In Samuel’s 2nd Blog for A Thousand Splendid Suns he employs The syllogistic form to describe what he see that is to come in the future. Syllogistic progressive form is the unfolding of the steps of an argument through which the genre is introduced and the reader acquires an idea of what is to come. He sees this form manifested in the repeated inference to Mariam staying exiled with her mother until she is fifteen. This is a good analysis of the text and understanding of instances in which the text reveal the outcome of the next chapters in the book. Yet I think that this form also reveals moments in which Mariam is prompted to escape her fate.
I the first few pages of the book the stream near the hut is mention quite numerously. The narrator mentions the stream on pg.14 ” After tea with Nana, Mariam and Jalil always went fishing in the stream. He showed her how to cast her line, how to reel in the trout” and then on pg.18 “At the stream, Mariam waited by the spot they had agreed on the day before”. The stream is repeated and stands as a symbols of a running hope but is this is torn down by empty promise. When the stream is first mentioned on page fourteen it stands as symbols for what is occurring between Jalil and Mariam. Mariam is the fisherman throwing the line and Jalil is the fish that she never catches always coming up empty and disillusioned with hope.
The stream also serves as a symbol of where Mariam think she will find true happiness. She goes down to the stream to wait for Jalil because she believes that she will finally receive the attention she desires when Jalil comes for her. The stream is also a sign of her desire to go and visit Herat where she will find happiness and family.
I see this repetition as the anchor for what the story will repeatedly bring into play in the text. A theme of disillusion and false hope that will lead to a very dark ending in this story.
reading4awesome 