A Thousand Splendid Suns Literary Devices

Explanation and Analysis—Compass Needle:

In the following passage from Chapter 1, Nana uses a particularly telling simile to explain gender relations to Mariam:

Nana said, "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."

This simile reemerges much later in Chapter 47. Mariam recalls her mother's words while she herself is in prison for Rasheed's murder, listening to another female inmate's backstory:

Listening to Naghma, Mariam remembered [...] that long-ago morning when Nana had said to her, Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.

Mariam reveals that Naghma received a five-year prison sentence for eloping with her lover. She took the fall for both of their actions after her male partner accused her of bewitching him, promising to repent his sins and refrain from further sexual indiscretion. Naghma's lover went free, while she resides behind bars.

Through Nana's compass simile, Mariam reflects on the hypocrisy and injustice of her male-centered society. Women like Naghma and Mariam frequently take the fall for the men in their lives, blamed for any trouble with an "accusing finger." Their suffering protects these men from the consequences of their actions.

Explanation and Analysis—Burqa:

In a prime example of situational irony, both Mariam and Laila find comfort in the anonymity the burqa provides, despite being forced to wear it by Rasheed. In the following excerpt from Chapter 11, Mariam notes this comfort:

[T]he burqa, [Mariam] learned to her surprise, was also comforting. It was like a one-way window. Inside it, she was an observer, buffered from the scrutinizing eyes of strangers. She no longer worried that people knew, with a single glance, all the shameful secrets of her past.

Much later on in the novel, in Chapter 32, Laila gives voice to the same comfort as Mariam, in a similar context:

[Laila] found some comfort in the anonymity that the burqa provided. She wouldn't be recognized this way if she ran into an old acquaintance of hers. She wouldn't have to watch the surprise in their eyes, or the pity or the glee, at how far she had fallen, at how her lofty aspirations had been dashed.

Ironically, their longing for anonymity is a direct consequence of the same misogynistic cultural norms that permit Rasheed jurisdiction over his wives' clothing. For Mariam and Laila, the burqa represents a strict religious lifestyle that neither woman chose for herself. The two women find comfort in their burqas, but only as a paradoxical form of escape from religious extremists' strict, violent scrutiny of women and their bodies.

Laila longs for escape because she is ashamed of her marriage to Rasheed—a marriage forced upon her by dire circumstance, given the Taliban's intolerance of independent, unaccompanied women. Mariam also wishes to escape her society's intense, misogynistic judgement, leveled against her for being harami, a bastard born to an unwed woman.

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Explanation and Analysis—Blinding Whack:

In the following excerpt from Chapter 29, Mariam at last ascertains the true nature of Rasheed's fascination with Laila. The narrator utilizes both imagery and simile to illustrate this realization:

And suddenly Mariam knew that her suspicions were right. She understood with a dread that was like a blinding whack to the side of her head that what she was witnessing [between Rasheed and Laila] was nothing less than a courtship.

In this passage, Mariam finally acknowledges Rasheed's courtship of Laila. The truth of this courtship is remarkably painful and humiliating for Mariam, who feels insulted at being functionally replaced by a younger woman. The narrator compares Mariam's realization to "a blinding whack to the side of her head." This use of simile conjures the imagery of domestic violence, of Rasheed's sudden aggressive outbursts that leave Mariam shocked, overwhelmed, and mute. His decision to wed Laila is similarly shocking. Both the physical abuse and the second marriage are Rasheed's attempts to humiliate Mariam—to diminish her and put her in her place, in the hope that she will be less likely to resist his demands. Ironically, it is for Laila's sake that Mariam eventually commits the ultimate act of resistance against Rasheed, killing him before he can choke Laila to death.

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Explanation and Analysis—Imagery of Violence:

In Chapter 31, Rasheed makes certain demands of Laila as his newest wife, laying down the rules for the rest of their marriage. The following examples of simile elucidate Rasheed's true nature, as well as his intentions heading into this marriage with Laila:

"I should say that Mariam here will be my eyes and ears when I am away." Here, [Rasheed] shot Mariam a fleeting look that was as hard as a steel-toed kick to the temple. "Not that I am mistrusting. Quite the contrary. [...]"

On and on he went. Mariam sat watching [Laila] out of the corner of her eye as Rasheed's demands and judgements rained down on them like the rockets on Kabul.

