A note to Mr.Hosseini and some commentary on this awesome novel of yours

In honor of the catharsis I feel while reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, I would like express some words to the author:

Dear Mr.Hosseini,

Although you probably do not read my blog, this is my way of showing gratitude towards your writing and the purpose of the novel. To me this novel is more than just a commentary of the subordinate of women and the Afghani lifestyle that is so harsh and somewhat corrupt, rather it is a questioning about life and the loyalty or duty one holds while also saying true to their self. The charecters of the novel- especially the women enlighten me by showing how important they are to the family and the future generations. Hence to me, the women within this society are loyal not only to their families, but to themseleves- if they do not believe, then that does not translate to future generations. Also, while reading your novel, I kept track of 2 types of themes- that is the generation gap and the gender gap that is heavily touched upon.  Firstly, I will extrapolate on the gender gap. The gender gap between men and women lies in the difference of hierarchy. Men in the Afghan society were perceived to be the dominating force and the women their possession, almost doll like. Due to such oppression on the women, they face a much more mental strain resulting in an emotionally depressing lifestyle (as seen with Mariam). This emotional living is what separates the two genders. Although, when they shares a common suffering or adversity, they can once again be reunited; in other words, the adversity mends the gaps between husband and wife within a house hold. This can been seen with Mariam and her husband: "it pained her considerably- to picture Rasheed panic-sticken and helpless, pacing the banks of the lake and pleading with it to spit his sons back onto dry land. And she felt for the first time a kinship with her husband. She told herself that they would make a good companion after all" (77).  This basically states that the only reason she feels comfortable with Rasheed now is because they hold the same adversities- they have something in common that they can dread together about. Now for the discussion on the generation gap which is seen between Mariam and Laila. Note that previously women and education did not go hand in hand, in the part of the novel, that changes. In fact, "marriage can wait, education cannot" (103). The Afghan society has changed- they are now starting to understand the failure in marriage at a young age due to naiveness. Once a girl gains education, they have the ability to hold a relationship within society. Nonetheless, thus far in the book, I find this a social commentary on the life of the Afghan women and their oppression within society, perhaps even the struggle to rise to the top. 

Prose Writing- a little review and refreshment before the AP Exam!

In order to prepare for the AP Literature Exam, I have decided to choose prompts and write essays and outlines for the open questions. When scrolling through the prompts, I came along this one prompt that I really thought fit well with the novel The Name Sake, that I read over the summer...but as Ms.Clinch says: "Never write on a book that you haven't reviewed! It's death." Hence, I took the time, to review my annotations and some notes for Lahiri's novel. Below is the following prompt that I will attempt to answer and discuss using The Name Sake.

Prompt: Sonsyrea Tate’s statement suggests that “home” may be conceived of as a dwelling, a place, or a state of mind. It may have positive or negative associations, but in either case, it may have a considerable influence on an individual. Choose a novel or play in which a central character leaves home yet finds that home remains significant. Write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the importance of “home” to this character and the reasons for its continuing influence. Explain how the character’s idea of home illuminates the larger meaning of the work.

So here it goes:

            The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a classic, powerful, culturally-dilemma novel through which Lahiri strongly enriches the essence of tradition and family, more so, the importance of leaving home and it's value through indentity. In this novel, Lahiri constructs the Ganguli family, with a man Ashoke and his wife Ashima, who have an arranged marriage in Calcutta. As per the tradition of the Bengalis, the women must follow the man, and so Ashima, post-marriage, accompanies Ashoke to Cambridge, Massachusetts- a beginning to a new life, a cultural shock. The story revolves around their son, Gogol, who suffers through his life due to his name- a traditional, non-American, ethnic identity. The character of Gogol is vital  in the novel in order to portray Lahiri’s purpose, that is, to illustrate the beauty of an individual, their identity, and their roots from which they originated; in fact, the novel illustrates that identity can neither be changed nor suppressed as it is innately assimilated within us.

            The instant the son of Ashoke and Ashima is born, he is faced with "crisis"- a name. This definition of a name, is often and blatantly defined as a  stamp of identification; although, from where the Ganguli family were brought up and raised, the name given to any individual was not just a tool for identification, rather family connection, a symbolic characteristic, a family representation. The name, was nonetheless the "root of a tree," that kept family alive within oneself. Gogol, the son, lived a tough life as a child; he dealt with issues ranging from love, bullying, and family loyalty, and blamed it on his parents. It is important to note here that even though his parents did absolutely nothing to hinder his life or cause trouble, he blamed his parents for his quandary, more so, he held his parents responsible the negative aspects that emerged because of his name. In a sense, Lahiri portrays a common misconception about life- that your parents are the cause of worries, when in reality, they haven't. This misconception often leads to disloyalty in regards to parent-child relationships and such disloyalty is clearly the primary cause of the "tangles between generations." The truth lies in the fact that a child does not have the ability to recognize themselves for who they are when faced in a new situation, in this case, a cultural shock. Not only is this truth present through the novel, but also universally. At times, this disloyalty amongst family members questions societies motives: Is society built upon changing those that are different? Why? How does this harm families? Is society causing a child to lose their roots, traditions, and cultural values?

            Lahiri's narration of Ashoke's thoughts really enhanced the essence and importance of being close to the roots through which one originated as it has one's "true" identity. Ashoke, who was slowly dying, did not tell his child about his death, yet still suffered through his sons constant nagging and stubbornness. Why don't our parents say anything when we are stubborn? It was astonishing to realize that parents want us to learn independence, hence their lack of interference in our lives. They "duty" remains to give us a name, identity, some values and cultures, and let us loose...like a bird. The beauty of the book, was the fact that Jhumpa exhibited the role of the parent and the child implicitly, without attacking the audience. She led the audience to introspect about respect.

            Jhumpa Lahiri, truly exhibits a work of literary fiction as she constructs a plot that depicts a universally applicable theme of loyalty and the importance of values that originate within the home. Nonetheless, the authors diction, writing style, and pathos, was well presented in order to fulfill her purpose- to make the audience decipher  over their behavior towards their family and how these values translate into future behaviors through life endeavors.