Preview

A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1239 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis Essay Example
The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, shows how war can change people, and how it brings out the worst in them. Characters in this novel have their personalities and their views of life changed by the war that tears through their country. As the war changes the characters, they come into conflict with each other, with themselves, and with society. The settling also plays a big part in the theme, as it sets the scene and allows all these changes to occur. The author of A Thousand Splendid Suns develops this theme through the use of characterization, conflict, and setting.

Characterization in the novel shows how the characters change throughout the book because of the war. One character that proves this point is Rasheed; he’s not a terrible guy at the beginning of the book, and when the war comes to Kabul, he slowly gets worse and worse. At the start of the novel, as the author writes, he’s shows that Rasheed isn’t perfect, but he tries to be a good husband. “Rasheed, who took up the window and middle seat, put his thick hand on hers,” (Hosseini 56) wrote the author about the bus ride Mariam was taking to her new home with her husband. This quote reveals that while Rasheed isn’t the greatest man, he still wants Mariam to be happy. But as the book starts nearing the middle, and the rulers of Afghanistan start to shift, Rasheed’s personality begins to take a turn of the worst. He gets more violent, irritable, and overall nasty. “His powerful hands clasped her jaw. He shoved two fingers into her mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it. Mariam struggled against him, mumbling, but he kept pushing the pebbles in, his lips curled into a sneer. “Now chew,” he said,” (Hosseini 104) describes the author about Rasheed losing his temper with Mariam, and resorting to violence to teach her a lesson. Rasheed is beginning to get more and more irritable, and it gets to the point where he forces Mariam to chew rocks as

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    No Mans Land Theme

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    outcomes of war. One theme that is projected in this novel is “War time is a time which requires great…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the poem, Tabrizi uses the expression “A Thousand Splendid Suns” to illustrate the beauty of Afghanistan by personifying as a beautiful woman. It is therefore it is ironic that a novel that depicts the destruction of Afghanistan’s culture and the power structure, as in how much they value men to women. In the poem, it says, “May Allah protect such beauty from the evil eye of man!” This along with the concept of female endurance and survival from her own country shows just how corrupt the Afghanistan culture has become from then to now. The title highlights the tragedy of what happen to Afghanistan by making us remember precedent of what happens in the novel. Like the visit to the giant Buddha statues before their…

    • 1939 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel “A Separate Peace” presents many examples of the theme “war and rivalry” like World War 2, enlisting for the war, and Gene and Finny’s egos. World War 2 is represented during the whole book, enlisting for the war was the inevitable fate of the boys, and Gene and Finny’s egos conveyed the rivalry. “War and Rivalry” was the most occurring theme in the story, helping shape the novel of what it is…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once the young men of a country get pushed off to war many hardships follow in the homeland. Everyone in this novel was affected by war in the same way. All of the young man that went to…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Evil is done without effort, naturally, it is the working of fate.”- Charles Baudelaire In the book The Lord of The Flies by William Golding, many young boys land on an island after a plane crash during World War II causing the evil in each other to come out and separate the kids into two different tribes eventually causing a war between themselves. Jack demonstrates the evil of a powerful and hungry dictator. Jack’s vicious characteristics cause him to make his own tribe, kidnap and torture samneric, and also rallying his tribe to kill Simon. When Jack is not elected chief he decides to make his own tribe.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry depicts an African American family with many struggles, and by analyzing their struggles, certain lessons and the theme of this drama can be identified. While the family does seem to hold together, there are many problems that arise, such as having family issues, trying to fit into a community of a different race, struggling financially, etc. By the end of the play it seems as if the family has been able to figure things out a little more, but the root cause of most of their problems seemed to have come from money. Hansberry uses this play as a chance to show just how important and influential money is, and shows aspects that make the reader question the ethnically correct way to make and…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As an avid reader I enjoy different types of books. A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini is one of my favorite books because of its accurate depiction of Afghanistan after the defeat of the Soviet invasion. Unlike the Hosseini story of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns focuses on the difficulties that women in Afghanistan faced when the Taliban came to power. The story revolves around two women with a substantial age difference and the personal pain they suffer in their marriages to the same husband. Hosseini portrays the change in Afghanistan for women when the Taliban came to power and the strict rules they had to abide by.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini takes place in Afghanistan, from the mid 1960’s to early 2000’s. It follows the life of Mariam, the illegitimate child of a rich businessman. A child bride, she is abused by her husband, and eventually attempts to flee her city, Kabul, during the Civil War and the regime of the Taliban. While the events of A Thousand Splendid Suns are not relatable to many people living in countries such as the United States and Canada, readers are able to connect the events of Mariam’s life to real life situations happening in the Middle East and parts of Africa.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Strength in a friend is a vital attribute that provides consistency and stability in the relationship. It allows the ability to overcome great obstacles and the ability to survive when others would be overwhelmed. Gabriel Marquez embodies strength through Ursula Buendia in 100 Years of Solitude. She appears to be an island of logic and reason in an abundance of absurdity. Ursula is the backbone of the Buendia family on whom all of the family relies. Not only is she the mother, she is the only source of money. She unflinchingly goes on after the deterioration and death of her husband. She displays profound amounts of fortitude and perseverance. Ursula alone permitted the longevity of the Buendia family.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literary Analysis Essay

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This worksheet must be TYPED. Bring your completed worksheet (along with the O’Connor short stories) to class with you on Tuesday 11/27. Note: Page 1 of this outline provides a sample outline of the thesis statement and ONE paragraph from the online sample Literary Analysis Essay.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literary Analysis Essay

    • 1434 Words
    • 6 Pages

    When the drama attains a characterization which makes the play a revelation of human conduct and dialogue which characterizes yet pleases for itself, we reach dramatic literature. – George P. Baker.…

    • 1434 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cognitive Design

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini is seen through the eyes of two young female protagonists, who have a strong and well-developed character. In the novel, the author shows their hardship, their lives in a hopeless society, Afghanistan, and how throughout their life they face cruelty and vulnerability.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The setting of A Thousand Splendid Suns allows aspects of society to be applied to the homes of Afghanistan families. When the novel introduces the Taliban’s arrival many people believe they will settle the peace and end corruption in the…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literary Analysis Essay

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the fairy tales, the protagonists always gain their Snow Whites in the end and they all live happily ever after. In fact, all protagonists’ fate is decided by the narrator’s hand. Just like the literary works we have recently read, including the poems “Sunday Greens” by Rita Dove, “Sinful City” by Jaroslav Seifert and the excerpt from Like Water for Chocolate from Laura Esquivel, the characters’ fate was sealed from that moment. Therefore, the most relevant theme through three works is that fate is for those too weak to determine their own destiny.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thousand Splendid Suns

    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages

    To persevere is to maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement and continue consistently .A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini is a story of two young Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, who face and overcome many tragedies and live in a country ruined by political problems and war. Both women have to endure horrific tragedies in their lives but they become one to persevere throughout it all. The women are years apart from each but still have to marry the malicious Rasheed. The two have to marry him because they have no way of living without him. The women learn to put up with Rasheed’s physical abuse and the rules of their lifestyle they have to follow of Afghan women. Hosseini displays the perseverance of Mariam and Laila, how the inner strength of Afghan women allows them to endure difficult situations like lack of education, forced marriages, and Taliban rules. Everyone goes through struggles and has to persevere through it.…

    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays