Current Events: Unrest in the Middle East

In 2002, the Taliban attacked the World Trade Center in America. Before, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, they didn’t get involved. Now that they were directly attacking America, President George W. Bush felt like he had to get involved. “Back home, bombs are falling once again, this time American bombs” (Hosseini 385). Of course, Osama bin Laden, the leader of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Twin Towers, was kept in the country because he was a mehman, a guest. “Tariq chuckles bitterly, and Laila hears in his chuckle that he is revolted by this distortion of an honourable Pashtun custom, this misrepresentation of his people’s ways” (Hosseini 384).

                Now, the war in the Middle East has settled down. However, a new civil war is rising up in Iraq. To supplement my observation, I found an article about that mentions the violence that the Middle East, specifically Iraq, is encountering some violence in the cities.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Apr-05/252389-iraq-christians-say-homes-seized-as-unrest-spikes.ashx#axzz2yJbl7DLR

                For this entry, I decided to look in the news section of Google to find any current events that may be related to my book. I managed to find a very recent article about unrest in Iran. “As Iraq suffers its worst violence in years, gangs claiming ties to powerful miltias have been commandeering empty homes in Baghdad” (TheDailyStar.com). Unrest has seemed to escalate during the past year since the Americans have officially left the country. When President Barack Obama came into power, he managed to use his powers as Commander-in-Chief to defeat Osama bin Laden. After that, the Americans had no reason to be on their soil anymore. Now, since the American soldiers pulled out of Afghanistan, unrest seems to be spiking. It seems that the American presence in Afghanistan kept civilians peaceful and now gangs are rising up because no one can stop them. 

Caritas (Love)

There aren’t many times love is shown through the book. When it is, it is depicted in a poetic way. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a rather dark book but the darkness can sometimes be dampened by shows of affection.

                Laila and Tariq have a close relationship that started as a childhood friendship and ended up in marriage. They were so close that even the neighbour picked up on the relationship. “she and Tariq were walking up the street together when they’d passed Rasheed…‘If it isn’t Laili and Majnoon,’ referring to the star-crossed lovers of Nezami’s popular twelfth-century romantic poem – a Farsi version of Romeo and Juliet” (Hosseini 163). Laila and Tariq soon did have a relationship. “He slid closer to her…pressed his lips to hers” (Hosseini 176). But it didn’t last for long. Soon Tariq and his family had to move away since their current living conditions were turning deadly. That’s when Laila and Tariq did the unimaginable. “There was a frenzy after. Shirts hurriedly buttoned, belts buckled, hair finger-combed” (Hosseini 183).

                Love doesn’t always have to show in an intimate relationship like Laila and Tariq’s. It can be through a family relationship too. After a rocket blew up Laila’s house, killing her parents, she had to move in with and marry Rasheed. There, she discovered some shocking news. “Not with this daily retching. This new fullness in her breasts. And this awareness, somehow, amid all of this turmoil, that she had missed a cycle” (Hosseni 219). She was pregnant with Tariq’s baby, Aziza. After Aziza was born, Laila couldn’t keep away from her. She was with the baby most of the time in the days. I see this love as a replacement for the love she can’t give to Tariq.

Journal Entry: Strife

Today, I sent my son to school. I keep regretting that decision as I write this. I’m so stupid, thinking that my son is invincible to the rockets that the Mujahedeen and the Soviet Union are launching. He is…was a bright boy; one of the few that strive for top grades in his class. He needs some pushing now and then to get his homework done but he does get it done. As an artist, I can never understand his logic. How he does draws cube in 3^rd dimension so easily. I am more of an impressionist so I will stick to painting. He gets along with his mother well. Their brains are wired alike since his mother is a Math major.

                He likes…liked rosewater ice cream. We would buy 2 tubs of it: one for him and the rest of the family. He would eat it really fast and do his homework, saying that the brain freeze helped him focus and the sweet taste simulated pleasant emotions. I remember sitting across from him and sketching him while he did homework. He was so still while he solved math equations that I could sketch him with ease. I even tried it with different mediums: charcoal, acrylic, watercolor.

