1000 Splendid Suns Analysis

Within the story of A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini illustrates the bildungsroman of Mariam over the course of her life. Mariam, being one of the main protagonists of the story, gains maturity throughout the book, most noticeably when she brings the shovel down on Rasheed. This interaction helps develop the strength of women vibe. Mariam never grows up throughout the story, always ‘hidden’ behind a mask, both figuratively and literally, she lets herself be restricted from independent decision making and free speech. This is shown when Jalil and his wives choose a ‘soulmate’ for Mariam, “She turned to Jalil again.

However, after Mariam encourages Mullah to ask her mother. Nana quickly reassures her worth after arguing "what sense in schooling a girl like you". During this excerpt Nana reassures Mariam of her title of "harami", suggesting that due to her illegitimacy (being a bastard) that her value

giving birth to Zalmai without pain medicine, due the government not giving proper health necessities to the women hospital like X-rays, suctions, or antibiotics (Page 290-291). It was very hard for Laila to give natural birth without simple medicine that would have helped decrease the pain during the labor. But, she told the doctor “cut me open and give me my baby”, this demonstrates how strong she was to bare the pain, despite sacrificing her own life to save Zalmai. Lastly, Laila would sacrifice herself to visit Aziza in the orphanage for hours despite of getting beatings, slaps, whips, punches and much more abuse from the Taliban authorities when she tried to visit her (Page 321). This displays how Laila was willing to try and see Aziza

Throughout the book, Mariatu goes through many emotional times. In the beginning, she is a customary young Sierra Leone girl enthusiastically living her life, but as life goes on she encounters many difficult situations sometimes she would wish she was dead, but she manages to stay positive and keep fighting. At the age of 11 Mariatu Kamara is a jubilant little girl who loves to sing, dance and play games with her friends, life was good for Mariatu, but soon that all changed when there were rumours of the rebel attack. At first, no one thought much of it, until one day when Mariatu was sent on a task with some of her cousins she was captured by the rebels, they tied her up and made her witness some of her family members assassinated. Mariatu

From the beginning when Mariam sought to go to school like the rest of her siblings, her mother warned her that women like them only needed one skill, which is not taught in school; to endure. (17-19) Not only does this quote describe the life of women in Afghanistan, it foreshadows the life Mariam will face in the future. Mariam’s mother is a cruel but an honest woman who recites to Mariam the hardships she will have to face due to the fact that she is a bastard. Nana has fixed the title of being a bastard on

Mariam endured many long years living with Nana in their small house in Herat. Nana had a short-tempered personality and a very negative outlook on life, so she repeatedly verbally abused

Just by reading the first sentence of A Thousand Splendid Suns you can expect an emotional journey where you will read about things that you could never before imagine. As you continue to read, you will discover that these expectations come true all at once, overwhelming you with emotion. Sometimes so overwhelming that you wish you could talk to the author and ask him “why?” Why did Nana have to kill herself? Why did Tariq have to leave? Why couldn’t Laila leave her parents and go with him?

When Laila and Mariam first start living together the two have a difficult time beginning their friendship, they fight, argue, and are beyond bitter to each other. However, when Mariam is seconds away from getting beat by Rasheed, Liala stands up for her, she insists that he does not abuse Mariam. While the two are sitting at the diner table a few nights after the incident, Mariam says, “The other night, when he… Nobody’s ever stood up for me before” (Hosseini, 242). Without Liala looking out for Mariam, Mariam would have been ferociously beaten and raped by Rasheed, however, Liala standing up for Mariam shows care and support for her, which ultimately is what friendship is all about. Not only does Mariam often times struggle with constantly being mistreated by Rasheed, but she also struggles with getting pregnant. Mariam’s pregnancies don't last long. She miscarries every child she expects to give birth to. The days when Mariam is pregnant and expecting a child, she makes dozens of articles of clothing by hand; she ends up never having a use for the petite clothes for her own child, however, she does give the cloths to Laila to use for her daughter, Azizia: “‘The cloths are lovely.’ ‘I had no use for them, Mariam muttered’” (Hosseini 248). When Mariam gives Liala the baby clothes, the two’s friendship truly falls into place. After Mariam gives Liala the cloths for Aziza, Mariam starts playing the second mother roll in Aziza’s life. This supports Laila in an abundance of ways. The two bond together through Aziza which makes them connect and have an unstoppable friendship. Having the friendship they do helps them endure the brutal life they face by taking their focus off the hardships in their life and supporting each other when the time is

In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, main character Mariam is forced into exile after a horrific set of experiences. After her mother’s suicide, she is removed from her home and is later arranged to marry a random man she never met before. Before her departure, Mariam lived in a “kolba,” a small hut on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. With no other place to go, she disapprovingly lives with her father for a short period of time before being shipped off to her new husband. Her encounter with exile is almost unbearable, yet she endures and grows into a hardworking and respectable woman. For Mariam, exile is both alienating and enriching; it illuminates how withstanding life’s challenges and learning to overcome them with love will ultimately be beneficial in the end, no matter what happens.

Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns tells a tale of the life of an Afghani women, Mariam, who was enjoying her bus ride of life until it made a turn in the wrong direction. It was all downhill from there. Mariam’s mother, Nana, and her father, Jalil, were aboard her bus of life. Mariam lived with her resentful and stubborn mother. Jalil visited his illegitimate child, Mariam, once a week. She really wanted to live with her father and his family in Herat. When Jalil did not arrive to accompany Mariam to see Pinocchio for her birthday, she want to Herat despite her mothers wishes not to. Jalil never let her inside. When Mariam and the chauffeur return the next morning, she finds out that Nana has exited her bus. Mariam’s mother committed suicide. Mariam detours and is taken to live with Jalil at his home in Herat.

Imagine a place where women are unable to show their faces, where people may not enter the streets out of fear for their lives, and the bombings and attacks associated with war hold a constant presence. This is the scene for the majority of A Thousand Splendid Suns, which examines the lives of two women as they live through a tumultuous time in Afghanistan. Although the novel shares the story of each character’s childhood, both have major life changes in their teenage years, turning their lives into everything they had once feared. As the struggle for power in Afghanistan continues, the two protagonists of the novel continue to struggle and endure through the seemingly endless turmoil. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini examines

The plot of A Thousand Splendid Suns revolves around two protagonists: Laila and Mariam. Most of the story’s characters are round, but Mariam and Laila are exceptionally complex. Mariam is a harami, a bastard, that leaves her mother, Nana, in order to live with Jalil, her father. Jalil rejects her, and Jalil and Mariam later regret the decisions that they made at that point in their lives. Mariam is a quiet, thoughtful, and kind woman who was born in Herat, and her face has been described as long, triangular, and houndlike. She is forced into marriage at the age of fifteen with a much older suitor named Rasheed who abuses her brutally once he learns that she cannot provide him with children. She is also revealed as a very dynamic character early in the story. Mariam quickly develops a mistrust toward men, and she realizes that her mother had been right all along. Another example of a significant change Mariam goes through is the animosity she feels toward Laila that quickly transforms into their friendship when “a look passed between Laila and Mariam. An unguarded, knowing look. And in this fleeting, wordless exchange with Mariam, Laila knew they were not enemies any longer.” (page 250). Later in the story, Mariam, who was a forty-two-year-old woman at that time, is executed by the Taliban for murder.

For many years, women have been oppressed and treated as property. The opinion of a woman did not matter, being obedient to her husband was all that is required. Even if they were obedient to their husbands, women were property and only for the pleaser and likening to the husband. Mariam did all the her husband required of her, however there was one thing should could not. Which was give her husband, Rasheed, a son or any child. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Hosseini reveals the social issue of physical abuse and mental abuse by his use of imagery, diction, and dialogue.

Zunaira actually attains her goal of becoming a magistrate, and thus, she experiences a greater sensation of loss. Mariam and Zunaira combat the oppression in different ways but they suffer the same pain and isolation. Oppression induces a negative change in both characters. In addition, the women have coping mechanisms to deal with the sorrow in their lives. Their ability to cope is affected by family members. Mariam remembers her mother's story, "where each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the World. That all the sighs drifted up in the sky, gathered in the clouds, and then broke into tiny pieces…" (Hosseini, 91). Mariam is submissive in her abusive relationship because her mother has taught her by example, that Afghani women solely have to endure the pain and suffering in their lives. She makes no attempts to change her situation in her marriage because she lives by her mother's teachings. Perhaps, if Mariam were to stand up for herself or stir up chaos during one of Rasheed's beatings, Rasheed would not turn to violence against her so easily. Also, Mariam could have searched for alternatives to escape Rasheed before the Taliban implemented the harsh laws. Over the years, Mariam becomes increasingly helpless and miserable under Rasheed's rule, as she follows the model of her mother's teachings. Also, she deflects her anger and sorrow 2

Najmah did all she could to care for her pregnant mother, her mother's needs came before hers, she learned to wake herself up, and do the necessary things she needed to do to keep her and her mother alive, such as tending the fields, animals, and providing her mother and herself with enough food for them to survive off of. (SIP-B) Najmah is angry with her uncle, her father and brother were taken and forced to fight, while her uncle stayed behind, and is prepared to take their land as soon as something happens to Najmah and her mother. (STEWE-1) Najmah was focused on her father’s last wish, she told herself she must stay in Kunduz, at their home, no matter what dangers she is faced with. “My anger heats even more to think he finds it funny that Baby-jan and Nur have been taken away, while he has managed to stay behind. I hate him for thinking my mother and I would run away, so that he might steal our land” (Staples 59). Najmah is very frustrated with her uncle and how he was able to stay behind. She promises herself she won't leave her family's land, she will do anything to keep her land away from others, it is her