A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns by
Khaled Hosseini is a book of aborted dreams, vain hope, brutal torture and
undying fortitude. Set in the background of the conflict between Soviet Union
and Mujahideen, and the rise and decline of Taliban in Afghanistan, the book
portrays the lives of two victimised women; Mariam and Laila, silenced by the brutal
oppression of patriarchal Afghan society epitomised through the character of
Rasheed. They represent the whole of Afghan women who hide their physical and
emotional pain behind suffocating yet ‘surprisingly comforting’ burqas. It is a
tale of women being crucified for having born as females into a society which
spites ‘the other gender’ and looks down upon them as mere slaves who carry out
whatever they are ordered to. The book belongs to the Bildungsroman type of
fiction for it describes in detail the growth of its central characters from
birth to death, especially that of the women through each stage of their lives.
It not only tells a heart wrenching tale, but also gives voice to a muffled
community of Islam women.
Hosseini takes the title of the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, from a poem
composed on the beauty of Kabul by Saeb-e-Tabrizi, a seventeenth century Persian
poet:
“One
could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind
her walls.”
In spite of depicting Kabul losing its
glory with several scars from war and violent riots, the book is a journey of
hardships towards exploring the bursting radiance of ‘the thousand splendid
suns’ that wait at the other end of life, which holds the promise of a new life
free of worries and sufferings. It happens only when the women fight back their
destiny and stand up for their own life, rights and freedom, instead of
continuing to be submissive to the beastly demands of the patriarchal society
as well as that of altering political scenarios.
The book is divided into four parts. The
first part introduces Mariam whereas the second part presents Laila, and the
third part is a kind of parallel story telling where both the characters are
brought together. The fourth and final part draws a climax to the plot and
restores hope, peace and joy to the life of Laila, who is let to live a new
life after Mariam sacrifices her life and takes away with her the sufferings of
their past. Hosseini introduces the characters in a unique way that attracts
the readers to them with an anxiety to know more about them. For example, the
first line of the novel, “Mariam was five years old the first time she heard
the word harami”, draws the readers’
attention to the character with great interest, as the author introduces the
five year girl who was born as an illegitimate daughter to a rich man named
Jalil in the fictional village of Gul Daman. After her mother suicides, she is
married off to Rasheed at the age of fifteen and sent to Kabul, where her real suffering
starts. Rasheed, the embodiment of torture and male chauvinism, makes her life
miserable as she is is unable to give birth to a son. The plot slightly shifts
as Hosseini introduces Laila, born to Rasheed’s neighbouring family which
respects women and is rather liberal. But her peaceful life turns upside down
when she is orphaned by an explosion and eventually, Rasheed makes her his new
wife by deceiving her to believe that Tariq, her childhood friend whom she
loved, is dead and not going to come back for her. Later, she gives birth to
Aziza, who is actually Tariq’s daughter and Zalmai, whom Rasheed holds dearly.
At this point, we even find a deconstruction of Oedipus complex and Electra
complex, as Aziza in fact dreads to be anywhere near Rasheed, who is supposed
to be her father, whereas Zalmai and Rasheed share a strong relationship.
Eventually, the truths unfold as Tariq returns and this makes both Mariam’s and
Laila’s lives even more miserable. Unable to bear Rasheed’s torture anymore,
Mariam kills him and is hanged by the government. Thus, “a life of illegitimate
beginnings” is put to “a legitimate end”, and finally, Laila is free to live
with Tariq and her children in peace and happiness.
The story telling is made unique with
native Afghan words such as harami,
kalashnikov, hijab etc.being used in the course of narration, along with
other literary devices like “Stream of Consciousness” and a chronological order
given to the whole story. These features often made me relate the book with
Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, in
which we can find similar themes, women characters and pathetic situations. All
of these make A Thousand Splendid Suns
a literary treat to the reader.
- Ann Maria
