Blog Entry 5: Done!

Change: The characters change continuously throughout the novel. Baba becomes more open towards Amir and seems to love him more due to the new situation he finds himself in; he loses his wealth and is reduced to an exile, fighting to provide for himself and his son after fleeing his home country. Amir matures through falling in love and reflecting on his past as well as finding the courage to go back to Afghanistan to save his nephew and manages to forgive himself towards the end when Assef beats him up. Hassan moves on from the incident that scarred him horribly by also falling in love and marrying, which brings him a great blessing that soothes his past pains, Sohrab.

Relativity: The themes are strongly universal. The main theme of family is something we deal with everyday. Each and every one of us has to face conflicts that arise between family members and the problems that have to be solved with the whole family standing up together. The novel emphasizes the importance of family and its strength in society. Blood ties dominate Afghan tradition, which is another strong theme in the novel. We all deal with the pressures of tradition in our lives. Our parents expect certain things from us like taking a certain career path or marrying a certain person. Failure and learning from one's mistakes is another universal theme in the novel because we have all faced failure and have had to learn from our mistakes, whether major or minor. Our mistakes are obstacles that we all have to face during our lives over and over again. This novel teaches how even if one makes a mistake, there is always a way to repair the mistake and the most important step is forgiving oneself, then learning from it.

Experience: Reading this novel has been a great journey through the sad and happy moments in Khaled Hosseini's unique characters' lives. I received a strong insight into the character's lives and surroundings through the author's talent with words, which has been beneficial to me because I learned more about Afghanistan and the depth of its conflicts. I am definitely planning to read A Thousand Splendid Suns!