                When it happened, I was upstairs looking down at him from the front window. The sun’s rays danced in his short, spiky hair. His focused grey eyes automatically rolled when they saw me, since he knew that I would pester him about homework as soon as he got in. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder because it looked cooler; his own words. Then the whistling. It’s not like the cartoon whistling where it starts out high-pitched and goes low. No. It’s more like a person is trying to blow into a flute when their lips aren’t fully touching the opening. Then I saw the glint and half a second later, the house rocked. I was thrown against the wall and I felt a crack in my chest. As my life faded from my body, I saw the distressed look on my son’s face. He isn’t invincible to the strife that a rocket can cause, even if he is not the victim. Today, I looked down upon him as he cries.

Social Justice: Woman Injustice

Any person that knows some information of the Afghani society should know that women injustice is very prevalent. The first teachings that most women get is that they belong at home, taking care of the children and the house, while men go out and work to keep the household afloat.

                When Nana told her stories to Mariam, she would always instruct her on the basics of society. “Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always find a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam” (Hosseini 7). This is the lesson that Nana teaches Mariam after she tells her the story of how she was born. Nana was the housekeeper of Jalil, Mariam’s father, until she showed signs of pregnancy. Instead of blaming Jalil for sleeping with other women while he was married, they blamed Nana. “The collective gasp of Jalil’s family sucked the air out of Herat. His in-laws swore blood would flow. The wives demanded that he throw her out. Nana’s own father, who was a lowly stone carver in the nearby village of Gul Daman, disowned her” (Hosseini 6).

                A decade later, the injustice became worse when the Taliban took hold of the power. “The following day, Kabul was overrun by trucks…Armed, bearded men in black turbans sat in their beds…Girls are forribben from attending school. All schools for girls will be closed immediately. Women are forbidden from working.” (Hosseini 278). Rasheed was ultimately unaffected by the new enforced rules written by the Taliban. All he had to do was grow out his beard and pray 5 times a day. Mariam and Laila, however, were greatly incapitated. Of course the Taliban seized power when Laila was pregnant with Zalmai. “ ‘This hospital no longer treats women,’ the guard barked…‘But this is a women’s hospital!’ a woman shouted from behind Mariam…Mariam had heard the announcement, in January of that year, that men and women would be seen in different hospitals” (Hosseini 285). 

Chracter Development: Tariq the Chivalrous

Tariq is an important character in the second part of the book. He is the friend and, eventually, soul mate of Laila. Tariq is like all other boys except for one difference. “She’d kicked him in his shin, not his artificial one but his real one” (Hosseini 107). She and Tariq were the closest of friends and the artificial leg didn’t seem to inhibit the friendship. The other characteristic about Tariq that stands out is that he displays courage and selflessness. “The others understood too when Tariq straightened up, standing on one leg. When he began hopping towards Khadim, the charging him, his unstrapped leg raised high over his shoulder like a sword…Khadim never bothered Laila again” (Hosseini 134).

                In 1992, Tariq turned sixteen. He had shown some growth over the years. “And he was smoking, another new habit, which he’d picked up from the guys Laila spotted him hanging around these days…This was a new entre in his repertoire of poses: back to the wall, arms crossed, cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, his good leg casually bent” (Hosseini 169). Although Tariq picked up a cancerous habit, it did not seem to alter Laila’s perception of him. To Laila, Tariq is still that white knight from their childhood. “Laila swooned inside. She tried to read his face but was met by a look that was indecipherable: The cheerful, cretinous grin at odds with the narrow, half-desperate look in his eyes” (Hosseini 170)

                The last time Tariq is seen in the book is the fourth part. At this time, he and Laila are battle worn. “Tariq has headaches now…The headaches began in Nasir Bagh, he says, then worsened in prison” (Hosseini 375). Tariq and Laila get married in this part. When their gazes meet at the altar, they studied each other’s faces. “There were no tears, no wedding-day smiles, no whispered oaths of long-lasting love…faces aged beyond their years, at the pouches and lines and sags that now marked their once-scrubbed, youthful faces” (Hosseini 376). The difference was palpable from childhood to adulthood. Tariq had gone from a crusader defending his fair maiden to a war-scarred veteran.

