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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini tells the story of two young girls, Mariam and Laila, and about their rough upbringings in Afghanistan during the 1960’s to the late 2000’s. Mariam lives with her uncaring mother Nana, and Mariam’s father Jalil visits her once a week. After Nana hangs herself, Mariam would assumedly go to live with Jalil. However, Jalil’s wives do not wish to have Mariam around. Jalil solves this issue by finding a man, Rasheed, for Mariam to marry. Their marriage was well initially, but when Mariam could not bear Rasheed the son he wanted, he became abusive. Laila lived nearby Mariam. Unlike Mariam, Laila was raised in a happy, loving family. Disaster struck when her two brothers, Ahmad and Noor, died in
In Part three, a shift in this isolation occurs when Laila becomes a part of her life. An epiphany occurs where Mariam starts to realize the injustices that surround her; The amount of her life wasted with Rasheed, the physical and emotional abused endured from him, and the injustices she knows Laila is about to endure.Then as she starts to bond with Laila, Mariam feels a sense of purpose; the kids look up to her as a secondary mother figure and she has Laila as a companion. So when Rasheed had the intent to kill Laila, Mariam had to act. She has taken justice into her own hands by responding to Rasheed’s physical injustice and the injustices of equality rights towards women at the hands of the Taliban. She later tells Laila that she was simply “acting like a
Hosseni’s application of spousal abuse in the novel inflicts a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for Mariam and Laila. Mariam and Laila are victims of abuse in a patriarchal society. In their polygamous relationship with their husband Rasheed, he oppresses them emotionally, verbally, and physically. After Laila is brought back from the police, Rasheed promises that if she ever tries to run away again, he “swear[s] on the Profit’s name [he] will find [her]”(272) and if he does, he will
In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by the author Khaled Hosseini presents the tragedy that Mariam went through. Mariam the unwanted child for her father because he was not married to Mariam’s mother when she get pregnant from him. She lived in a village with her only family member, her mother. One day she left her mother and went to the city that her father lived in. Her mother felt abandoned and committed suicide because Mariam is all she had. After the death of her mother, Mariam moved with her father to Kabul. She was a burden to her father so after some weeks she was forced to marry a forty-five year old man when she was only fifteen year old. She moved to another city with her husband where she had to live with a man that she never
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the maturation of Amir, a boy from Afghanistan, as he discovers what it means to stand up for what he believes in. His quest to redeem himself after betraying his friend and brother, Hassan, makes up the heart of the novel. When Amir hears that his father’s old business partner, Rahim Khan, is sick and dying, he travels to Pakistan to say his goodbyes. Rahim Khan tells Amir about Hassan’s life and eventual death; the Taliban murdered Hassan while he was living in Amir’s childhood home. As his dying wish, Rahim Khan asks Amir to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from an orphanage in Afghanistan. Although Amir refuses at first, he thinks about what Rahim Khan had always told him: “There is a way to be good again…” (226), which gives him the incentive he needs to return to Afghanistan and find Sohrab. Hosseini draws parallels between Amir’s relationship with Hassan and Amir’s relationship with Sohrab in order to demonstrate the potential of redemption.
In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo portrays human nature in a neutral state. Humans are born with neither good nor bad instincts, but rather society affects our actions and thoughts. Hugo portrays the neutral state of mind through Jean Valjean and Cosette. The two extremes of good and evil are represented through Thénardier and the bishop. Good and evil coexists in the society and affects Valjean and Cosette. It is the two extremes of good and evil that dictate the lives of Valjean and Cosette. The bishop represents charity and love. Everything he's ever had, he gave to charity. When the bishop first met Valjean, he said, "You need not tell me who you are. This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any comer whether he has a name, but whether he has an affliction. You are suffering; you are hungry and thirsty; be welcome. And do not thank me; do not tell me that I take you into my house..... whatever is here is yours." (pg. 15-16) The bishop didn't look at him as a convict; he looked at him as a fellow brother. Later, when the bishop found out that Valjean stole his silver, he wasn't mad, but offered all of his silver to Valjean saying, "Don't forget that you promised me to use this silver to become an honest man." Thénardier, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of the bishop. He represents the corruptive nature of society. He's the one that changes people for the bad. An example of how Thénardier represents greed and evil is how he...
