Sparks Like Stars: A Novel

Trace the theme of grief and how it functions within the novel. How is grief, especially over losing family members, connected with nostalgia for past ages and lost times? How is Aryana’s experience of grief similar to or different from Antonia’s, Shair’s, or Rostam’s?

Explore the protagonist’s relationship with Afghanistan. It is her homeland but also, when she returns, a country that she in part does not recognize. How does Afghanistan function as both setting and symbol?

Conduct further research about the history of Afghanistan and discuss how Hashimi uses this as a backdrop to her novel. Note particularly what events she includes, what she glosses over, and what may be omitted entirely. What do these choices add to the themes, metaphors, setting, or conflict of the novel? What might Hashimi have been trying to accomplish in this representation of the country, particularly with its cultural legacies and rich history?

Discuss the character of Shair and his role in the novel as both antagonist and foil for Sitara/Aryana. He chose to help her escape, and his journey to the US with his family has some parallels to hers. Aside from serving as a plot device, what else does the character of Shair represent?

Consider what the ring from Ai-Khanoum symbolizes for the young Sitara and compare this to what it symbolizes for Aryana. Does the ring take on new meanings over the course of the novel? What meanings does it carry? What does it mean to characters other than Aryana?

Explore the themes of motherhood and nurturing as they emerge throughout the novel. You may wish to consider the examples of Sitara’s mother, Antonia, Tilly, and Janet. How does each woman contribute to shaping Aryana into the person she becomes, and what does each suggest about motherhood?

Discuss the novel’s relationship with the past—a country’s past, a people’s past, and/or an individual’s past. What does Hashimi suggest it is important to know and remember about the past? What does it do for Aryana to come to terms with her own past after she has hidden it for so long?

The motif of witnessing surfaces at several points in the novel. Sitara is witness to a revolution; as a doctor, Aryana is witness to the grief of her patients. Clay is witness to moments of horror as well as redemption, and he bears witness to them in his journalism. Discuss what this theme means to the novel and what larger statement Hashimi might be making about the need for witnesses to painful events.