Summary and Research Inquiry of Khaled Hosseini

From reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner, I have discovered a lot of themes that Hosseini displays in his novels. For my research paper, I want to concentrate on Khaled Hosseini's actual childhood and the history of the soviet invasion in Afghanistan. From knowing a bit about Hosseini's history and the general history of Afghanistan, I feel I will better understand the two works. The underlying themes of these two books are a connection to your homeland and relationships between family members. I think by researching Hosseini's history I will be able to broaden my view of his two books and understand the relationships between characters much more precisely. I plan to look up autobiographies of Hosseini as well as articles about his writing.

E! True Hollywood Story: Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan where his father worked for the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry. In 1976, Hosseini's father moved their family to Paris, France and chose not to return to Afghanistan because the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan had seized power through a bloody coup. In 1980 they sought political asylum and moved to the United States to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose and enrolled in Santa Clara University and earned a bachelors degree in Biology. He then transferred to the University of California San Diego, School of Medicine where he earned his M.D. He practiced medicine in Los Angeles until a year and a half after releasing The Kite Runner. He began writing The Kite Runner in March 2001 and released the novel in 2003. It was published in 48 countries and has become an international best seller. He published his second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns in 2007 and was released to 40 countries. Hosseini has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. Currently Hosseini lives in Northern California with his wife Roya, and their two children.

When Hosseini was a child growing up in Kabul he read a great deal of Persian Poetry as well as the Persian translated Alice in Wonderland. Hosseini had many memories of pre-Soviet era Iran and remembers his personal experiences with the Hazara people which inspired him to write his first novel. Hosseini befriended the family's cook, a Hazara man, who along with many others was in a minority that had long suffered from discrimination in Iran. When he was only in 3rd grade he taught the man how to read and write and gained insight to the injustices of his own society. I believe that Hosseini felt compelled to tell people about his childhood and his experiences with living in Iran and having to leave because of the coup, because he wanted to tell people his stories without directly writing about his life.

In his two novels, Khaled Hosseini uses imagery as a key writing style in his book. In his first novel, The Kite Runner, he narrates a deeply reflective tale of a boy growing up in Afghanistan and having to move to America after Soviet powers took over Kabul. The plot of this book very directly relates to Hosseini's own history. He hoped to give western readers a different perspective of Afghanistan. Most stories often center around the opium trade, various wars and the war on terrorism, but this book comes at it from a different angle. Because the themes of the book such as friendship, betrayal, guilt, redemption and odd relationships between fathers and sons are universal themes, the book has reached across cultural, racial, religious and gender gaps. Hosseini loves to write stories and was inspired by Stephen King's saying: if you have a story to tell and the skill to tell it, and you don't, then you are a monkey. The mix of cultural and writing influences from both the U.S. and Afghanistan are what make Hosseini's novels especially excellent.

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

My second selection is Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. There are a lot of themes that connect in this book and they are also written in the same period of time and area of the world.

"The book had a lot of things I didn't know, things my teachers hadn't mentioned. Things Baba hadn't mentioned either. It also said some things I did know, like that people called Hazaras mice-eating, flat-nosed, load carrying donkeys. I had heard some of the kids in the neighborhood yell those names to Hassan." (9)

The theme I connected between the 2 books was one of discrimination against minorities within communities. In the Kite Runner, Hassan (Amir's best friend) is called names like "Hazara" or "mice-eating, flat-nosed, load carrying donkeys". Hassan is discriminated against because he is in the servant/peasant class and is regarded as a second class citizen. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Miriam is looked at as a Harami or "bastard" because she is the daughter of a servant who had a child with a noble man. Both of these characters are treated unfairly merely because of something they were born in to, something that they had no control over. Hosseini is trying to show that some things in life are uncontrollable and you have to do the best with what you have.

"Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchstan with his bare hands. if the story had been about anyone else, it would have been dismissed as laaf, that Afghan tendency to exaggerate-sadly, almost a national affliction; if someone bragged that his son was a doctor, chances were the kid had once passed a biology test in high school. But no one ever doubted the veracity of any story about Baba." (12)

This quote made me think of Miriam and her relationship with her father. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Miriam's father is constantly telling her another side of a story that her mother has told her. She immediately believes him every time because she believes her mom is bitter and feels like her dad truly loves her and would never lie to her. There is a contrast in the two books because in The Kite Runner Amir trusts his father and believes everything he tells him because his father is an honest man, however, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Miriam puts trust into her father as well but ends up being betrayed by him. This shows the faith that both children have in their fathers and the relationships they share with them and how although things may look similar on the outside of their relationships, the inside is quite different.

