Dis discussion number B

In "A Thousand Splendid Suns," author  Khaled Hosseini addresses the issues of gender relation in his home country of Afghanistan. He expresses the grievances of what it means to be a woman through every female character. This exemplifies the notion that no woman is free from the shackles of the men. Every aspect of a woman's life is controlled by another man. Even women whom have no male companion are readily judged and prosecuted. Hosseini uses a simile to convey the ease of which women are abased and belittled in Afghanistan. "Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always." The magnetic force at which the north pole pulls relentlessly on the small needle pales in comparison of the emotional force and weight the common Afghani women is afflicted daily by their fellow man. Hosseini instills in his audience "women have always had it hard in this country," a sad fact and a foreign concept to his western readers.

Discussion number three m'lord! (please say you get the reference)

In "A Thousand Splendid Suns", author  Khaled Hosseini uses his mastery of story telling to convey the severity of human relationships with the past and the resulting effect on the present. Even the latest and youngest character mentioned in the novel provides significant affirmation of this concept. Zalmai is brought into this world carrying the burden of his parent's past. At the age of two he is forced to witness the reality of his mother's sins as his father calls her "whore,"  relenting "'You think I didn't figure it out? About your harami?'" Foolish and naive Zalmai had pridefully disclosed what he found to be a harmless tattle-tale about Laila and Tariq's rekindled relationship. Zalmai's father of course becomes enraged (blah blah he gets died). Fatherless Zalmai blames himself for the "disappearance" of his father asking his mother "Did Baba jan leave because of me? Because of what I said, about you and the man downstairs?" Even Zalmai, full of naivete and bereft of experience, is able to relate his actions of the past to his present reality. Amazingly, this two year old is flung into a situation where he contends with his past and realizes the negativity of his actions. Poor Zalmai in truth is partially to blame for his once idolized father's demise. This is a truth that his mother Laila must shield innocent Zalmai from "again and again" until his "questions dry up."