Analysis Of Harami In A Thousand Splendid Suns

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the reader is lead into the main character in the second sentence of the fourth paragraph of Chapter One, when the narrator reveals:

Instead, Nana grabbed Mariam by the wrists, pulled her close, and, through gritted teeth, said, "You are a clumsy little harami. This is my reward for everything I've endured. An heirloom- breaking, clumsy little harami." (Khaled Hosseini, A Thousands Splendid Suns,[Penguin Books, 2007] p. 4).

In this selection, the reader gets the sense that Mariam- known to the reader, as Harami- is a poor women from a misguided, complicated, poor-family. Classifying Mariam as "Harami" shows that she is not liked and a bastard; expressing that she is unwanted for who she is, and that she has no self-respect amongst her family members, and her mom, Nana, who have no sympathy towards her. Mariam was brought into this life without wedlock, for this reason she is known as a harami. All of these elements encourage the reader to like Mariam based on the first impression. Underneath this portrayal, nonetheless, is more mischievous message: these qualities suggest there are other, more subtle reasons for calling Mariam harami. Explicitly "harami” advocates that Mariam is an unwanted thing, and is an illegitimate human being who would never have a valid reason to own things that other people had. In the quote, "heirloom-breaking" can be concealed or be a putdown of her feelings as she broke the china teacup set; "clumsy" interprets that she will eventually be condemned- and perhaps use her shunned personality to get ...

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...nd self-belonging. In the face of her mother, Nana, is always preaching awful comments about Jalil, with this in mind she never listens to the stories Jalil tells her and she never believes in them. This connection between her father is so serious that it could potentially compromise his relationship with his two wives, and the bond of trust, which exists between both of them. Further to that, the mistake implements Mariam to have a hold over her Father. Mariam’s personal and family dilemmas force her to jump back and forth between her parents. This constant back and forth for Mariam is what dazzles the reader, and increases the suspense as Mariam tries to build a healthy relationship with her parents, Nana and Jalil; unfortunately, it does not work out.

Hosseini, Khaled. A thousand splendid suns. New York: Penguins Books, 2007. Print.

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