Discussion Topic A

In Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns there is use of First person POV, imagery and diction that gives the readers a view of how domestic abuse can affect someone physically and psychologically.

      In the use of first person point of view readers can easily gain the psychological aspect of domestic abuse. With this aspect the readers can understand whatever thoughts riddled the characters Laila and Mariam as they were verbally insulted by Rasheed. For example Rasheed immediately attempts to win Laila's hand after she was recovering from the death of her parents and learning about the death of her beloved Tariq. After the rushed marriage with Laila in his desperation to have a son he would demean Mariam. Rasheed would talk about how Mariam's quiet disposition is a blessing, her being a harami from a kolba or mud house, basically insulting Mariam's origins in order to put Laila and himself on the same page."Have you told her, Mariam, have you told her that you are a harami? Well, she is. Hearing it made her feel like she was a pest, a cockroach. (Page 199 lines 12-13 & 18-19)" Rasheed purposely insults Mariam until she gives birth to Aziza, then from that point he stopped all the coaxing and he would constantly attempt to sleep with her so she could give him a son.

        In the use of imagery the readers can take in the situation when Rasheed would attempt to beat his spouses. Hosseini not only gave the image of the abusing but the after effects of his wrath. For example Mariam's appearance changes not due to just age but to what Rasheed would do to her."Mariam was forty now. Her hair, rolled up above her face, had a few stripes of gray in it. Pouches sagged beneath her eyes, brown and crescent shaped. She'd lost two front teeth. One fell out, the other Rasheed knocked out when she dropped Zalmai (page 262 Lines 3-6)" Readers can easily picture what Mariam looks like: an old woman with remnants of abuse still there and they continue to come.

        In conclusion one can find that through Hosseini's use of first person and imagery readers can experience the events Laila and Mariam went through when married to a man who hold low value for women in general.

Discussion Topic B: A Thousand Splendid Suns

In Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns there is an extensive use of first person POV and imagery that conveys a woman's view of men under the Taliban decree. With the authors use of these literary elements readers can truly understand that in their time to be a woman it meant more than just enduring life's misfortunate events but they had to fight to keep their sanity in a setting that always tries to push it over the edge.

           
        Hosseini's most noticeable element would be the use of first person POV. When the readers are following the plot it can be found that when readers have to knowledge of what goes though a character's mind in the course of any situation readers can easily feel or experience whatever difficulty they face. For example when the plot turns to Miriam's trial Readers understand that under the Taliban domination it seemed to favor Rasheed's course of action towards his spouses. "I admit to what I did brother, Mariam said, but if I hadn't he would have killed her. He was strangling her. So you say. But, then, women swear to all sorts of things all the time. ( page 324, lines 22-25)" Now true, Miriam's action was extreme but when the readers look back into the earlier situations of the plot when Rasheed forced Mariam to chew pebbles to insult her cooking, comparing her to a Volga, and having to deal with his actions to gain Laila's hand readers probably found that his death was unnecessary but it was a deserving fate to be killed by the wife he had so passionately abused that in her old age she felt the same fear of him when she first married him. Rasheed, in his last moments didn't even learn to regret his actions. In fact the man was so used to being the more powerful influence he thought he still had the upper hand." Was that respect she saw in his eyes? Regret? But then his upper lip curled back into a spiteful sneer, and Mariam knew the futility....the irresponsibility of not finishing this (page 311 lines 6-10)”

           The second literary element that was put to excellent use would be Hosseini's use of imagery. With the author's use of imagery reader can obtain he vivid scenes of the character's life's struggles to the quiet settings of amour. Readers need to understand the extent of gender inequality in their time with Hosseini's use of imagery readers can almost "see" or easily imagine the violence of a situation or how calm it gets. For example, Readers can image the atmosphere when all the characters were at the one hospital for patients who were women. As underfunded and insuffient the "hospital" was readers can picture Mariam's struggle through the crowd of women who all seeked treatment from an overburdened doctor. "Before the registration window was a horde of women, shoving and pushing against each other......Mariam waded in. She dug in her heels and burrowed against the elbows, hips and shoulder blades of strangers(page 255 lines 24-25 & 29-30)" Readers can literally imagine a large crowd of struggling women seeking treatment and Mariam forced to push, swat and roughhouse her way to get a doctor to se Laila.

             In conclusion, when reviewing Khaled Hosseini's use of imagery and first person POV it can be realized that in comparison to a factual read of gender inequality to Hosseini's storytelling prowess readers can understand that women in America are truly fortunate in comparison to women in Afghanistan who face hardships due to the Taliban decrees. Women in Afghanistan have it hard compared to their men who are all treated like kings going out to restaurants, getting proper medical treatment and it leaves room for domestic violence to take place.

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