45 pages • 1 hour read
Khaled HosseiniAnd the Mountains Echoed
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Family Ties and Roots
This story mainly focuses on one family, although it spans a few generations and branches out to other lives that are involved. The ties that bind this family together are at times loose and disconnected or are wound so tightly, that it can, in extreme cases, be the bond that smothers. However, there are several other key players involved with the main family that are not “blood” related but adopt family member roles and, in some cases, become more “family” than blood relatives. Conversely, in the case of Nila, a family bond with her “acquired” daughter, Pari, is tenuous, suggesting that family connections cannot be forced, either.
It is the strength of Pari’s connection with her estranged brother that haunts her life, as she feels a strong void within her, although she never really understands why. It is only in their reuniting near the end of the book, where their family story feels accomplished.
Though the story involves many families, there are few families in the novel that have good relationships. First, Saboor’s family sacrifices Pari, ending her close relationship with her brother. Next, Parwana first envies her sister, then resents her after her accident; she ultimately leaves her sister behind for her own sake. Nila and Suleiman both long for different things that they don’t find in one another: Nila for a child, and Suleiman for Nabi; their family union ends shortly after Pari’s adoption. Pari and Nila fare no better, having a harsh relationship that neither woman finds fulfilling. The exceptions seem to be Adel, who loves his father and mother, despite his father’s absence, and Pari, who goes on to have a loving family of her own that, for a time, distracts her from her longing. Markos and his mother also seem to have a good connection, along with his adopted sister, Thalia. Hosseini’s choice to include so few happy family stories reflects the belief that there is rarely symmetry in human behavior, and thus not all stories end happily—in giving the future generations happier endings, however, he seems to suggest that families can rise above their circumstances.
Sacrifice, Duty, and Familial Burdens
This theme connects with family ties, and thus, the morality of the amount of obligation people have to each other becomes even more difficult. The novel begins with the fable that involves family sacrifice— – that “a finger had to be cut to save the hand” (5). This idea, that someone’s life must be compromised for the health of others, is a pattern that emerges in several different forms throughout the novel. Most obviously, in the “selling” of Pari. Like in the fable, Pari goes on to live what outsiders might consider a better life with her adoptive parent. Real life proves more complicated, however, as she grows up without a loving parent and with a feeling that she’s missing something important in her life.
Sacrifice also occurs with Nabi, who leaves Shadbagh to pursue more economic stability in the city and so sacrifices any personal family hopes in order to help his sister. Later, Nabi will sacrifice the option of living his own life to continue caretaking for Suleiman. Parwana must give up her hopes of marriage in order to take care of her disabled sister Masooma, and Masooma sacrifices what may be her life to free Parwana from the burden of caring for her. Y. And young Pari (Abdullah’s daughter) sacrifices her future artistic dreams, to take care of her ailing mother and then, father.
Other characters However, there are others that want to escape this sense of duty, or take it regretfully, particularly Parwana, Nila and Markos, perhaps suggesting that some of us are not always suited for the personal sacrifices that may be required. The guilt of being “selfish” pervades these characters’ thoughts, and yet, sometimes our dreams (love, art or volunteer service) are bigger than our ties or obligations to our family. The narrative doesn’t take kindly to selfishness in most of these cases, as Parwana marries the man she wanted, but ends up impoverished alongside him, and Nila never feels fulfilled, even having taken a child from her family to serve her own purposes.
The Interconnectedness of Humanity
While not all of the characters are from the same family, the way that Hosseini intertwines the different stories suggests that all of humanity is one big family. The characters’ actions affect each other, whether they’re aware of one another or not. Hosseini manages this theme by observing different individual scenes, among the larger narrative of Saboor’s family, and subtly connecting the characters.
First, we meet the family of the fable, which is clearly meant to represent Saboor’s family and help Abdullah understand why his father is giving Pari up for adoption. Hosseini introduces us to Nabi at this point, who will later have a cameo scene separate from his biological family: after Nila leaves Suleiman, Nabi becomes his caretaker, despite knowing that Suleiman is in love with him. Nabi connects the stories to Markos, who he later leaves the house to and tasks with seeking out Pari—thus bringing the narrative full-circle.
Markos has his own role, however, as he introduces Idris to Roshi, allowing that narrative thread to play out. His story is also included, meaning his mother, Thalia, and her mother also connect with the main story. Parwana, who later becomes Saboor’s second wife, connects Masooma to the family. Though several of the characters seem totally unrelated, it’s their relationships to individuals that connects them, and seemingly unrelated stories might not take place without these individual characters. For example, were Markos to never meet Thalia, he might not have traveled to Afghanistan to treat facial deformities and wouldn’t have been able to seek out Pari for Nabi. Likewise, if Parwana had stayed with her sister, Abdullah wouldn’t have had another child and might have felt more able to feed his family, including Pari.
Some of Hosseini’s more memorable quotes support the theme of the interconnectedness of humanity. For example, this quote suggests that the way that everyone and everything connects isn’t visible until the end of a person’s story: “But, sometimes, it is only after you have lived that you recognize your life had a purpose, and likely one you never had in mind” (127). Interestingly, Hosseini has written a novel that makes these connections for the reader without the need for hindsight. Another quote, from young Pari’s narrative, reiterates the same concept: “I couldn't wholly understand, linked beyond our names, beyond familial ties, as if, together, we completed a puzzle” (348). Here, Hosseini again indicates that everything is connected, even if the characters aren’t aware of the connections.
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By Khaled Hosseini
