The story follows a family over many generations consisting of Abdullah and Pari, her “mother” Nila, Nabi, and young Pari. There are several other blood and non-blood related characters in this story, but essentially, it is in the reuniting of Pari (Abdullah’s sister) and young Pari (Abdullah’s daughter) that brings the whole story together. Examine the purpose of these other characters’ narration (Parwana, Idris, Adel, Markos). Why are they given a “voice” in this story? How do they contribute to the story’s themes and motifs?

Analyze the many different ways Hosseini presents family in this novel.

In the first chapter, in a fable told by Abdullah, fable, Hosseini presents theat idea that “cruelty and benevolence are but shades of the same colour” (12). Examine the several different “morally ambiguous” situations that are presented in this novel and comment how this paradoxical statement applies to them.