Tragic Hero: The Legacy of Mariam

Mariam started out as a lowly girl who lived in a kolba (hut) with her outcast mother. They were both cast away because Mariam was an illegitimate child of the wealthy man, Jalil, who didn’t want to spoil his reputation. “Nana had been one of the housekeepers. Until her belly began to swell” (Hosseini 6) Because of Jalil’s decision to outcast Nana and Mariam, Nana has bitter feelings towards anything associated with Jalil. She knew that the only reason that Jalil kept her alive is because of the baby, Mariam, so she moved as far away as possible from him into a kolba that Jalil built. “His idea of penance” (Hosseini  11).

Although Nana talked about Jalil in a hateful way, Mariam loved her father. Jalil visited his harami (bastard) regularly and Mariam would long for these brief visits. “Finally, on Thursdays, all she could do was sit against the wall, eyes glued to the steam and wait…She always held her breath as she watched him go. She held her breath and, in her head, counted seconds. She pretended that each second that she didn’t breathe, God would grant her another day with Jalil” (Hosseini 20-24). Mariam worshipped Jalil so much that she wished for a trip to the movies from him for her birthday. Of course Nana was unhappy about this. “Of all the daughter I could have had, why did God give me an ungrateful one like you?” (Hosseini 27). Being the teenager that Mariam was, she didn’t listen to Nana and waited for Jalil at the stream, later going into the city to search for him. When she came back unsuccessful, she found Nana hanging in a tree.

Mariam’s fatal flaw shows in this first incident. Being brought up in a modest setting, she was a pretty selfless girl. She didn’t ask for much and was very apologetic for her mother’s suffering. However, she seemed to always question society. When Nana would complain about the pain Mariam caused her in birth “It did not occur to young Mariam to ponder the unfairness of apologizing for the manner of her own birth” (Hosseini  11). When Nana said that Mariam can’t go to school “Be reasonable. Come now. If the girls wants – ” (Hosseini  18). Like all tragic heroes, her questioning eventually gets her killed by the Taliban but, in turn, the country’s balance gets restored.

Historical Context: The Soviet Invasion

Since Hosseini wrote a historical fiction, his writings aren’t full of facts and information. Although most of the facts that he includes are true, he lacks detail to back up the facts. I was grateful for this type of writing style because I dislike non-fiction books. At the same time, I wanted to learn more because the Soviet invasion has been mentioned in The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns yet I don’t know much about it. Like any other teenager that wants to learn information, especially for a project, I turned to Google.

                During my searches, I found a rather interesting article that captivated my attention with its casual nature.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/charlie-wilson-congressman-whose-support-for-the-mujahideen-helped-force-the-soviet-union-out-of-afghanistan-1898180.html

The article was about a Congressman in the United States. Charlie Wilson used his power to secretly channel weapons into Afghanistan to help the Mujahedeen ward off the Soviet invaders. Charlie, however, was not the cleanest man. “He relished women, booze and, from time to time, cocaine” (Rupert Cornwell). Being a former navy lieutenant in the Cold War and a Pentagon intelligence officer, Charlie was intrigued by the struggles faced by Afghani refugees during the invasion. Using his power as a House budget subcommittee member, Charlie sent hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Stinger missiles and rifles to the Mujahedeen. His efforts did not go unwasted. “Three years later, Moscow concluded that the war was unwinnable and pulled out…Pakistan’s former prime minister Zia ul-Haq replied, ‘Charlier did it’ ” (Rupert Cornwell). Although Charlie was unlawful in a Wolf of Wall Street style with the cocaine and strippers, he was later recognised as an “Honoured Colleague” by the CIA.

                I feel that this article is an accurate representation of the occurrence of the Soviet Invasion. The Russians invaded Afghanistan to expand their Red Nation and America responded to the invasion by giving money and guns to the local rebel forces. Charlie Wilson is the classic American governor. He is crude and bawdy yet he gets involved in wars that America has no business for doing. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the locals are wondering when their savior is going to come and stop the war. America didn’t have official involvement in the war so, through the local’s eyes, the war continues to rage onwards.

