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.
No comments:
Post a Comment