A Thousand Splendid Suns: Week 5, Post A

VOCAB:

Recluse (245): Solitary, marked by withdrawal from society.

Urbane (249): Notably polite or polished in manner.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

"It sounded like a bag of rice dropping to the floor" (267). This is a simile because it uses like to compare the sound of Laila's punch to a bag of rice dropping- Boom!

"[...] his tantrum was a hurricane, sparing no parts of the room [...] (271). This is a metaphor because it compares Zalmai's tantrum to a great storm without like or as.

"Her heart squeezed" (280). This is personification because, obviously, Laila's heart cannot squeeze out anything, save for maybe blood, but definitely not love or forgiving.

QUOTE

"He's been dead for almost 20 years," Laila said to Mariam. "Isn't dying once enough?"

I like this quote because I think it talks about not just death, but the hardships in life. Mariam and Laila have gone through more than most people should in a lifetime, but the bad things don't stop coming. I think the "isn't dying once enough?" shows that Laila is tired of how tough life is, and how sometimes you don't get a break.

A theme from this section is that sacrifice requires strength, because sometimes, like Laila, we have to give up our favorite things just to get by.