Major Themes in the Novel And the Mountains Echoed

And the Mountains Echoed is the third novel from the mighty pen of Khaled Hossieni and was published on May 21, 2013. The novel begins in Afghanistan and moves to Europe, Greece and ends in California. The title of the novel was inspired by William Black‟s poem “Nurse‟s Song: Innocence.” This refers to hills echoing with the sound of children‟s voices. The first two novels like The kite runner focuses on the relationship between fathers and sons and A thousand splendid suns centers its story on the relationship between mothers and daughters. The third novel And the mountains echoed tells its story through the prism of sibling relationship through the several pairs of brothers and sisters. It is less Afghan centric novel than the previous ones. It is the multigenerational novel revolving around not just parents and children but also brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers. It is a collection of short stories, with each of the nine chapters being told from the view of different characters. This novel deviates from Hosseini‟s classic style which is observed from his first two works through his choice to avoid focusing on any one character and making them decently indistinct. Hosseini explores the love, wound, betray, honor and sacrifice of family members in many ways and expresses how often we are surprised by the actions of our closed ones, at the times that matters most.