Literary Device - Point of View

       In this paragraph, Hosseini uses the literary technique of demonstrating a point of view that is specific and close to Laila's. Hosseini tugs the reader in on the character's feelings when, for example, he writes that "Laila raced to the street, stammering a prayer, certain that, this time, surely this time, it was Tariq they would find buried beneath the rubble and smoke" (173). The literary technique of connecting the reader with the character helps Hosseini communicate the social issue of life during war. When one hears information on the war in the Middle East, he or she often receives statistical numbers such as, “seven die in a suicide bomb,” or, “two Taliban members have been killed.” Although this news is informative of the terrible state of countries such as Afghanistan, the news organizations often do not inform audiences of the personal perspective of the average civilian. In this passage, Hosseini writes that the characters lived in constant fear of being killed every time they heard the whistling of a bomb falling. Not only did they fear that they would get killed, but the characters where also aware of the fact that “the flip side of being spared was the agony of wondering who hadn't” (173).