A thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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  Hosseini tells a compelling story, and, in the process, teaches the reader about Afghanistan. How has your perception of Afghanistan changed since reading this book?
  
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  Laila’s father is a teacher. He serves two different purposes in the novel: he is a male who is counter to the stereotypical male Muslim and he provides his children, and thus the reader, with history lessons. How does his character defy stereotyping? What are some of the history lessons we learn from him?
  
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  Describe the character of Mullah Faizullah. Similarly to Laila’s father, he both presents a countermodel to stereotypes and he provides us with insight into religious beliefs and practices. What are your impressions of Mullah Faizullah and what does he tell us about Islamic beliefs and practices?
  
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  When Mariam travels to Herat she travels through the countryside and across the city by herself. Compare this with circumstances in Kabul when she first arrives, and later after the Soviets have withdrawn.
  
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  Through his storytelling, Hosseini describes the social stratification of Afghanistan. Think about the different characters in the novel, from Mariam and Laila and Nana and Jalil to Rasheed and Tariq and Laila’s friends. What do you learn about the social hierarchy and the ethnic divisions in Afghanistan through the characters’ relationships and attitudes? How do rural and urban living differ one from the other as described by Hosseini?
  
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  Hosseini does not come out and tell us that life in Afghanistan was not always as it is now. How does he work in the details of Afghanistan’s varied geography, history, culture, and everyday life without making his novel read like a textbook?
  
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  Can you imagine a story where, following Nana’s suicide, Mariam stayed in her own village with Mullah Faizullah or Bibi jo? What elements of Mariam’s life might have been different?
  
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  As Afsoon turns the key in the lock of Mariam’s bedroom after Mariam learns that she is to be engaged and sent to Kabul the next day, Mariam seems to have lost all agency in her own life. How does this play out through the rest of the novel?
  
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  Hosseini describes his characters through their actions and decisions and words. What kind of a person is Mariam and what events in the novel help us to see her characteristics? Contrast her with Nana, Jalil, and Laila.
  
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  Mariam’s decision to never see or speak with Jalil has consequences. What are they?
  
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  Mariam’s first impressions of Rasheed are not all bad. Does Rasheed set out to fool her or does Rasheed change?
  
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  Compare the difference between how Mariam’s husband lives and how Laila’s family—just down the street—lives. In particular, consider the party that Rasheed had when celebrating Mariam’s first pregnancy and the party that Laila’s family has when the Mujahideen begin to enter Kabul after the fall of the Communist government.
  
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  Mariam’s character goes through many changes. Trace those changes from her isolated childhood with her unhappy mother to her family life with Laila and the children.
  
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  Many elements go into setting the scene for Mariam’s execution and the conclusion of the novel. How does the execution sum up Mariam’s life? If we think of Mariam as a victim, of whom or what is she a victim? In what ways does Mariam defy her victimhood?
  
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  Similarly, Laila becomes an orphan and finds that her only recourse is to marry a controlling abusive husband nearly forty years older than her. How does Hosseini portray Laila as a powerful person despite these overwhelming tragic circumstances?
  
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  What difference does it make that the novel does not end with Mariam’s death?