Novel Introduction: A Thousand Splendid Suns

1. Novel Introduction: A Thousand Splendid Suns By KhaledHosseini

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns • Author: KhaledHosseini • Date Published: 2007 • Setting: Afghanistan • #1 New York Times Best Seller

3. Characters • Mariam – an ethnic Tajik born in Herat, a city in Afghanistan. An illegitimate child, she suffers shame throughout her childhood. • Laila– An ethnic Tajik. Beautiful and itelligent, she comes from an educated family and is expected to finish school. Between her and Mariam they both represent two very different kinds of women.

4. Characters cont… • Rasheed – An ethnic Pashtun, a shoemaker and the antagonist of the novel. Marries Mariam through and arranged marriage. Extremely abusive to Mariam. • Tariq – An ethnic Pashtun who is in love with Laila • Nana – Mariam’s mother. Mariam’s birth is the result of her mother’s affair. • Jalil – Mariam’s father, a wealthy man who had three wives before producing Mariam

5. Characters Cont… • Fariba – Laila’s mother, becomes very depressed during the events in the novel • Aziza - Laila’s daughter • Zalmai – Laila’s son

6. Theme • Themes can be divided into two categories: • Thematic concept • Thematic statement • Thematic concept – what readers “think the work is about” • Thematic statement – “what the work says about its subject” • A story may have several themes

7. Themes of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” • Family – This novel can be seen as a mother-daughter story • From the author: “The novel is multigenerational, and so the relationship between parent and child, with all of its manifest complexities and contradictions, is a prominent theme” • Women’s rights in Afghanistan and the tragedies and difficulties they endure