Comparison: Burqas and Short Skirts

Rasheed is the reason why we clutch to the stereotype of Pashtun husbands abusing their wives. He forced Mariam into an intimate relationship she didn’t want, he makes Mariam wear a full-out burqa when they are in public, and (above all else) he beats her. Mariam, who is the victim of all of this, has never seen a women that doesn’t wear a hijab or burqas. When Rasheed and Mariam leave the house to explore the city, Rasheed asks her to wait outside of a shop while he chats with the shopkeeper. As Mariam waits, she scans the crowd.

“But it was the women that drew Mariam’s eyes the most. The women in this part of Kabul were a different breed from the women in the poorer neighbourhoods – like the one she and Rasheed lived, where so many women covered fully. These women were – what was the word Rasheed had used? – ‘modern.’ Yes, modern Afghan women married to modern Afghan men who did not mind that their wives walked among strangers with makeup on their faces and nothing on their heads.” (Hosseini, 75)

                Mariam thinks of them as a different breed of women the same way that Rasheed thinks of himself as a different breed of man. They are like the rich 1% of Americans: unlike the middle class, they have the ability to afford more although this is in the sense that the women marry men who are more “Westernized” in their ways. This allows them to put on makeup and knee-length skirts without being forced to change their ways or scolded by their husbands. They can also get college/university degrees, smoke, and drive cars. All in all, this different breed of women is the type of women which men like Rasheed despise. To compensate for that, he forces Mariam to wear a burqa and takes control of her life. Mariam will unfortunately never get to experience the freedom of being an educated and loved women in her lifetime.

Allusion: Zaman

The second Easter egg that Hosseini had in A Thousand Suns was the orphanage caretaker, Zaman. The caretaker for the orphanage in The Kite Runner was also named Zaman. The description of the orphanage in both books are similar, a little run-down place filled with hungry orphans. This leads me to believe that Hosseini put Zaman in the second book purposefully for his die-hard fans.

                “The man who let us in introduced himself as Zaman, the director of the orphanage…We followed him through dim, grimy hallways where barefoot children dressed in frayed sweaters ambled around. We walked past rooms with no floor covering but matted carpets and windows shuttered with sheets of plastic. Skeleton frames of steel beds, most with no mattress.” (Hosseini, 266)

                In the Kite Runner, Amir comes to an orphanage to look for his friend’s child. Hassan, the child’s father had been executed simply for being Hasara and his child was instantly orphaned. Amir had betrayed his friend’s trust in their childhood and had come back to restore it. He noticed he was too late when he heard of his friend’s death. Determined to repair his wrong-doings, he went to the orphanage to adopt, Sohrab, the child.

                “The orphanage director was a stooping, narrow-chested man with a pleasantly lined face. He was balding, had a shaggy beard, eyes like peas. His name was Zaman…They passed through poorly lit hallways where barefoot children stepped aside and watched. They had disheveled hair or shaved scalps. They wore sweaters with frayed sleeves, ragged jeans whose knees had worn down to the strings, coats patched with duct tape.” (Hosseini, 316)

                In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Rasheed and his family are going through a drought. At this point, they are struggling to get by. Rasheed then gets the idea that they should give Aziza, the daughter, away to the orphanage to help them get by. Of course, Rasheed and Laila also have a son, Zalmai, but he is treasured too much by Rasheed to be given away. Giving Aziza away is tough for Laila but she must listen to Rasheed because he is in control.

                I feel like Hosseini had to have a reason to put an orphanage caretaker named Zaman in both of his novels. I then felt obligated to search up the meaning of the name Zaman. The name Zaman means destiny. It also means that they tend to initiate/lead events. Zaman, although a minor character in both novels, altered the destiny of the main character in a significant way when they came to visit him. That is my conclusion as to why Zaman was put into both novels. 

Allusion: Nang and Namoos

Hosseini, like most other story creators, tends to put little easter eggs inside their work for devotees. Easter eggs are reference that connect to other stories. Since I read and enjoyed The Kite Runner, I chose to read A Thousand Splendid Suns for my ISU because I was already familiar to the author’s style of writing. The first easter egg I found in this book was the mention of nang and namoos.

