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A Look Through a Formalist Lens: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Ian Ramsden, Ayan Adan and Caitlin DiRocco

What is Formalism?

Formalism is the 20th century literary theory of study a piece of literature using the text only, blocking out other influences such as social structures and politics

What is Formalism?

What does Formalism look at?

Formalism looks at the text for the evidence and is largely unbiased as other influences are shunned.

Formalism may look at the themes, mood, syntax, stylistic choices, etc.

Thesis

The reason why Hosseini uses certain moods throughout the book is to convey the overall theme of the story.

Thesis

The First Part

Part One uses moods of loss and grief to convey messages about the how the characters feel and how this will develop the overall plot.

Part One

Evidence

“The pebbles spilled from her pocket. Mariam kept kicking and crying as she was carried to the car and lowered onto the cold leather of the backseat.” (Pg. 35) ...”

Then he was gone, leaving Mariam to spit out pebbles, blood, and the fragments of two broken molars.” (pg.104)

Both quotes shown here show how loss affects one of the main characters, in this case Mariam. They show loss of family, the first quote being about losing Jalil, and the second being about the lack of family she was able to produce. The pebbles, brought up both times, symbolize family and how she loses them in dramatic ways.

The Second Part

Part Two

The second part is almost the opposite of the first, with it taking place 21 years after the start of Part One. It shows an almost mundane childhood and the struggles of being a child in a war-stricken place. However, Laila, the main character in this part, endures and keeps hope for a better life.

Evidence

"He was her lifeline to the streets now. He heard the word of mouth and passed it on to

her. Tariq was the one who told her, for instance, that militiamen stationed in the mountains

sharpened their marksmanship-and settled wagers over said marksmanship-by shooting

civilians down below, men, women, children, chosen at random. He told her that

they fired rockets at cars but, for some reason, left taxis alone-which explained to Laila

the recent rash of people spraying their cars yellow" (pg 195).

Laila and Tariq, even in a war zone, continue to roam, albeit not alone but they still choose to act like they're kids, and being hopeful for the future where they can continue to be kids. This is almost the complete opposite of Part One, where an overarching theme was loss while in Part Two, an overarching theme is love and hope.

The Third Part

Part Three

The third part of the book is a very sad portion, with suffering, death, and pain common. However, Mariam and Laila, who have bonded together and endure this together, creating two seperate mood which both help contribute to the main theme.

Evidence

“[Laila] thought of Aziza’s stutter, and of what Aziza had said earlier about fractures and powerful collisions deep down and how sometimes all we see on the surface is a slight tremor” (326).

This quote shows that even the children were suffering but enduring at the same time, almost to the same extent as the adults. This also shows that the children are capable of enduring just as well as the adults and shows the true strength of people when enduring hardships.

The Final Part

The final part ties all the moods and themes into what Hosseini was leading us to: peace and happiness.

Part Four

“Laila likes Murree's cool, foggy mornings and its dazzling twilights, the dark brilliance of the sky at night; the green of the pines and the soft brown of the squirrels darting up and down the sturdy tree trunks; the sudden downpours that send shoppers in the Mall scrambling for awning cover. She likes the souvenir shops, and the various hotels that house tourists, even as the locals bemoan the constant construction, the expansion of infrastructure that they say is eating away at Murree's natural beauty. Laila finds it odd that people should lament the building of buildings. In Kabul, they would celebrate it. (pg 377)

Laila now is at peace away from Kabul, though she still thinks of it. She is at peace because she is away from where so many atrocities happened and she is at peace because she finally has want she has wanted since a teenager; love, happiness and peace.

Evidence

The Main Idea

Main Idea

Hosseini wanted to make us feel the struggles that people, in this case Afghan women, have to go through in order to find some semblance of peace and happiness. Many people however, do not reach this and therefore stories like this one are good at making us realize that life isn't easy and that many shifts occur before we are truely happy.

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