It has been said that the best things in life are worth fighting for. In the
Having the ability to sacrifice significantly is not easy; taking the selfish route would be less distressing. Since Laila is pregnant, but not with Rasheed’s child, she became well aware of how she must handle the situation, forcing her to see “the sacrifices a mother had to make. Virtue was the first”. A mother, Laila in particular, is willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the benefit of her child (219). By realizing the grief a mother goes through on behalf of their children, Laila begins to define the necessities for her child in order to provide the best life for it. As a result of the current situations for women in Afghanistan, Laila understands that it is in her best interest to marry Rasheed, so that she can have someone to help her support her family. On the other hand Mariam was not able to have children. Which put a strain on Mariam and Rasheeds relationship. Leaving Mariam with only the loving nature of Laila, Aziza, and Zalmai, due to the fact that Rasheed was only a negative presence in her life. After a while Rasheed treated both of his wives with no respect, therefore the women became closer than ever. Mariam became like a mother figure in Laila’s life, she would do anything for Laila and her children. “She gave it everything she had” revealing that she would go as far as killing Rasheed in order to free Laila and herself from greater abuse (349). However,
The New York Times called it “A whale of yarn! Crammed with adventure …lavish … sumptuous” (“The Scarlet Pimpernel”)! In November of 1982, the swashbuckling classic tale The Scarlet Pimpernel came to life on the screen, filled with blissful romance, assumed identities, and enthralling adventures. Based on the novels The Scarlet Pimpernel and Eldorado by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, this film adaptation tells the story of Sir Percy Blakeney, an English nobleman and master of disguise, who bears an infamous identity: The Scarlet Pimpernel. While conducting his heroic escapades in rescuing victims of the French Revolution, Sir Percy Blakeney falls madly in love with the beautiful Marguerite St. Just, who is also being pursued by the villainous Paul Chauvelin, the Chief Agent for the Committee of National Security. Directed by Clive Donner, The Scarlet Pimpernel features an intriguing cast wearing extravagant costumes, filmed at some of the most monumental sites in England. This film has the ability to appeal to a large audience, making it a production that anyone is sure to enjoy.
When a person becomes trapped in a situation that stems from an individual with greater authority, being manipulative can be a very promising method to escape. The Thousand and One Nights does a very good job of being a good example of someone in this situation that uses stories within a story to capture encapsulate the attention of the reader. Despite the many little stories that go into the text, the main story behind it all is about a king named King Shahrayar and how he goes insane after catching his wife having sexual relations with a slave. After he sees this happen, he realizes that he can never trust any woman again and none of them are trustworthy. By expressing his views on women, he decides to marry a different woman every night, then the next morning have them killed by beheading. This is an ongoing event that brings death to most of the women in the village. Soon after, the king’s Vizier’s daughter, Shahrazad, came up with a brilliant idea that will end up saving her fellow countrywomen and hopefully keep the king from murdering so many innocent people. Her method behind all this is by telling the kind a different story every night that leaves him on a cliffhanger, making him curious enough to keep her alive for another day to continue her story. Shahrazad keeps herself spared from the king because of her cunning, and compassionate personality.
