From the time of birth endurance becomes a key part of life. Most people only endure small things which seem big to them because they don 't know much else. Others are not as lucky and endurance becomes life or death. I have personally endured things from breaking bones to the death of loved ones. Khaled Hosseini portrays many types of endurance on the journey through the two main characters’ lives with the literary devices and word choice he uses in his novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both Laila and Mariam, although coming from completely different backgrounds in Afghanistan, find each other with very similar hardships. They survive through unimaginable physical and mental abuse, wars and loss in their lives. They endure life with little freedom
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The main love in Laila’s life is her children. When Rasheed, Mariam and Laila’s husband, takes Laila to the hospital to give birth, the hospital is in terrible condition. They all must wait a very long time for Laila to be accepted into the operating room. When the doctor sympathetically tells Laila that the hospital has no anesthetic, Laila shows how brave she is and decides to power through the pain: “‘Then cut me open,’... She dropped back on the bed and drew up her knees. ‘Cut me open and give me my baby’”(Hosseini 291). This shows how much she is willing to endure for her children. She knew her son, Zalmai, would have less of a chance of survival if she waited any longer. She would not be willing to go through all of that pain just to have her baby live if she did not love him as much as she did. Laila also shows her will to endure coming from love when her daughter, Aziza, is put into an orphanage. Everytime Laila goes to visit her, she risks getting beat by the Taliban for being a woman walking without a man. More time than not she gets beat: “Soon Laila took to wearing extra layers, even in the heat, two, three sweaters beneath the burqa for padding against the beatings. But for Laila, the reward, if she made it past the Taliban, was worth it” (Hosseini 321). Laila sacrifices her body to see her child. Her will to survive and endure is intensified by her desire to see her …show more content…
Hope is a prominent theme throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns. Each character has hope for something which helps them struggle to endure each day. After Fariba, Laila’s mother, finds out about the death of her two sons deaths, she falls into a deep depression. Laila is deeply concerned for her and when she asks her if she would commit suicide, Mammy tells her that she has thought about it but that she won’t actually do it. She tells Laila not to worry, “‘I want to see my sons’ dream come true’” (Hosseini 144). Fariba’s hope in life keeps her alive. She has hope that she will live to see Afghanistan become free, because that was her sons’ dream and what they died for. Without this hope she the grief would have consumed her and she would have taken her own life. Laila also uses hope to endure. After Rasheed dies and Mariam is helping her feel better, Mariam gives Laila hope that life will be better which helps her to finally calm down. She thinks, “They would make new lives for themselves- peaceful, solitary lives- and there the weight of all that they 'd endured would lift from them, and they would be deserving of all the happiness and simple prosperity they would find” (Hosseini 354). When Laila thinks about her life and all she has been through, she thinks that she is deserving of better because she has endured so much. The hope of a better life calms her down and helps her make it to the next day.
The main love in Laila’s life is her children. When Rasheed, Mariam and Laila’s husband, takes Laila to the hospital to give birth, the hospital is in terrible condition. They all must wait a very long time for Laila to be accepted into the operating room. When the doctor sympathetically tells Laila that the hospital has no anesthetic, Laila shows how brave she is and decides to power through the pain: “‘Then cut me open,’... She dropped back on the bed and drew up her knees. ‘Cut me open and give me my baby’”(Hosseini 291). This shows how much she is willing to endure for her children. She knew her son, Zalmai, would have less of a chance of survival if she waited any longer. She would not be willing to go through all of that pain just to have her baby live if she did not love him as much as she did. Laila also shows her will to endure coming from love when her daughter, Aziza, is put into an orphanage. Everytime Laila goes to visit her, she risks getting beat by the Taliban for being a woman walking without a man. More time than not she gets beat: “Soon Laila took to wearing extra layers, even in the heat, two, three sweaters beneath the burqa for padding against the beatings. But for Laila, the reward, if she made it past the Taliban, was worth it” (Hosseini 321). Laila sacrifices her body to see her child. Her will to survive and endure is intensified by her desire to see her …show more content…
Hope is a prominent theme throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns. Each character has hope for something which helps them struggle to endure each day. After Fariba, Laila’s mother, finds out about the death of her two sons deaths, she falls into a deep depression. Laila is deeply concerned for her and when she asks her if she would commit suicide, Mammy tells her that she has thought about it but that she won’t actually do it. She tells Laila not to worry, “‘I want to see my sons’ dream come true’” (Hosseini 144). Fariba’s hope in life keeps her alive. She has hope that she will live to see Afghanistan become free, because that was her sons’ dream and what they died for. Without this hope she the grief would have consumed her and she would have taken her own life. Laila also uses hope to endure. After Rasheed dies and Mariam is helping her feel better, Mariam gives Laila hope that life will be better which helps her to finally calm down. She thinks, “They would make new lives for themselves- peaceful, solitary lives- and there the weight of all that they 'd endured would lift from them, and they would be deserving of all the happiness and simple prosperity they would find” (Hosseini 354). When Laila thinks about her life and all she has been through, she thinks that she is deserving of better because she has endured so much. The hope of a better life calms her down and helps her make it to the next day.