I was somewhat surprised when Nana said that Mariam wasn't allowed to go to school. When Mariam first decided that she wanted to learn like all the other children I thought that would have been really good and she might be able to grow up and get a decent job and not be an outcast like her mother is. Then Nana completely rejected the idea and said that there is no use of her going to school because she won't learn anything. I don't think that the author's style had much to do with the element of surprise. The actual event was not exactly one of surprise, it was just unexpected for me because I had a different idea about the situation than Mariam's mother did.
