"A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS" ANALYSIS (NOVEL PRESENTATION)

this novel presentation consist of 5 cards, they are: 1). title and about the author, 2). level of difficulties, 3). key element of plot, 4). reaction or respond of the novel, 5). characters and experience

1.  Title and About The Author

Title : A thousand Splendid Suns, By Khaled Hosseini (Published May 22nd 2007 by Riverhead Hardcover)

Khaled Hosseini was born in March 4, 1965 in Afghan. Khaled Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984. Hosseini enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1988. Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He lives in Northern California with his wife, Roya, and their two children (Haris and Farah). Other books include The Kite Runner (the first novel) and The Mountains Echoed (the third novel)

Genre                               : Fiction (Novel)

Number of pages           : 253 pages

2. Difficulties

Level of difficulties  : Medium

Language                  : The language that is used in this book is full English. But it is not difficult enough for me to read it because this novel has several behavior and Afghan term that I didn’t know. About the language there are many vocabularies. I still confuse because the differences of dialects? It’s the lack of the dialect and complicated sentences. Then, there is only one point of view in this novel.

Plot           : Forward flow

3. Key Element of The Plot

The novel centers around the friendship between Mariam and Laila. It is split into four parts, with a focus on Mariam in the first part, continuing Laila in the second and fourth, and the relationship between the two women in the third part.

Mariam lives in a kolba on the outskirts of Herat with her embittered mother. Jalil, her father, is a wealthy man who lives in town with three wives and nine children. Mariam is his illegitimate daughter. Mariam come to Jalil and ask Jalil to the theater but he refuse it, so she sleep at outside of Jalil’s home. In the morning, Mariam returns home to find that her mother has committed suicide out of fear that her daughter has deserted her. Mariam is then taken to live in her father's house. Jalil arranges for her to be married to Rasheed, a shoemaker from Kabul who is thirty years her senior. In Kabul, Mariam becomes pregnant seven successive times, but is never able to carry a child to term, and Rasheed gradually becomes more abusive.

A girl named Laila and a boy named Tariq, who are close friends and aware of social boundaries. War comes to Afghanistan, and Kabul is bombarded by rocket attacks. Tariq's family decides to leave the city, and the emotional farewell between Laila and Tariq ends with them making love. Laila's family also decides to leave Kabul, but as they are packing a rocket destroys the house, kills her parents, and severely injures Laila. Laila is taken in by Rasheed and Mariam.

After recovering from her injuries, Laila discovers that she is pregnant with Tariq's child. After learning that Tariq is dead, she agrees to marry Rasheed, who is eager to have a young and attractive second wife, and hopes to have a child with her. When Laila gives birth to a daughter, Aziza, Rasheed is displeased and suspicious, and he soon becomes cruel  toward Laila. Mariam and Laila eventually become confidantes and best friends. They plan to run away from Rasheed and leave Kabul, but they are caught at the bus station. Rasheed beats them and deprives them of water for several days, almost killing Aziza.

A few years later, Laila gives birth to Zalmai, Rasheed's son. The Taliban has risen to power, and there is a drought, and living conditions in Kabul become poor. Rasheed's workshop burns down, and he is forced to take jobs for which he is ill-suited. Rasheed sends Aziza to an orphanage. Then one day, Tariq appears outside the house. When Rasheed returns home from work, Zalmai tells his father about the guest. Rasheed starts to nearly choking her, but Mariam intervenes and kills Rasheed with a shovel. Afterwards, Mariam confesses to killing Rasheed, in order to draw attention away from Laila and Tariq, and she is executed, while Laila and Tariq leave for Pakistan with Aziza and Zalmai.

After the fall of the Taliban, Laila and Tariq return to Afghanistan. They stop in the village where Mariam was raised, and discover a package that Mariam's father left behind for her: a videotape of Pinocchio, a small pile of money and a letter. Laila reads the letter and discovers that Jalil regretted sending Mariam away. Laila and Tariq return to Kabul and fix up the orphanage, where Laila starts working as a teacher. Laila is pregnant with her third child, and if it is a girl, Laila has already named her.

4. REACTION OF THIS NOVEL

Actually I enjoy to read it, because the story give the intent to deal with the miserable condition of women in Afghanistan. This novel gives a forceful portrait of tyranny where women are dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their only path to an accepted social status. Each woman in the end is forced to accept a path that will never be completely happy for them: Mariam will have to sacrifice her life to save Laila after she murders their husband while Laila, even though marrying her childhood love, must find a way to keep the sacrifice Mariam has made from not becoming an act done in vain.

I will read another book from her and I of course will recommend this book to all of my friends, especially for women.

 

5. CHARACTERS AND EXPERIENCES

A part of novel  that interest me is in Chapter 16. About Laila and Tariq when they are 9 years old. When they  have grown up, they felt in love each other, although Tariq didn’t have perfect leg.

One of the characters that I like is Mariam because she is a strong female figure that even though her husband chose to marry again. Initially she hated her husband's second wife (Laila), but in the end he became friends with Laila because he felt abused by their husbands. Mariam even tried to help when her husband tried to strangle Laila and admitted his actions, and then finally to death.

 

My Personal experience that related to this novel is like Laila and Tariq whose their  love are not sanctioned and prevented by their parents. But they still in love each other although they are far apart.

The large issues that related to the novel are war and future of Afghanistan, and miserable condition of women in Afghanistan. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny seen from the perspectives of two women.

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