A Thousand Splendid Suns And Water For Elephants Comparison Essay

The triumph of love over death and destruction is at once an inspiring and timeless theme. This theme is thoroughly examined in both Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns and Sarah Gruen’s Water for Elephants. Despite their subtle differences in writing style, both novels have protagonists who undergo similar experiences and have similar settings. The authors of both novels succeed in telling a moving story through their different writing styles. The writing in Water for Elephants is replete with colloquial language. The workers at the circus use broken English and common slang. Camel, for example, pleads with Blackie to let go of Jacob by saying, “Blackie, I’m tellin’ ya! We don’t need no trouble. Let ‘im go!” This vernacular lends much credence to the setting and the characters. Although the story is written from the first person point of view, the author’s use of dialogue
Mariam never thinks she’ll be able to love or be loved again. Two decades later, tragedy strikes Laila, when she loses her parents to a local bombing. Laila is crestfallen and miserable as she watches her life fall into shambles, first with her parents’ death and later with that of Tariq’s. The two women also face an abusive husband together. However, they find solace in each other and learn to deal with their pain through friendship and love. Mariam and Laila’s friendship leads them to endure unimaginable brutalities and gives them the strength to overcome their adversities with startling heroism. When Rasheed threatens to kill Laila, Mariam accepts the fate of being his murderer. After killing Rashid, Mariam notes to Laila, “For me, it ends here. There’s nothing more I want, everything I’d ever wished for as a little girl, you’ve given me. You and your children have made me so very happy. It’s alright Laila jo. This is alright. ( 319)”. Mariam’s sacrifice for Laila shows how devoted she is to