Outside Reading, Week 1, Post A

YAY NEW BOOK!
This quarter I am reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

Vocab
woebegone (35): beset with woe; affected by woe, esp. in appearance.

amiable (40): having or showing pleasant, good-natured personal qualities; affable

Figurative Language
"Mariam always stood in the doorway and watched him exit the clearing, deflated at the thought of the week that stood, like an immense, immovable object, between her and his next visit." (22)

This passage demonstrates the use of a simile in the line "...the week that stood, like an immense, immovable object". Mariam is comparing the week between Jalil's visits to an immense, immovable object because Jalil is the only source of happiness in Mariam's life at the time.

"Mariam remembered him telling her that on the screen a human face looked as big as a house, that when a car crashed up there you felt the metal twisting in your bones." (25)

This excerpt demonstrates the use of an hyperbole in the line "...when a car crashed up there you felt the metal twisting in your bones." Jalil didn't actually meant that one could feel metal twisting in their bones, but rather that the image and sound appeared very lifelike.

"A gust of wind blew and parted the drooping branches of the weeping willow like a curtain, and Mariam caught a glimpse of what was beneath the tree: the straight-backed chair, overturned." (34)

In this passage, the author compares the way the wind blew the weeping willow branches to the way a curtain opens using a simile. I feel that that author used the word "curtain" rather than another similar word to also represent Mariam's future revealed unto her: her mother had hung herself (revealed by the swaying branches) and now Mariam had to live with her father, Jalil, who was also revealed to be a liar.

Quote
"One afternoon, a week later, there was a knock on the door, and a tall woman walked in. She was fair-skinned, had reddish hair, and long fingers.
'I'm Afsoon,' she said. 'Niloufar's mother. WHy don't you wash up, Mariam, and come downstairs?'
Mariam said she would rather stay in her room.
'No, na fahmidi, you don't understand. You need to come down. We have to talk to you. It's important." (41)

This quote comes later in the reading, after Mariam has moved in with Jalil and his family. Mariam is treated as an unwanted visitor and stays in her room all day. However, this disturbance in the natural order of things and the urgency of the dialogue indicates that there is going to be a major change in Mariam's life.

Theme
Right now, the novel seems to have a very pessimistic theme. Mariam lived with her mother and loved her very much, but then after going into the city (against her word), her mother killed herself. Also, Mariam always viewed Jalil as a source of joy in her gloomy life and saw him as the type of man she wanted to marry. However, it is revealed to her that Jalil is a liar and a crook and in fact, does not love Mariam. So, I'd say that the theme is "Do not attach yourself to anyone or anything, because you will only be betrayed".