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Situational Irony
Part I: Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis:
Hosseini frequently uses free indirect discourse (FID) as a style element in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Through FID, the narrator's voice melds with that of a character, diffusing one perspective into the other. Note the following example of FID from Chapter 14, in which Mariam looks for someone to blame for her first miscarriage:
It was Rasheed's fault for his premature celebration. For his foolhardy faith that she was carrying a boy. Naming the baby as he had. Taking God's will for granted. His fault, for making her go to the bathhouse. [...] It was God's fault, for taunting her as He had. For not granting her what He had granted so many other women.
This excerpt contains no dialogue—rather, the narrator presents Mariam's thoughts and insecurities as definitive statements, refraining from adding "she thought," or "Mariam wondered," or any other contextualizing statement. This use of FID places additional emphasis on Mariam's worries, elevating the severity of her concern by channeling her voice through that of the narrator.
In addition to his use of FID as a style element, Hosseini tends to interweave current scenes with future ones, skipping backwards and forwards in time. This style choice alleviates some of the tension and suspense in the narrative but compensates by contributing to the novel's desolate, hopeless mood. Note the following excerpt from one such scene in Chapter 44:
"Mammy has a new friend," Zalmai said after dinner later that night, after Tariq had left. "A man."
Rasheed looked up. "Does she, now?"
Tariq asked if he could smoke. They had stayed awhile at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Tariq said, tapping ash into a saucer.
Before the reader has even had time to adjust to Tariq's miraculous resurrection (he was never dead), Hosseini skips ahead from morning to evening, interjecting two lines of dialogue in which Zalmai inadvertently snitches on Tariq and Laila. Laila's reunion with Tariq has not concluded, yet readers already know Rasheed will learn of their meeting. This stylistic choice effectively kills the hopeful mood that emerges following Tariq's return, immediately making the reader fear Rasheed's retaliation (like Laila and Mariam do).
Part III: Chapter 44
Explanation and Analysis:
Hosseini frequently uses free indirect discourse (FID) as a style element in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Through FID, the narrator's voice melds with that of a character, diffusing one perspective into the other. Note the following example of FID from Chapter 14, in which Mariam looks for someone to blame for her first miscarriage:
It was Rasheed's fault for his premature celebration. For his foolhardy faith that she was carrying a boy. Naming the baby as he had. Taking God's will for granted. His fault, for making her go to the bathhouse. [...] It was God's fault, for taunting her as He had. For not granting her what He had granted so many other women.
This excerpt contains no dialogue—rather, the narrator presents Mariam's thoughts and insecurities as definitive statements, refraining from adding "she thought," or "Mariam wondered," or any other contextualizing statement. This use of FID places additional emphasis on Mariam's worries, elevating the severity of her concern by channeling her voice through that of the narrator.
In addition to his use of FID as a style element, Hosseini tends to interweave current scenes with future ones, skipping backwards and forwards in time. This style choice alleviates some of the tension and suspense in the narrative but compensates by contributing to the novel's desolate, hopeless mood. Note the following excerpt from one such scene in Chapter 44:
"Mammy has a new friend," Zalmai said after dinner later that night, after Tariq had left. "A man."
Rasheed looked up. "Does she, now?"
Tariq asked if he could smoke. They had stayed awhile at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp near Peshawar, Tariq said, tapping ash into a saucer.
Before the reader has even had time to adjust to Tariq's miraculous resurrection (he was never dead), Hosseini skips ahead from morning to evening, interjecting two lines of dialogue in which Zalmai inadvertently snitches on Tariq and Laila. Laila's reunion with Tariq has not concluded, yet readers already know Rasheed will learn of their meeting. This stylistic choice effectively kills the hopeful mood that emerges following Tariq's return, immediately making the reader fear Rasheed's retaliation (like Laila and Mariam do).