A Thousand Splendid Suns made me uncover and acknowledge what a democratic system would look like in their society and how it would change them as individuals. Throughout the book I noticed how Laila’s dad believes that the patriarchal system in place does no justice to the women of their society. In the book Babi states, “A society has no chance at success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No chance. (Hosseini 114)” Babi expresses that he does not agree with the way their patriarchal system works and believes that education is important making him one of the few feminist voices in the novel. In the book club, my group discussed how women who are educated can overcome all the biases in their society and even escape the abuse from their husbands (Book Club 2), one of the major themes in A Thousand Splendid Suns. We discussed how this can be seen in Laila’s bold and brave decisions made throughout her marriage with Rasheed. This is evident when Laila makes the life changing decision to run away from Rasheed to escape his torture and unite with her true love Tariq. Laila believes that she has the right to be freed from Rasheed and that she could run away if she wanted to. Everyone wants to live happily and have their rights but at the same time they want to abide by the system which they live under. By knowing what a good system for a country looks like, it makes us desire one. We begin to
Most people know the famous film of Mel Gibson, "Braveheart", where an episode of the war between Scotland and England is related. It's undeniable that the film offers a worthy spectacle of Hollywood and that spectators are entertained by its scenes during all the film. The history relates how a plebeian man of the end of XIII Century, William Wallace, after the lost of his family and his wife, rebels against the British Crown and his king, Edward I. Wallace attacks English positions of Scotland. He wins a big number of battles helped by the strength of his patriots. Nevertheless, Wallace is hunted down and captured, taken to London, tried for treason, and executed by hanging, drawing and quartering, the new and beastly technique for traitors.
In his novel, Les Miserables, author Victor Hugo makes a strong statement about society being the cause for evil in man. Les Miserables is based on a poor man, Jean Valjean, who was arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving baby. Valjean is sentenced to 20 years for his crime, and, when he is released, he is shunned for his past, which he has more than paid for. Society turns him out at every turn for his past crime, and will hear no excuses for his deed. With this scenario, Hugo shows the cruelty of a “civilized” world that would cause a man to suffer unending prejudice for stealing a single loaf of bread to feed a small child.
Victor Hugo made it so that the characters in Les Miserables progressed throughout the novel. The theme “progress” can be seen and used widely. Three main characters, Jean Valjean, Cossette, and Javert expressed positive and negative forms of growth.
The introduction of the song starts out with a slow tempo in simple quadruple meter. It begins in a close five-part harmony with voices in heterophony, singing a capella in long drawn out notes. The first and second sub-phrase of the first phrase ends with questions, the breath is heard then the second part of the statement begins just like the first. There is an accent on "no" by a sudden drop in tone, then the voices return to the original notes, where the last word and note is held, it forms the cadence. The theme begins with the melody in the form of legato. The statement picks up with four voices now still in harmony, but in a homophonic style because of the piano that joins in. With the piano still playing the voices are accompaning it by holding out one word and note. Three of the voices drop out and become the background accompaniment for the lead voice, by singing in unsion and holding out one note. Then the back up voices imitate part of the phrase from the lead that continues to sing the melody. The three voices then join the lead voice making it a harmony again with the piano changing how it is playing completely by playing one note at a time every second beat. During this part there is word painting involved, when the voices say "high" their pitch goes up and when they say "low" their pitch goes down. Then the piano returns to its original melody with the lead voice becoming apparent again by increasing the volume of his voice, but still singing the same words as the other parts. The lead waviers back and forth with, being equal and not, by differing from the dynamics of the other voices. In this last sub-phrase an emphasis is put on "to me" by the lead voice repeating it this time by himself, forming a com...
A powerful, moving, eye opening novel is what should be taught in the grade 12 curriculum. A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini is just that. It is an incredible novel which gives students a better understanding of the 4U course. Firstly, the author explores literacy devices which illustrates effectively and is applicable for the 4U student and their journey to post secondary school. Secondly, A Thousand Splendid suns relates to the novel The Kite Runner as they both have main characters with tragic flaws in their lives similar to Amir, Hassan and Baba. It uses a woman protagonist instead of male, giving the reader a different prospective to life in Afghanistan as a female instead of a male. Lastly, the duality of human nature through the difference of characters, tying the novel to an important theme in the course. Therefore, Khaled Hosseini’s A thousand Splendid Suns is an incredibly moving novel which should be taught in the grade twelve curriculum as students would only benefit from reading this novel.