1. LIFE’S ONLY GUARANTEE Student Name

2. THE ONLY TRUTH Life is full of lies and false promises. There is only one thing we can all count on: our search for meaning in our relatively short lives.

3. NO BLACK WITHOUT WHITE -Are we dying as soon as we’re born? -There is no life without death

4. LOVE OUTLASTS LIFE A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS This idea impacts Mariam before she dies Peoples love and memories outlasts life “yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved…” Mariam searches for love and friendship; only at the end of her life does she find meaning by helping Layla escape Rasheed.

5. Afterlife versus Atheism “when you die you're dead and that’s it.” Western Culture emphasizes religious beliefs which somehow are supposed to give us meaning in life. Oskar’s goal is too narrow, too focused on what he has lost, not what he has to look forward to. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

6. END