Student Question
Who is Niloufar in Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns?
Quick answer:
Niloufar is an eight-year-old girl in Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. She is the daughter of Jalil and his wife Afsoon. During Mariam's stay at Jalil's house, Niloufar visits Mariam, showing her a gramophone and performing a headstand. She also shares that her mother believes a jinn caused Mariam's mother to hang herself. Niloufar's interaction with Mariam is brief, as Mariam is soon married off to Rasheed.
Following Nana's hanging in Chapter 5 of A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam returned with Jalil to his home. It appeared that Mariam is going to be a part of Jalil's larger family, and he has ordered a room prepared for her upstairs. Mariam remained in her room, eating alone. On the second day of her stay, a little girl came into the room. It was Jalil's eight year-old daughter, Niloufar; her mother is Afsoon, one of Jalil's wives. She showed Mariam her gramophone and played a song for her. Then Niloufar
... put her palms and forehead to the ground. She pushed with her soles and then she was standing upside down, on her head, in a three-point stance.
Niloufar offered to teach Mariam how to stand on her head, but Mariam didn't seem interested. Niloufar then told Mariam that her mother
"... says that a jinn made your mother hang herself."
Mariam's stay in Jalil's home would not be permanent, however. A few days later, it was decided that Mariam would be married to a suitor--a shoemaker in Kabul named Rasheed.
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