horrific acts of domestic violence that take place in many Middle Eastern countries. Elements such as imagery bring out the reality of this issue and describe the way many people, mainly women, are devoured by its horrible grip. As seen in Hosseini’s novel, women like Mariam and Laila are pretty much forced to live on with this sort of violence as part of their daily lives. The way Hosseini depicts these horrific scenes though, really engage the reader to the point to where one can almost feel and absorb that sort of pain in one’s own body. The usage of very detailed and descriptive scenes at times can become gruesome…“delivering a kick to the flank that would have Laila pissing blood for days” (pg 272) but nevertheless are superbly effective when it comes to delivering the overall purpose.  All of this of course, is accomplished by the extremely good choice of words that go farther that just creating images for the reader making the use of imagery the perfect way to bring out the reality of this day to day issue.


TOPIC C: M.MENDOZA PERIOD 7


In Khaled Hosseini’s erratic novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, the setting of the story plays a major role on the way the author expresses the views of gender roles and relations in Middle Eastern countries. As women being the main pray of this monstrous issue, Hosseini utilizes such elements as the wars that occurred in Afghanistan within the last two decades to exemplify these different views of gender. Though it may not seem as a big deal to many, the mistreatment women receive as a result of gender differences can go from something so simple to something that becomes fatal. “You will not laugh in public, if not you will be beaten…if you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death” (pg 278). As seen in these examples where Taliban rules are being imposed, just the fact of being a woman living under these new rulers can become something that is a matter of life and death. Aside from the injustice and denied privileges, women live with the fear of death knowing that breaking any single rule can cost them their lives. Living under these circumstances as a male at times can be hard as well but they definitely have more freedom than women do. Although this is a very sad and unfortunate environment for women, the author achieves to portray his view on gender inequality through the exceptional use of the setting in this novel.