"Hassan didn't struggle. Didn't even whimper. He moved his head slightly and I caught a glimpse of his face. Saw the resignation in it. It was a look I had seen before. It was the look of the lamb." (75-76)

This quote does not only describe the helplessness that Hassan felt, but somewhat shows the betrayal in him and Amir's friendship. The way that Hosseini describes this scene makes you wonder how Amir could just stand there and watch this happen to his friend. I related this quote to the scene in A Thousand Splendid Suns when Rasheed forces Miriam to have sex with him, even though she thought that he cared about her feelings and well being. I think that betrayal and forgiveness are large part of these books because they relate to the overall theme of trust. There are many "trusting" relationships in the books, between friends, family and country.

"The bustle of the city blurring past me reminded me of a busier, more crowded version of the Kabul I knew, particularly of the Kocheh-Morgha, or Chicken Bazaar, where Hassan and I used to buy chutney-dipped potatoes and cherry water. The streets were clogged with bicycle riders, milling pedestrians, and rickshaws popping blue smoke...The city was bursting with jingling bells of horse-drawn carts. Rich scents, both pleasant and not so pleasant, drifted to me through the passenger window, the spicy aroma of pakora and the nihari Baba had loved so much blended with the sting of diesel fumes, the stench of rot, garbage, and feces." (196)

A major theme is both books is the characters ties to Afghanistan. No matter where their lives take them they always have memories of their childhood in Afghanistan. In the Kite Runner when Amir returns home he sees how much Kabul has changed, but still holds the memories of his past. Laila and Tariq, in a Thousand Splendid Suns, feel like they need to return home to Kabul to help the restoration effort. Tariq wants to go, even though he is not particularly motivated because of the restoration, but more in part to support Laila. Whatever the reason, almost every character in both of selections, decides or yearns to return home to Afghanistan. This theme makes me think of the rather cliche term, "Home is where the heart is", however in the book it is very true.

"That night, Soraya and I lay in bed, her back pressed to my chest, my face buried in her hair. I remembered when we used to lay forehead to forehead, sharing afterglow kisses and whispering until our eyes drifted closed, whispering about tiny, curled toes, first smiles, first words, first steps. We still did sometimes, but the whispers were about school, my new book, a giggle over someones ridiculous dress at a party. Our lovemaking was still good, at times better than good, but some nights all I'd feel was a relief to be done with it, to be free to drift away and forget, at least for a while, about the futility of what we'd just done." (193)

I think that Soraya and Amir's relationship mirrors Laila and Tariq's relationship very closely. Although their situations are much different, their love appears to be very similar. Both of their relationships seem very healthy because it is true love instead of forced marriage. Each couple trusts each other, which is apparent from the secrets they tell each other and their physical relationships. In The Kite Runner, Soraya tells Amir about her past marriage and other very important things to her. They are also very physically comfortable and continue to make love even when their marriage is in trouble. Laila and Tariq's relationship is especially strong because they trust each other to have sex out of wedlock, showing their true passion for one another. Both relationships display a deep sense of trust and understanding.

5 Quotes from A Thousand Splendid Suns

"Nor was she old enough to appreciate the injustice, to see that it is the creators of the harami who are culpable, not the harami, whose only sin is being born.” p.4

This quote really shows the culture and setting for the book. The main character, Miriam, is born illegitimately to a wealthy man of Herat and one of his housekeepers. It is so hard for her to understand why she is treated like filth for something that she cannot control. This relates to many issues concerning people today. No one can control their sex, ethnicity or race, or what family they are born in to. This quote helps people grasp the concept that some things cannot be controlled but there are ways to change it if you want it to happen badly enough.