                “I have customers, Mariam, men, who bring their wives to my shop. The women come uncovered, they talk to me directly, look me in the eye without shame. They were makeup and skirts that show their knees. Sometimes they even put their feets in front of me, the women do, for measurements, and their husbands stand there and watch…They don’t see that they’re spoiling their own nang and namoos, their honor and pride.” (Hosseini, 70)

                In this statement I learned about what kind of man Rasheed is. He is the kind of man that enforces rules on his wives and children and proves that he is the leader of the household. He doesn’t like the sight of women crying and that his nang and namoos is carried around by those he is related to.

                “ ‘Remember this,’ Baba said, pointing at me, ‘The man is a Pashtun to the root. He has nang and namoos.’ Nang. Namoos. Honor and pride. The tenets of Pashtun men. Especially when it came to the chastity of a wife. Or of a daughter.” (Hosseini, 153)

                The quote above is from The Kite Runner. Amir’s father, affectionately called Baba is lecturing his son on nang and namoos before he runs to hit on an ex-general’s daughter. To Pashtun men, their honor and pride must not only be protected by themselves, but also by their wives and daughter. This is why there is a misconception that husbands force their wives and daughters to wear hijabs or burqas. After reading both quotes from each book, I understand how each man can interpret nang and namoos in a different way. Rasheed has a more controlling interpretation of it where no matter the culture, all women must be covered. The ex-general seems to have a more relaxed grip on the ideal. He still watches his wife and daughter closely but he doesn’t forced them to cover, made evident by the fact that Soraya, his daughter, is seen wearing regular clothing.

Loss

It’s hard to let go of something, especially when the thing that you lost didn’t have to get lost. A Thousand Splendid Suns (contrary to the name) is a book of misfortune, which leads to loss. Although the character experience gain at some points in the novel, they seem to lose something even more valuable the next time misfortune knocks at their door.

When the story of the novel shifts from a misfortunate Mariam, who had recently lost her mother and been married of into a forced marriage by her father, the book seems to take a turn for the better. Laila is a little girl who is neighbours with Rasheed, Mariam’s husband. Unlike Mariam, she was in school, had both parents to raise her and was a pretty little girl, as described by her parents. Laila was meant to be the embodiment of what Mariam could not be. When the book seemed to be at its lightest moment, Hosseini manages to remind readers of his true message. He first eases us in with a light loss.

“One day that same month of June, Giti was walking home from school with two classmates. Only three blocks from Giti’s house, a stray rocket struck the girls. Later that terrible day, Laila learned that Nila, Giti’s mother, had run up and down the street where Giti was killed, collecting pieces of her daughter’s flesh in an apron, screeching hysterically. Giti’s decomposing right foot, still in its nylon sock and purple sneaker, would be found on a rooftop two weeks later.” (Hosseini, 178)

After this loss, Laila and her family decide to move to Peshawar to seek refuge.

                “Laila dropped the books at her feet. She looked up at the sky. Shielded her eyes with one hand. Then a giant roar. Behind her, a flash of white. The ground lurched beneath her feet. Something hot and powerful slammed into her from behind. It knocked her out of her sandals. Lifting her up. And now she was flying, twisting and rotating in the air.” (Hosseini, 194)

                After the rocket hit Laila’s home, Rasheed was the one that saved her. He insisted that in return for her salvation, she should marry him. Hosseini managed to take a girl that was born in a good environment and distort it so that she would have to lose everything. He is one of few authors that can depict loss and misfortunate so beautifully.

Prose

While I was reading the back of the book, I noticed a review from USA Today.

