Outside Reading, Week 3, Post A

Vocab
waylaid (137) - to lie in wait for and attack from ambush

perfunctory (129) - performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial

Figurative Language
"She would never leave her mark on Mammy's heart the way her brothers had, because Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed." (130)

In this passage, Laila uses as similie to compare her mother's heart to a beach with waves the continually wash away footprints. Laila's brothers have just been killed in the war and Mammy is absolutely devastated. She cared more about her sons than she did about Laila. So, while Laila tries to live up to the expectations left by her brothers, she can never please Mammy. Because of these constant attempts and failures that are seemingly forgotten by Mammy, Laila compares her Mammy's heart to a beach with waves that also wash away and forget.

" The two Buddhas were enormous, soaring much higher than she had imagined from all the photos she'd seen of them. Chiseled into a sun-bleached rock cliff, they peered down at them, as they had nearly two thousand years before..." (133)

In this excerpt, Laila, her father, Babi, and her friend, Tariq, take a road trip to ruins in the mountains of Afghanistan. When they first arrive, Laila is overwhelmed by the massiveness and life-like appearance of the statues at the ruins. So, Laila uses personification to describe the statues in the line "they peered down at them", giving them human characteristics despite being inanimate.

"Mammy was now the curator of their lives' museum and she, Laila, a mere visitor." (128)

After Laila's brother's pass away, Mammy becomes extremely depressed and spends most of her days in bed, reminiscing about all the times she had with her sons. Laila uses a metaphor to say that Mammy is now the "curator of their lives' museum", meaning that Mammy is now consumed with talking about her sons. However, Laila is "a mere visitor", meaning that Mammy is overlooking her and neglecting her needs.

Quote

"They both laughed, but briefly, nervously, this time. And when the film ended and they stepped outside, Laila was relieved to see that the sky had dimmed, that she wouldn't have to meet Tariq's eyes in the bright daylight." (142)

I felt that this quote both a) summarizes Tariq and Laila's awkward relationship very nicely and b) hints that there may be more to come between them. The author has been hinting at this the whole section and I feel that this chapter may be leading into something larger.

Theme

After reading about Laila's brother's deaths and the way Mammy reacted to them, I feel that the current theme is "While it is good to mourn and remember, you must move on". Mammy is too caught up on her sons and as a result, continually neglects Laila. Laila realizes this and begs her mother to move on, but she can't and suffers because of it.