Jalil Character Complexity Collage by Devin Murphy

The Kolba

murphyd41 — 2023-12-14 15:11:02 UTC

Jalil visits Mariam in the Kolba every Thursday. On her 15th birthday, she wishes to see the live action Disney film, 'Pinocchio,' with Jalil and her siblings. When Jalil does not show up to take her, she travels to his home in Herat where she is denied entry. When she returns home to find Nana dead, Jalil must take her in as she has no where else to go.

OPPOSING DESIRIES

murphyd41 — 2023-12-14 15:15:05 UTC

Jalil wants to take in Mariam as she is his daughter who he has seen grow up. It pains him to send her away with a suitor. However, feels he must send her away to protect his name. In the end, his own image outweighs his love for his daughter and he marries her to Rasheed. His opposing desires of keeping his daughter or protecting his name is shown in chapter seven, when Jalil and his wives inform Mariam of her new suitor. He is anxious and knows he is guilty for sending her away.

OPPOSING DESIRES

murphyd41 — 2023-12-14 15:15:26 UTC

“Jalil kept twirling his wedding band, with a bruised, helpless look on his face. From inside the cabinet, the clock ticked on and on… Jalil's eyes looked slowly at Mariams, lingered for a moment , then dropped. He opened his mouth, but all that came forth was a single, pained groan… Then Jalil did a thin, threadbare voice. “Goddamn it, Mariam, don't do this to me,” he said as though he was the one to whom something had been done.” (Hosseini 49)

PAST AND PRESENT

murphyd41 — 2023-12-14 15:18:47 UTC

After Jalil lost his wealth, his wives, and children in the war, he finally experiences the meaning of true suffering and sorrow, something he put Mariam through her entire life. After he experiences his many losses, he regrets his actions and what he did to Mariam as she is the only family he has left. If he still had his wealth, “main family,” and the war had not happened, he would have never reached out. Past Jalil and all his wealth sent Mariam away to protect his name. Now in the present he has no name, therefore there is no damage in reaching out to Mariam. Although he truly felt guilty about sending her away, he is selfish as he did so to protect himself. He tries to win her back through an apology letter and sending her a tape of the film 'Pinocchio.'

PAST AND PRESENT

murphyd41 — 2023-12-14 15:19:30 UTC

“I regret that I did not see you the day you came to Herat. I regret that I did open the door and take you in. I regret that I did not make you a daughter to me, that I let you live in that place for all those years. And for what? Fear of losing face? Of staining my so-called good name? How little those things matter to me now after all the loss, all the terrible things I have seen in this cursed war. (Hosseini 405)

Symbolism

murphyd41 — 2023-12-14 15:23:15 UTC

When Mariam turned 15, all she wanted was to go to Jails theater and watch Pinocchio with him and her siblings. However, when she goes to search for Jalil, he denies her entry into his home. After Nana died and she lived with him, he got rid of her by sending her with Rasheed. Later in life when Jalil sends the apology letter, he sends her a tape of Pinocchio as a way to apologize for all he did to her.