“Hosseini’s writing makes our hearts ache, our stomachs clench, and our emotions reel…[He] tells this saddest of stories in achingly beautiful prose through stunningly heroic chracters whose spirits somehow grasp the dimmest rays of hope.” (USA Today)

One word struck me out of the whole review: prose. I strongly agreed with the fact that Hosseini was capable of using prose to his fullest advantage. But what is prose? There are many ways to define prose since it doesn’t really have any rules that apply to it. My definition for Hosseini’s version of prose is that he uses it to express the feeling around the current setting. When the reader reads his setting/character descriptions, they will know if the character is nostalgic or vengeful. Here is an example below:

“The Bamiyan Valley below was carpeted by lush farming fields. Babi said they were green winter wheat and alfafa, potatoes too. The fields were bordered by poplars and crisscrossed by streams and irrigation ditches, on the banks of which tiny femal figures squatted and washed clothes…‘It’s so quiet,’ Laila breathed. She could see tiny sheep and horses but couldn’t hear their bleating and whinnying.” (Hosseini, 148)

There is a very enchanting way that Hosseini handles character/setting descriptions. He makes the reader feel as if they are present in the dream or nightmare he writes on the paper. He also uses Arabic words to cement the prose into his work. He uses them as if the reader is also part Arabic and can connect to the words like he can connect. Finally, elements of nature are ever-present in his work, just like orthodox poetry. From ‘lush farming fields’ to ‘sun-light hair’, the reader is able to ‘feel’ the wind blowing through their hair.

Foreshadow: Meem-reh-yah-meem

When Mariam was first married off to Rasheed, she had to sign a legal document to seal the marriage. She signed the legal document the way she was taught: first with the meem, then the reh, the ya, and the meem again.

“Mariam signed her name – the meem, the reh, the ya, and the meem again – conscious of all eyes on her hand. The next time Mariam signed a document, twenty-seven years later, a mullah would again be present. ‘You are now husband and wife,” the mullah said. “Tabreek. Congrau

lations.” (Hosseini, 54)

Twenty seven years later, Mariam shares a house with Rasheed and Laila, a younger wife that Rasheed picked up. Rasheed is a man with a bad temper and he finds out that Laila has found her long lost lover, Tariq. Enraged, he picks up a belt and beats her with it. She tries to fight back but Rasheed just hits her and drops the belt to choke her. In a panic, Mariam goes into the toolshed and gets a shovel. She first hits him with the broadside. Rasheed stumbles off of Laila but the murderous intent was still visible in his eyes. Mariam then turns the shovel on its blade and swings down. Mariam decides that both she and Laila cannot escape because they will find Rasheed sooner or later so she decides to take the fall.

“Before they led her out, Mariam was given a document, told to sign beneath her statement and the mullah’s sentence. As the three Taliban watched, Mariam wrote it out, her name – the meem, the reh, the ya, and the meem – remembering the last time she signed  her name to a document twenty seven years before, at Jalil’s table, beneath the watchful gaze of another mullah.” (Hosseini, 366)

Comparison: Mariam's green hijab

As a kid, Mariam loved the visits that her father, Jalil, made. One day on a visit, she made him promise that he would take her to the movies with the rest of her family. What she didn’t know was that her mother, Nana, called her a harami (bastard) because she was a bastard child.

“The next morning, Mariam wore a cream-coloured dress that fell to her knees, cotton trousers, and a green hijab over her hair. She agonized a bit over the hijab, its being green and not matching the dress, but it would have to do – moths had eaten holes into her white one.”(Hosseini, 29)

Mariam was bothered by her green hijab not matching her cream dress because she wanted to look nice for Jalil, her biological father, who wouldn’t even let her live in the same house. When Jalil didn’t come to her house to pick her up, she finally set down the hill into the city, which was supposed to be a killing zone for harami as described by Nana. There she found out that Jalil wasn’t home. Still, she waited on the doorstep for his return. After a long while of waiting, Jalil’s driver was sent out to drive Mariam home but it was in vain since they found Nana hanging from a tree.

                “In the morning, Mariam was given a long-sleeved, dark green dress to wear over white cotton trousers. Afsoon gave her a green hijab and a pair of matching sandals.” (Hosseini, 51)

                 After Nana’s death, Jalil was forced to take his harami in. Mariam was not too happy about this either. The father she waited for so eagerly every time he came to visit had betrayed her trust. Of course, Jalil didn’t want to live with his mistake any longer so he made arrangements to have her married off to an older man living in Kabul.