About A Thousand Splendid Suns Book
This masterpiece is written by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-American, a former medical doctor, and a seasoned writer. The story is of an illegitimate child named Mariam in the city of Herat, the third largest in Afghanistan.
Growing up to become a teenager, Mariam is forced to marry a shoemaker from Kabul after a series of unfortunate incidents. A generation later, another girl child, Laila, is born into relative affluence and lives a privileged life. Laila suffers a similar tragedy as Mariam and is also forced to accept a marriage proposal from Mariam’s husband.
Themed around a mother-daughter relationship and the dynamics of being married to the same man, the book richly focuses on female characters, their roles, expectations, fears, and reality in Afghan society.
A Thousand Splendid Suns sold over a million copies in its first week on sale and was a New York’s best seller for fifteen weeks. It has been adapted into a television series, stage plays, and an opera.
Book Summary
About A Thousand Splendid Suns begins in the early 1960s with a young girl called Mariam, the only illegitimate child of a rich businessman, Jalil, who visits her once a week. Mariam’s mum commits suicide, and she’s forced to live with Jalil, whose family quickly marries her off to a widowed shoemaker, Rasheed.
Rasheed initially treated her well, but it turned out that was only because he wanted a son from her, and when she could not carry a pregnancy to term, he changed his mind towards her. He begins to abuse her both physically and verbally. Down the street from them is a young girl, Laila, who is loved by both parents and well taken care of.
Laila loses both parents in a single day and ends up living with Mariam and Rasheed. Rasheed tricks Laila into marrying her when he finds out she’s pregnant due to another man. About A Thousand Splendid Suns is all about the lives both women had under an abusive husband and the choices they had to make.
A Thousand Splendid Suns Quotes
Asides from being an interesting read, below are some of the popular quotes from A Thousand Splendid Suns:
- Mariam: “A man’s heart is a wretched thing, Mariam. It isn’t like a mother’s womb. It won’t bleed. It won’t stretch to make room for you.”
- Laila: “A society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No chance.”
- Babi: “One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”
- Narrator (Khaled Hosseini): “Mariam lay on the couch, hands tucked between her knees, watched the whirlpool of snow twisting and spinning outside the window. She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below.”
Essay Structure on A Thousand Splendid Suns
Essay writing is a popular literary work a student will likely encounter several times. It is a creative process; there is no rigid format. However, there are basic structures your Thousand Splendid Suns essay must follow.
Introduction
When writing an introduction, you aim to lay a foundation for your position to your reader about the book and the issue you hope to tackle. This will help you develop a strong opening; it is best to start with a “hook.”
With your reader’s attention hooked, you can move on to writing your thesis statement. At the end of the introductory paragraph, include a thesis statement to show your examiner the position you are standing with clearly.
Body
The body of your Thousand Splendid Suns essay that follows the introduction will expand the outlines and points you want to discuss. The first paragraph should entail the most significant argument of all. You give concise details about the characters and their roles in this part. Organize your thoughts and content in a way that will appeal to the reader.
Conclusion
This is the last paragraph of the essay. Finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression. While using unique sentences, ensure your concluding paragraphs mirror the introduction paragraph, and it does not contain information contradictory to the body of the essay.
Tips to Consider While Writing An Essay About A Thousand Splendid Suns
Writing an essay is one of the most tedious academic tasks. There is no one-fit-all strategy for solving these problems. Some important components and steps must be considered to convince the reader. Below are some tips that will guide your steps to writing a compelling essay.
Digest the book
Understanding the book is the foundation of writing a beautiful essay, as you can only give what you have. Reading summaries will only give you an idea of the novel. To achieve a clear understanding of the author’s message, you have to read the novel thoroughly. This will enable you to understand the novel’s themes, plot, characters, and role.
Find a compelling topic
It’s advisable to focus on a particular aspect of the text if you want your essay to be interesting and peculiar. What’s the plot of the book? The issues addressed in the book. In what way are the issues addressed?
You can generate essay topics from the answers to these questions. To find a compelling topic in this book, you might want to look into the different characters: Mariam, Rasheed, and Laila.
Create the Outline
With a clear grasp of the book, the next step is to organize your thoughts into an outline. This will be the foundation upon which all your content will be built.
It should contain three parts; the introduction, the body of the essay, and the concluding paragraph. Also, create an outline of sub-topics and what you want each of them to narrate.
Write the thesis statement
A thesis statement is a short sentence that summarizes the claim of your work; it binds your work together. Put your thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph.
You can generate your thesis statement from the various themes depicted by the author of the novel. It will help organize and develop the body of your writing piece. It can also be in the form of a question.
Include a lesson or moral
Including a moral or less in your essay indicates what you perceive from the novel. The moral of the story is the differentiation of wrong actions, decisions, and intentions driven by personal values and beliefs. Include a moral in your Thousand Splendid Suns essay to show your reader your opinion about the book and your interpretation of the author’s idea.
Conclusion: Proofread your work
Ultimately, you must go through your work to ensure no mistakes are made. If there are any, you correct the errors. So make sure you read again to be in a safe spot. Need unique essays on A Thousand Splendid Suns? Our expert writers are here for you to deliver the best at affordable prices.
FAQs
What is the main message of A Thousand Splendid Suns?
The main point of A Thousand Splendid Suns is the rights of the girl child. The book is about the inner strength of women in a war-torn country under the tyranny of an abuser and the Taliban. It highlights the importance of educating the girl child.
What age is A Thousand Splendid Suns appropriate for?
13 years upwards. The book contains some mature themes that may come off too strong for kids younger than 13. They might not be able to understand the important values and morals of the book properly. A Thousand Splendid Suns is appropriate for teenagers and adults.
Is a thousand splendid suns a true story?
No, It is not. It is a work of fiction. While there are hundreds of real stories of girl child marriages and physical and verbal abuse in Kabul, the characters in A Thousand Splendid Suns are entirely fictional. The story depicted in the book is a cumulation of thoughts and not a real story.
Why is A Thousand Splendid Suns so good?
It gives you a succinct picture of the hell women went through during the Afghan war and the effects of society and culture on the rights of a girl child. The author masterfully conveyed the thoughts and emotions of a woman under the Taliban regime. Brace up; A Thousand Splendid Suns is not for the faint of heart.
