Original 2016 Prompt -

Many works of literature contain a character who intentionally deceives others. The
character’s dishonesty may be intended either to help or to hurt. Such a character, for
example, may choose to mislead others for personal safety, to spare someone’s
feelings, or to carry out a crime.

Choose a novel or play (A Thousand Splendid Suns) in which a character deceives

others. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the motives for that character’s
deception and discuss how the deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a
whole.

In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hossenis, Mariam deceives

throughout the story which makes her believe that her own identity needed to be lost
alongside the lies that were fed to her her whole life. Mariam's character is portrayed
to be sweet and loving even after her father's long absences. Even with his long
absences he is able to portray a fantasy of his character that he wants her to believe
he is. This all changes when Miriam's mother passes and her father is left choosing
between his own daughter or protecting his honor and reputation. Her pain from her
father's betrayal causes Miriam to feel all alone and lose the positive kindness in her
heart.

Mariam and her dad had a complicated relationship, her father lied to her and
made an image of what he was not. It took Mariam time to realize that all he told her
were lies and thats the act of deception. All Mariam wanted for her birthday was to
visit jails home so she would get the feeling of living without her grandma. Every
year her father would get Mariam gifts on her birthday so she asked him and he
granted her wish. As the day approached miriam waited for jalil to pick her up but
he never showed up. “Mariam kept thinking of his face in the upstairs window. He
let her sleep on the street. On the street.”(35). Jalil lied once again and left miriam
waiting for him feeling embarrassed that he abandoned her. He couldn't bear to let
anyone see him with her so he decided to leave her without telling her and lied about
it. He made it seem like he was really going but he lied to her and couldnt even tell
her why he never showed up. This ripped a part of out miriam's heart and made her
lose her own self. This is the act of deception because Mariam had hopes that her
father would be the hero she thought he was but he lied and left her abandoned.
 Miriam always believed that her father would never betray her, to her he was
her hero. Her world changed upside down when she found out about her dad's
betrayal. The author used deception here. Nana’s illness and ignorance causes the
relationship with her and her daughter to build a strong tension between them. Even
with her mothers constant reminder that Jalil was a fraud, Miriam always looked for
her father's kind words and admiration as an escape to nanas harsh claims. “The
children of strangers get ice cream. What do you get, Mariam? Stories of ice
cream” (6).Miriam would love her father gifts and kindness but her mother would
always try to ruin it and make him seem like a fraud. But Miriam never believed
her and her father continued to be her hero. This then created so much stress for
Miriam when he left because her biggest fear was that he would not come back.
The author's way of using deception here is by jalil lies causing Miriam to rely on
him with his stories. She later finds out the truth and betrayal from her father. He
was not the man he thought he was. This is deception between one character and
another because Jalil created a fantasy world of lies to Mariam and she fell for it.
Even with constant reminders of her mother telling her he was a fraud and was
lying Mariam continued to believ her father. Once she found out the truth she
knew her father had deceived her.

Not only did her expectations for her father fall apart with lies but her
husband rasheed let her down too. When Miriam married her husband Rasheed
,her world was turned upside down all over again. She believed him to be a good
man just like she believed her father was. Rasheed Showed her butterfly and
unicorns when he told her he would wait for her before forcing himself on her.
Miriam had morals she wanted to wait for and when she saw Rasheed respected
that and waited she became comfortable and trusted him. He also made up a
fantasy image of the man he was not and Mariam once again fell for it. Slowly
Raheed started to become toxic because he started to have dominance over
Miriam. He would constantly tell her she was a housewife and make her wear a
burqa , to clean the house, and that she was his belonging , as if she was an item.
This didn't bother Miriam because at least she knew that he would not leave like her
father did. “A woman's face, he’d said, is her husband's business only. ”(83). Filled by
curiosity Miriam goes through Rasheed room and her findings make her utterly
confused. She knew Rasheed believed in purity but the explicit magazines within her
findings did not add up. Just like her father did, Rasheed put an image of a guy
Miriam loved but turned out to be a false prophecy. This was deception between two
characters because she thought she was marrying the man she met but all along he
was not. He lied to her in the beginning and once he had her he became his true self
and his nlies were also revealed.

Miriam's troubles in life shape her to be the person she is now. The lies fed to
her forced her into becoming her own person and pushing through it lone. Jalil’
sbetrayal and abandonment cause Miriam to leave and start her own life how she
wants it to be. Destruction in the characters is needed for growth to happen with
herself so she could come to a realization. Rasheed expects Miriam to be this pure
woman but ends up being interested in the women he claims he hates. Hardships are
being constantly thrown at Miriam and she has to fight them off. The author does
this on purpose so that he can portray the theme of the story being, being a young
woman living under the Taliban regime. The structure of the social class in those
times were very unbending which would cause the lies and decisiveness of the
characters. They felt as if they were forced to lie to protect themselves.