A Thousand Splendid Suns Formal Essay
A Thousand Splendid Suns Formal Essay
Birds are important symbols in many cultures and for various reasons. They are used as symbols of purity, evil, beauty, and immortality. Kahled Hosseini uses many birds as symbols for the life of Mariam throughout the novel. The wants and actions of Mariam are shown in the birds that Hosseini places throughout the book. These include the freedom of the mockingbird, the parakeets being banned, and a crow, to show how something so innocent and simple, can have an important meaning behind it.
A mocking bird is a bird that mocks other birds. It always does whatever it hears even if it’s something that is not very important. A good example of the use of a mocking bird is when Mariam sees a mocking bird as it copies the sounds around it and flies into the clouds. The sky is a place that is far away from all the violence that takes place on the ground where Laila is living. The mocking birds want to fly to the sky since it is the perfect place for them to avoid all this violence. Hosseini writes about mocking birds as he says, “Outside, mockingbirds were singing blithely, and, once in a while, when the songsters took flight, Mariam could see their wings catching the phosphorescent blue moonlight beaming through the clouds.” (Hosseini 218) Hosseini uses the mockingbird as a symbol of freedom, something that Mariam wants more than anything. These times are filled with nothing, but suffering the bird is a good symbol to remind the people of Afghanistan that despite all the bad things that are taking place from this war there is always hope no matter how bad the situation is.
Another bird that is shown throughout the novel is the parakeet. The parakeet is a pretty, colorful, and exotic bird that loves to copy what it hears. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in the novel they made a list of rules that everybody living in the area must follow. One of these laws is explained by the Taliban as he says, “If you keep parakeets, you
Birds are important symbols in many cultures and for various reasons. They are used as symbols of purity, evil, beauty, and immortality. Kahled Hosseini uses many birds as symbols for the life of Mariam throughout the novel. The wants and actions of Mariam are shown in the birds that Hosseini places throughout the book. These include the freedom of the mockingbird, the parakeets being banned, and a crow, to show how something so innocent and simple, can have an important meaning behind it.
A mocking bird is a bird that mocks other birds. It always does whatever it hears even if it’s something that is not very important. A good example of the use of a mocking bird is when Mariam sees a mocking bird as it copies the sounds around it and flies into the clouds. The sky is a place that is far away from all the violence that takes place on the ground where Laila is living. The mocking birds want to fly to the sky since it is the perfect place for them to avoid all this violence. Hosseini writes about mocking birds as he says, “Outside, mockingbirds were singing blithely, and, once in a while, when the songsters took flight, Mariam could see their wings catching the phosphorescent blue moonlight beaming through the clouds.” (Hosseini 218) Hosseini uses the mockingbird as a symbol of freedom, something that Mariam wants more than anything. These times are filled with nothing, but suffering the bird is a good symbol to remind the people of Afghanistan that despite all the bad things that are taking place from this war there is always hope no matter how bad the situation is.
Another bird that is shown throughout the novel is the parakeet. The parakeet is a pretty, colorful, and exotic bird that loves to copy what it hears. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in the novel they made a list of rules that everybody living in the area must follow. One of these laws is explained by the Taliban as he says, “If you keep parakeets, you
Cited: Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Toronto: Penguin Group Canada, 2007. Print.