Sacrifice In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Words: 1237
Pages: 5

With love comes sacrifice and with mistakes comes redemption. Sacrifice and redemption are apparent when characters undergo situations that compel them to make drastic decisions due to their former actions. Many authors contribute the themes of sacrifice and redemption because they are extremely relatable to people’s real life situations. Also, these themes emphasize the struggles of the characters and portray the different personalities that they have; some characters sacrifice for others and some have had a terrible past that they want to vindicate. Mariam from A Thousand Splendid Suns sacrifices her life so that Laila could experience happiness. Hassan from The Kite Runner is extremely sacrificial for his half brother, Amir, because he cares …show more content…
He seeks redemption for not being the type of son his father wants him to be and also allowing Hassan to get raped all for his father’s approval. The difference between Jalil and Amir is that although both want to redeem themselves for their faults, Jalil was the one who was neglecting while Amir was the one who was being disloyal. In these two novels there are catalysts of sacrifice and redemption, which make the characters come to a realization that it is time to do the right thing. Laila from A Thousand Splendid Suns is the reason for Mariam’s sacrifice and Sohrab from The Kite Runner is the representation for Amir’s redemption. All these characters undergo some sort of conflict to make them realize that they must do the right thing to resolve their situations. In the novels A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, although, it is evident that the characters experience sacrifice and redemption, they deal with different circumstances, which compel them to make decisions that lead to their ultimate …show more content…
In Hassan’s mind, it did not matter what anyone said, he was going to be loyal to Amir until the end. In contrast, Mariam is less naive than Hassan because she sacrifices her life for someone who greatly appreciates her. While being interrogated, Mariam is finally asked, “’You admit to this, Hamshira?’ she answers without a stutter, ‘I do’” (A Thousand Splendid Suns 364). Mariam could expose Laila for also being Rasheed’s wife and she would also be imprisoned, but Mariam remains devoted to her sacrifice. She dies so that Laila could live. All Mariam really wants is Laila to be happy and in order for her to achieve that she has to let go of something, which happened to be her life. Although Mariam’s consequence happened to be death, Hassan’s consequence for not giving the kite to Assef is rape. In The Kite Runner the explanation of the rape