Both similes above center physical violence: Rasheed gives Mariam a look "as hard as a steel-toed kick to the temple"; Rasheed's demands "[rain] down on [Mariam and Laila] like the rockets on Kabul." These figurative descriptions evoke imagery of the abuse both Mariam and Laila endure in their collective 27 years with Rasheed.

The phrasing of these similes forms a deliberate parallel to the militaristic violence in Kabul: soldiers, in their steel-toed boots, firing machine guns and rockets on innocent civilians. By associating Rasheed's violent actions with those of the Taliban, Hosseini examines the ways in which widespread societal misogyny manifests in personal relationships.

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Explanation and Analysis—Burqa:

In a prime example of situational irony, both Mariam and Laila find comfort in the anonymity the burqa provides, despite being forced to wear it by Rasheed. In the following excerpt from Chapter 11, Mariam notes this comfort:

[T]he burqa, [Mariam] learned to her surprise, was also comforting. It was like a one-way window. Inside it, she was an observer, buffered from the scrutinizing eyes of strangers. She no longer worried that people knew, with a single glance, all the shameful secrets of her past.

Much later on in the novel, in Chapter 32, Laila gives voice to the same comfort as Mariam, in a similar context:

[Laila] found some comfort in the anonymity that the burqa provided. She wouldn't be recognized this way if she ran into an old acquaintance of hers. She wouldn't have to watch the surprise in their eyes, or the pity or the glee, at how far she had fallen, at how her lofty aspirations had been dashed.

Ironically, their longing for anonymity is a direct consequence of the same misogynistic cultural norms that permit Rasheed jurisdiction over his wives' clothing. For Mariam and Laila, the burqa represents a strict religious lifestyle that neither woman chose for herself. The two women find comfort in their burqas, but only as a paradoxical form of escape from religious extremists' strict, violent scrutiny of women and their bodies.

Laila longs for escape because she is ashamed of her marriage to Rasheed—a marriage forced upon her by dire circumstance, given the Taliban's intolerance of independent, unaccompanied women. Mariam also wishes to escape her society's intense, misogynistic judgement, leveled against her for being harami, a bastard born to an unwed woman.

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Explanation and Analysis—Hostess:

In the following example of simile from Chapter 42, the narrator characterizes the shame Aziza feels in her shabby surroundings at the orphanage:

Whenever a kid cried in their vicinity, snot oozing from his nose, or if a kid walked by bare-assed, hair clumped with dirt, Aziza's eyelids fluttered and she was quick to explain it away. She was like a hostess embarrassed in front of her guests by the squalor of her home, the untidiness of her children.

The narrator compares Aziza to a hostess, embarrassed about the state of her home. Stuck in this orphanage against her will, Aziza adapts to her environment. As an eldest daughter, used to having responsibilities foisted on her, Aziza also feels a sense of responsibility for the orphanage and those inside. When they appear shabby and derelict, even in the midst of an ongoing war, Aziza is ashamed.

Gender is an important piece of this metaphorical puzzle; unavoidably, Aziza is female and faces the domestic expectations and burdens her society places on her. Even as a young girl enduring apocalyptic conditions, Aziza finds herself beholden to societal expectations. Women and girls must keep the household in order, even if that household is a makeshift orphanage.

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Explanation and Analysis—Compass Needle:

In the following passage from Chapter 1, Nana uses a particularly telling simile to explain gender relations to Mariam:

Nana said, "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."

This simile reemerges much later in Chapter 47. Mariam recalls her mother's words while she herself is in prison for Rasheed's murder, listening to another female inmate's backstory:

Listening to Naghma, Mariam remembered [...] that long-ago morning when Nana had said to her, Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.

Mariam reveals that Naghma received a five-year prison sentence for eloping with her lover. She took the fall for both of their actions after her male partner accused her of bewitching him, promising to repent his sins and refrain from further sexual indiscretion. Naghma's lover went free, while she resides behind bars.

Through Nana's compass simile, Mariam reflects on the hypocrisy and injustice of her male-centered society. Women like Naghma and Mariam frequently take the fall for the men in their lives, blamed for any trouble with an "accusing finger." Their suffering protects these men from the consequences of their actions.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns: Similes 5 key examples