Memories In Khaled Hosseini's And The Mountains Echoed

Memories are our link to the past. They give us context, allow us to grow and learn from mistakes, and let us recall past experiences. They give rise to culture and allow society to advance. In contrast, memory also stores our pain, our embarrassment, and our heartache. As humans, our standard response to this recollection of pain is to forget it in some capacity. The characters of Khaled Hosseini’s novel And the Mountains Echoed are no different. fleeting, the novel places certain characters in impossible situations that leave them broken and haunted by the choices they were forced to make. Some are trapped by their pasts and lack the closure to begin to move on with their lives. Without closure, they turn to alternate methods to alleviate
Hosseini introduces memory as a theme early o in the novel with the story of the Div. The Div, a child stealing “monster”, completely upends Baba Ayub’s life. Baba Ayub, forced to make an impossible decision, and live with the consequences, is perpetually haunted by the memory of his action. He is left in a state of despair and shame, unable to reconcile with a decision that, while unfathomable, ultimately saved the rest of his family. Baba Ayub has suffered beyond belief, and as a “reward for passing the Div’s second test”, he was given a “potion that erased memories”. It’s the Div’s final “act of mercy” (Hosseini 14). The potion the Div gives Baba Ayub is not a typical reward. It takes memories, erases essential parts of the events that let the receiver to where they are today. However, it’s perfect for Baba Ayub. While memories, such has how to hunt or farm, are what allow him to survive as long as he has, they turn on him and trap him in a mental prison. He is left in a perpetual state of grief and rage, fighting an internal war attempting to reconcile with his actions, and is unable to move past this agony and begin to heal. The Div releases him from this prison. By altering his perception of
They deal with impossible pain on a daily basis and are unable to come to terms with their actions. Instead, they cope with a very understandable human reaction to unbearable pain. This reaction is a part of what makes us human and has been around for as long as we have. Memories are what keep us alive, without them we would there would be no past, only a perpetual present with every bite the first experience with food and every step a new exploration of an unknown world. However, when memories begin to constrict and confine our actions, there is only one possible action, to