Topic A, J. Davison, Period 7

Khaled Hosseini, in his contemptuous novel "A Thousand Splendid Suns", uses kinesthetic imagery, simile, and onomatopoeia to express the powerful issue of domestic violence. After Mariam had shouldered the labor of cooking for Rasheed he became dissatisfied and, as a punishment to her, he "pried it open [her mouth] , then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it" and commanded that she chew them. Hosseini conveys the feel of the rocks in order to send the reader through the sensory shock that Mariam must have experienced as her husband forced rocks into her mouth. After Mariam and Laila attempted to run away to escape Rasheed's tyrannical tactics he punched Laila with what felt "as if a car had hit her at full speed". Hosseini, conveys Rasheed's total lack of restraint, and concern as he brutally beats his wife with the force and contempt one would exhibit towards an enemy. As Rasheed mercilessly beats Mariam Laila hears "the thump, thump of something solid repeatedly striking flesh,...then the thumping once more. Hosseini emphasizes the inhumane treatment Mariam receives as she is thrown, tossed, and repeatedly struck with vicious blows. In the end Hosseini proves that an attempt to dominate one another through physical and mental brutality, inevitably leads to destruction.