Amir jan

"Baba spoke in a low voice, the one he took on whenever I embarressed him in public. "Aren't you going to thank Assef jan? That was very considerate of him." I wished Baba would stop calling him that. How often did he call me "Amir jan?"" (pg. 97)

It is very important that the reader of this book realizes where this story is taking place throughout the entire book. One way Hosseini reminds the reader is through the words he chooses to use. I am sure that most people who read this book have no idea what these words mean in the beginning, but by using context clues, one can figure out their meaning. "I'm going to the baker to buy naan." Other times Hosseini translates the words right after he puts them in the text. "Tashakor." Thank you, "Bachem." Chair, "Khastegar." A suitor, "Mojarad." A single young man, "Nang. Namoos." Honor and Pride, "the Dil." the Heart. It is very important that he includes these words to give the story more of an ethnic background. I found that Hossseini uses these words more often when the plot changes over to America. I believe this is because he wants to show how they will always keep their roots no matter where they live.

Out of all of the terms that Hoseini uses, I believe that the word "jan" has the most significance in this book. When put after a name, this word is a term of endearment. The reader must recognize when this word is used because it shows if the people who are talking to each other truly care about the other person and respect them or not.

The Man I Killed

"His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman's, his nose was undamaged, there was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear, ..." (pg. 118)

Even though this is a short section in the book, Tim makes it a very important section through his diction. It's not that he is using five star words that only scholars understand, but it's because he is using less complicated words and describing the body piece by piece. This simplicity helps everyone draw the same image in their mind of what this dead man looks like. O'Brien makes it easy on the reader though, because through this diction, he paints the picture for us.

Also, Tim does something that shows his personality, he starts thinking of this mans life and who he has killed. Kiowa keeps telling him that they need to go, but Tim develops this respect for the man. He starts thinking of things the man enjoyed, what his personality was like, if he was a father, and so on. Tim felt terrible about killing this man. After thinking of all the things this man loved and did, he thought of all the things he would love and would do. He thought of how he destroyed a future.