A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini [147]
With his first novel Hosseini had wanted to give a Western public assailed with media images of war-torn Afghanistan, firstly during the Soviet occupation and then under the Taliban, a glimpse of the country he remembered from childhood and to dispel some of the misconceptions that some of his adopted countrymen had about it. Many of those misconceptions were about women who had not suffered repression before the Taliban seized power, contrary to popular Western belief. During what many have called the “Golden Years” of the 1960s and 70s, women actively contributed to Afghan society—Hosseini’s mother, for example, taught at a girls’ school—and their rights had been confirmed in a new constitution in the mid-1970s. It is the role of women that Hosseini has chosen to explore in his second novel and he does so vividly through the stories of Mariam and Laila, two women separated by a generation but united by an unbreakable bond of friendship. These two endure not only the brutality of their husband Rasheed, but also the appalling atrocities of the Taliban, yet remain resilient and true to themselves.
Hosseini’s family sought asylum in the United States in 1980 shortly after the Soviet invasion. Hosseini returned to Afghanistan after a twenty-seven year absence, following the fall of the Taliban, partly to satisfy a yearning to see his homeland again but also to find out how it was faring. He came back to the United States with a sense of optimism although not as much as he had hoped for, citing the security situation and the narcotics trade as two causes for grave concern.
About the author
Khaled Hosseini was born in 1965 in Kabul where his father was a diplomat and his mother taught Farsi and history. After the 1978 coup and the subsequent Russian invasion, the family fled Afghanistan for the United States, receiving political asylum in 1980. They settled in San Jose, California where his father found work as a driving instructor. Hosseini is a doctor and lives with his wife and two children in Northern California. The Kite Runner, his first novel, has been met with great critical and popular acclaim.
For discussion
• The novel opens with the sentence, “Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami.” How important is that word in the novel? How does Mariam’s illegitimacy shape her life?
• “The next time Mariam signed her name to a document, twenty-seven years later, a mullah would again be present”. Khaled Hosseini foreshadows events, both domestic and national, at many points throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns. What effect does this have?
• “But it was the women who drew Mariam’s eyes the most”. What is it that fascinates Mariam about the women of Kabul, and why does it capture her attention? How are women treated by the various regimes that take control of Afghanistan? How are the main female characters portrayed in the novel? To what extent do these portrayals differ from any preconceptions that you may have had about women in Afghanistan?
• Mariam protests at the idea of marrying Rasheed, begging her father not to force her. What kind of husband does he prove to be? How does she come to feel about him? How does their marriage change? Why do you think Rasheed behaves in the way that he does?
• “And in this fleeting, wordless exchange with Mariam, Laila knew that they were not enemies any longer”. How is the deep bond between Mariam and Laila forged? How does this bond sustain both of them?
• How does the observation of Islam in Kabul differ from Mariam’s hometown of Herat? What part does religion play in her life? How important is it in the novel?
• “To me, it’s nonsense – and very dangerous nonsense at that