Character Analysis: Soraya

We meet Soraya in chapter 11, and she is presented by Amir, which could lead to a partial view of events, as obviously he likes her a lot, and can only see her good qualities at first sight. He describes her as a "beauty" and describes her eyebrows to be like the "arched wings of a flying bird". This could highlight the freedom that Amir thinks he will find in her, as he seems to think that by being with her, all of his past guilt will be forgotten.

She seems quite typical of an Afghan wife in the way which she dresses, as Amir always comments on her "ankle length dresses" or the "veil" that covers her face, which abide by the Afghanistan dress codes for women, as they should always be covered. When they are in the process of marriage, they are also not allowed to go out alone together, due to traditions and it would be considered improper. They both adhere to these rules, but we know from some chapters ago that Soraya has not always been this good at sticking to the rules. She ran away with an older man, which by Afghan traditions is very disrespectful, as the father ultimately has the decision of who the daughter is to be partnered with, and Soraya ignored this by making her own choice. She feels very guilty of this however, and when she admits the event to Amir, she starts crying. She is so conscious of Amir judging her for this, and is really worried that he thinks of her differently and asks, "Does what i told you bother you?".

She does seem quite motherly though, as for one, she looks after Baba when he is very sick, turning him onto his side so he does not get bed sores and making him food, even though he can barely eat more than a spoonful. But she also tells Amir a story in chapter 12 that she taught her housekeeper Ziba to read and write and says that she felt "proud" when Ziba wrote her first letter. "It made me feel like I had done something worth while, you know?". She seemed to care an awful lot about Ziba even though she wasn't related to her.

At the giving word ceremony, Soraya was not present to in keep with tradition. In the "nika", Amir gets to see Soraya, and she is wearing green, which highlights the new beginnings that both of them will have. She also wears a veil, and the dress has long sleeves, so in keeps with the traditional dressing in Afghanistan, as she is not to wear anything too sexually appealing. The green can also tie in with a connotation of fertility, which we find out in a few chapters time that Amir and Soraya are not able to conceive, so could be shown as foreshadowing this event.She also wears white, which shows her purity and innocence, but as we know from the story she told Amir, she is not completely pure, so this could be worn as if she was pretending to be pure and untouched, just so nobody will judge her.

You can tell that she worries quietly, and does not really like to bother anyone with her problems until she absolutely has to. This shown on page 156, where she breaks down after over hearing two women's conversation, and she can't stop crying. Amir is very sympathetic and understanding towards her, and she feels as if she can trust him with her problems.

When both her and Amir are told that they cannot have children, she gets very upset at the word "adoption" being mentioned, as it is not what happens in their culture. As she has shown to be very motherly before, she gets quite emotional and says that "I'd always imagined I'd hold it in my arms and know my blood had fed it for nine months".