I. Events – Analytical & Interpretive
How does Nana’s suicide function structurally within the novel?
Possible answer: It forces Mariam into society while confirming Nana’s worldview, making Mariam’s later suffering feel inevitable.
How does the kolba function as both a refuge and a prison for Mariam?
Possible answer: It offers emotional safety but enforces social exclusion.
Why is Nana not simply a bitter or cruel character?
Possible answer: Her bitterness is a survival strategy shaped by betrayal and exclusion.
Why is the burqa symbolic even before it becomes mandatory?
Possible answer: It anticipates invisibility and erasure.
Who believes that hope is dangerous because it invites disappointment?
Possible answer: Nana.
Why is Mariam’s journey to Jalil’s house a turning point rather than merely an act of rebellion?
Possible answer: It shatters her illusions about paternal love and social belonging, initiating her emotional exile.
How does Kabul serve two contrasting roles for Mariam and Laila?
Possible answer: For Mariam, it is confinement; for Laila, it is possibility and intellectual growth.
How does Jalil embody moral weakness rather than villainy?
Possible answer: His kindness is genuine but collapses under social pressure.
How does harami operate as a social sentence rather than a description?
Possible answer: It permanently defines Mariam’s worth and limits her future.
Who accepts blame instinctively when things go wrong?
Possible answer: Mariam.
What is the symbolic significance of Mariam’s miscarriages beyond personal tragedy?
Possible answer: They represent her failure to gain value in a patriarchal system that defines women by motherhood.
How do destroyed neighborhoods reflect internal emotional states?
Possible answer: Physical ruin mirrors psychological trauma and loss.
How does Mariam internalize oppression rather than resist it early on?
Possible answer: She interprets suffering as deserved.
Why is silence a recurring motif for women?
Possible answer: Speech risks violence or shame.
Who equates love with obedience rather than mutual care?
.
Possible answer: Rasheed
Why does Hosseini juxtapose (i.e. places next to each other) Mariam’s emotional isolation with Laila’s family-centered upbringing?
Possible answer: To contrast female experiences and prepare for their eventual intersection.
Why is Herat associated with illusion rather than opportunity for Mariam?
Possible answer: It represents a world that appears open but denies her access.
Why is Hakim’s optimism both admirable and flawed?
Possible answer: He believes in progress while underestimating violence.
How does honor (nang) function as control rather than dignity?
Possible answer: It justifies punishment while excusing male behavior.
Who measures national success through children rather than politics?
Possible answer: Hakim.
What does Rasheed’s gradual cruelty suggest about power rather than temperament?
Possible answer: His violence escalates as his authority feels threatened, revealing power as conditional and fragile.
Why is school a politically charged space in Laila’s story?
Possible answer: Education becomes resistance in a society moving toward repression.
How does Fariba represent a different form of broken motherhood than Nana?
Possible answer: Her identity collapses after loss rather than betrayal.
Why does Hosseini avoid romanticizing suffering?
Possible answer: Pain is shown as dehumanizing, not ennobling.
Who loses identity when personal sacrifice is no longer rewarded?
Possible answer: Fariba.