"Learn this now, and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam." p.7

When Jalil Khan says this to his daughter Miriam, I begin to understand their relationship. He seems to be very wise and is being completely honest with Miriam about how people treat women in the real world. Although she is a child she still acknowledges his advice and uses it to defend herself. I really enjoy the analogy between the compass needle and a "man's accusing finger". It shows that there is no exception to this rule, women will always be blamed even if a man is truly at fault.

"And as her heart pounded, her mind wondered what excuse he would use that night to pounce on her. There was always something, some minor thing that would infuriate him, because no matter what she did to please him, no matter how thoroughly she submitted to his wants and demands, it wasn’t enough." p.90

This quote shows the theme of inner strength in women. Although Miriam tries very hard to please her dad, it never seems to be enough for him. Instead of this showing her weaknesses I believe that this shows her strength because she keeps fighting for his attention and love. He seems to reiterate that she has it tough and she needs to always defend herself, yet he sometimes backfires and becomes the person she needs protection from.

"A society has no chance of success if its women are undereducated" p.103

This quote again shows the underlying theme of the inner power of women in Afghanistan. Hosseini is expressing that there needs to be an equal balance of men and women in power because of the different qualities they possess. Although this is a shorter quote, I believe it can be interpreted very broadly. I would interpret as saying that there women need to be educated to help keep society and business in balance.

"The only enemy an Afghan cannot defeat is himself." p.121

In this quote, Hosseini is explaining the nature of human beings. We never will truly understand ourselves, nor will others. Although people can defeat their own enemies there are feelings within us that can not be defeated. The brain and the heart are constantly conflicting, but one never outweighs the other. Although it is frustrating, our logic and feelings will always conflict.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini focuses on the story of Mariam, a young girl living with her mother in the heart of Afghanistan. Mariam and her relationship with her father Jalil is revealed, and we see how they treat each other. Mariam decides to take her father with her to see a commercial but he bails out, when she decides to return home, she finds that her mom has hung herself. I believe the author's intent s to show the change in emotion in Mariam. Although Mariam is a "harami" or bastard child, her father seems to care and devote time to her. However, after leavings Mariam at the movies and her mother hanging herself, he appears to be an illegitimate father. Hosseini displays a theme of looking at every situation from a different perspective. Khaled Hosseini writes in a way that is generally sullen and reflective, with an undertone of happiness. The beginning of the book shows the two sides of Mariam, a suffering child with her depressed mother, and a girl living a fanciful carefree life with Jalil.

New Yorker article on Choke

Choke, one of many novels by Chuck Palahniuk, tells the story of a Colonial theme park employee, desperately seeking attention and acceptance. The story follows Victor Mancini, a sex addicted lunatic, who uses choking in restaurants as a way of becoming close to people, using their sympathy to his advantage. Victor visits his mother who is in a mental hospital for Alzheimer’s, trying to make her remember him, yet every time failing. He continually remembers his childhood, and looks back on his relationship with his deranged mother. Victor begins an affair with his mother’s doctor and finds that he has the capability to love. However, will he be able to give himself to love and be able to take care of his mother?

Choke Trailer

From the author of Fight Club and Lullaby, comes Choke. A dark comedy about family relationships, sex addiction and how to work at a colonial theme park.

“The way to remember the symptoms of melanoma is the letters ABCD. Asymmetrical shape, Border irregularity, Color variation and Diameter larger than about six millimeters”-Victor Mancini

A story about a medical school drop out with a peculiar addiction…

“The magic of sex is it’s an acquisition without the burden of possessions. No matter how many women you take home, there’s never a storage problem.”

And a mother on the edge of insanity…

“The diseases a mother can pass to her baby are TORCH: Toxoplasmosis, Other (meaning syphilis and HIV), Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, and Herpes. It helps if you can picture a mother passing the torch to her baby.”-Victor Mancini

“What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody. Who I need is somebody that will eat up all of my free time, my ego, my attention. Somebody addicted to me. A mutual addiction.”-Victor Mancini

Coming to a theater near you…

“Just keep asking yourself: ’What would Jesus NOT do?’”-Victor Mancini

Cast for Choke

Victor Mancini-James Roday

Ida J. Mancini- Meryl Streep

Cherry Daiquiri- Elisha Cuthbert

Paige Marshall- Mandy Moore

Denny- Seth Rogen