Khaled Hosseini's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'

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Dearing
Mrs Kolakoski
AP Literature

A Thousand Splendid Suns, a historically fictitious novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, focuses on the intersecting lives of two Afghani Muslim women over the course of over half a century. Written in 2007, the novel uses the rich history, devout religiosity, and complex politics of Afghanistan as a framework for the plot, weaving these realities into a heart-wrenching tale of war, love, family, and womanhood that is relatable to any reader, regardless of religion or ethnic background. A Thousand Splendid Suns is overwhelmingly a novel with significant literary merit due to its profound and multi-faceted characterization, unique use of point of view, and the universality of its intimate commentary …show more content…
However, instead of typical third person narration focussing on one central plot, Hosseini rotates between two seemingly unrelated stories; Miriam’s journey from childhood in Herat to her imprisoned adult existence with Rasheed, and Laila’s privileged upbringing in the middle class neighborhoods of Kabul. By rotating between the two, it provides a metaphorical window into the respective women’s lives, a peak into their story without revealing too much too soon. It prevents the plot from plateauing or becoming stale. Hosseini also uses point of view to artfully create tangible situations throughout the novel. His careful and deliberate omniscient writing style makes the reader truly feel the plot points, creating a rarely intimate feeling for a work that is not in first person. His uncensored and calculated description of the various horrors faced by the characters rely heavily on the third person view of individual character’s feelings and emotions. Hosseini makes the atrocities suffered by the characters overwhelmingly tangible. For example, when dealing with Leila’s life during the Afghan Civil War, he writes, ”Laila raced to the street, stammering a prayer, certain that, this time, surely this time, it was Tariq they would find buried beneath the rubble and smoke" (173). This, one of just many examples, perfectly illustrates how A Thousand Splendid Suns, through point of view, brings to life the usually distant and meaningless reports of Middle East civilian casualties and creates an authentic and human account of Afghan war in
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