A motif throughout And the Mountains Echoed is disease. Almost every single one of the characters in the novel has been affected by disease in some way. Most of the diseases in And the Mountains Echoed follow the rules for what makes a literary disease. These rules are in the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. A disease must follow these guidelines in order to be called a "literary disease":
A. Abdullah- Alzheimer's Disease
- It is picturesque.
- It is mysterious.
- It is symbolic or metaphorical.
A. Abdullah- Alzheimer's Disease
- The picturesque thing about Alzheimer's disease is that while the person looks exactly the same, they might not act the way they did before their diagnosis. The disease is one that only takes place on the inside.
- Alzheimer's Disease is mysterious because doctors know very little about it. They have not yet found the cause of the disease and do not know how to treat it. Abdullah's experience with this disease adds mystery to the novel. The readers assume that Pari will find Abdullah and everything will go back to the way it was when they were kids. They assume that Abdullah will inform Pari about any details about her childhood that she doesn't remember. But when they are finally reunited, we learn that Abdullah does not remember Pari at all. Pari must deal with this disappointment and the continuing mystery of what her childhood was like.
- Alzheimer's Disease is symbolic to the idea of wasting away. The victim starts out with simply feeling confused at certain moments, but they are able to live a mostly normal life. Slowly as time progresses, they forget more and more about who they are.
B. Pari- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis is picturesque in the fact that while the rest of the person's body looks completely normal, their hands are very bent and stiff around the knuckles. While the hands are not pretty, it is hard for an onlooker to take their eyes off of them.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis is mysterious because the causes are not completely known. Doctors do not know what triggers the disease or what puts people at risk for the disease. It is a type of autoimmune disorder, which means that it occurs when the body attacks itself for unknown reasons.
- Pari's experience with Rheumatoid Arthritis is metaphor for how she was raised. Her adoptive parents were extremely rich, and most of the items Pari needed or wanted were given to her. She has never experienced hard labor, as her brother does when he lives in Shadbagh. Her disease is metaphorical because she never had to experience this hard labor, which is performed using one's hands.