Topics of A Thousand Splendid Suns (Part One) 1.

chapter 1.Mariam lived with her mother named Nana in the country of Kolba. Mariam is a harami, that is, a bastard. Her father Jalil is a rich business man in Herat. He owned a cinema, land, three carpet stores, a clothing shop and a black 1956 Buick Roadmaster. Nana was once a housekeeper of Jalil, when her belly bagan to swell, she was sent off with disgace to Iran. Therefore, she hated Jalil and his family, though Jalil always came to see his daugther Mariam, she felt unhappy. This feeling can be inferred from the discription, that when Jalil told Mariam that his cinema would give free ice creams to kids from the concession stand, Nana was smiling demurely and then asked Mariam what she has got excluding a storey of ice cream. The beginning of the novel is quite good, just a description of Mariam. Mariam was waiting her father coming from the clearing, and when the porcelain was slipped to the wooden floorboards and shatterd, Mariam was blame to destroy this chinese tea-set which is Nana's heirloom from her mother. The word "bastard" appeared here at the first time, and offered background information abour Mariam. The description of the porcelain was very lively, for example, its color was blue and white and the pot's spout had a graceful curve, the hand was painted chrysanthemums, and the dragon on the bowl was used to ward off evil. The language is also very sophiscated, like scurrying cockroaches, the cradle of Persian culture, the famous minarets of Queen Shad, and the vines pregnant with plump grapes,and also the vaulted bazzar, trellised ceilingand a face-saving deal.