A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis

Even deeper, her understanding is that these injustices were “her lot in life,” that “women like her, they endure” (19). So, she does just that and suffers each inequity gracefully and quietly. This is portrayed through Mariam’s marriage to Rasheed. Rasheed’s caring demeanor melts away as soon as he realizes that Mariam had “in the most essential way, had failed him” (99). She was unable to have children. It is this realization that causes Rasheed to turn on her. Racheed begins to beat her, but it is not only physical blows that he delivers to her but emotional and mental ones as well. Yet Mariam endures each hit because she believes it is her penance.

The inequality between men and women is highly elevated and marriage to Rasheed clarified the difference between genders. Mariam was expected to obey and do what he wished of her. Mariam dressed modesty and wore a hijab following the expectations of Muslim women. Rasheed expected her to wear the burqa and to stay in her room when he had guests. It was clear within the novel, that one of the most important tasks of women is the ability to conceive a child and when Mariam failed, he treated her as if she was not worthy at all. It also portrayed the value of a son over a daughter when he expected nothing less than a son from Mariam – in which she could not have

“Joseph shall return to Canaan, grieve not, Hovels shall turn to rose gardens, grieve not. If a flood should arrive, to drown all that’s alive, Noah is your guide in the typhoon’s eye, grieve not (Hosseini 365).” A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a story that is set place in modern-day Afghanistan. It is one depicting the lives of two particular women who live under the control of a persecuting husband and the infamous rule of the Taliban. And through these two women (Laila and Mariam), Hosseini creates a mind-blowing, awe-inspiring adventure of regret, despair, tragedy, and more importantly, redemption. The book begins with separate perspectives of each woman, and how they consequently come together in the same

Throughout world history women have been treated abysmally. Societies with male-dominance have abused and used women and continue to do so today. Women have been made vulnerable to a man due to the spread of cultural values and beliefs in society that condemn them from power. In Khaled Hosseini's novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, the two main characters Mariam and Laila develop an unconditional bond in which they become each others protectors. The immense inner strength of women from adversity has been exemplified through the growth of Mariam and Laila's contrasting relationship, the pain they endure from Rasheed which strengthens their bond and the courage within them that ultimately resolves their conflict.

Explosions, Death, Loss, Fear- all are great symbols for war in A Thousand Splendid Suns. In this novel, Khaled Hosseini uses tumultuous environments to bring up some of the most interesting characters in the 21st century. The three strongest examples are Laila, Tariq, and Aziza. From losing your parents, to losing your leg, Hosseini uses these types of characters to almost make a connection with them. Because we see weakness in them it truly makes their triumph that much greater. War is a raging bull charging through the lives of many, but for some, it makes them stronger.

Mariam struggled often with the constant rigor of her daily housewife work. As a child, Mariam encountered many horrific adversities and obstacles that she had to fight through. She lived with her mother, who she refers to as Nana. Nana was a very strict, bitter, and nasty woman. Mariam was the only thing she had in her life and she constantly treated her as dirt. She referred to Mariam as a harami, which translates to a sinner and/or a bad person in our culture. Her mother’s source of bitterness derived from the fact that Mariam’s successful father Jalil

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.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, a novel written by Khaled Hosseini, tells the life story of two girls growing up in Afghanistan. It begins with Mariam’s point of view, then switches to Laila, and eventually the two cross paths and have a major impact on each others lives. There were a lot of social and cultural issues going on during this time that changed the course of story several times. One idea that stayed constant was the significance of love. Both girls learned to love others and eventually each other in the midst of all the chaos. It helped them develop into the characters that they are by the end of the novel. A major theme that is constantly displayed through Laila and Mariam journeys is the concept of love.

When her mother died and her father had married her off she felt guilty. She felt guilty because her mom always warned her that her father was not the man she thought her was, and when she married she realized that. “The Children of strangers get Ice Cream. What do you get, Mariam? Stories of Ice Cream,” her mother told her. She was warning that she was expecting too much and didn't want her to be disappointed later. When Mariam was married, she knew that she couldn’t act like a child anymore and that she needed to do what wives do. Mariam had no hope when Rasheed had started to beat her and yell at her. She knew that there was nothing she could do, nothing she could say, that would change the actions that Rasheed used on her. Everything bad that happened, Rasheed blamed on her. “Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a women. Always. You remember that, Mariam.” Mariam went from being a girl who had hopes, hopes that one day her father would take her to his house and she would live with him to a women with no hope in life. Until Laila

In addition to Mariam’s physical alienation due to geography, her mother spends her whole life, before committing suicide, shielding Mariam from the outside world. While this is partially due to Nana’s feelings of regret around having Mariam and fear of losing her, it is mostly due to Nana’s fear of Mariam experiencing the same oppression she has lived with her entire life. Nana has had to live like this alone, with no support system. With the intent of protecting her daughter from the oppressive culture of women in the world outside of their house, Nana tries desperately to explain “what it means to be a woman in this world” (Hosseini 7). It means knowing that a man is always right, and that it is a woman’s obligation to tolerate the oppression; to “endure. It’s all we have” (Hosseini 19).

Hosseini, through the thoughts of Mariam, reminds us that as humans, we were all a burden, a harami, to this world. We were yet another person for the already growing population to take care of, to give nourishment for. Therefore, it is an inherent responsibility for us to give love to others, just as love, however little of it, was given for us. Mariam, despite being born as an illegitimate child, fulfilled her role as a human being by caring for her indifferent husband Rasheed, and by acting as a friend, a guide and a well-wisher for Laila, and as a surrogate mother for Aziza, an illegitimate child, just like her. As a result, she feels a “sensation of abundant peace” and does not feel any regret. Thus, when we accept our own misfortunes

Mothers make a variety of sacrifices in their lives. The risks taken by mothers can come in many different forms; they can be physical, emotional and spiritual. The majority of those sacrifices revolve around taking care of, providing for and protecting their children. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Laila makes sacrifices for Aziza and Zalmai, Nana risks things in her life for Mariam, and Mariam sacrifices things for Laila and her children. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini explores the aspect of sacrifice taken by mothers. Women will go to extreme lengths of sacrifice in order to ensure the safety of their children.

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.

The writing style of Khaled Hosseini in A Thousand Splendid Suns is both sympathetic and disgusted. He feels pity on those that bear the burden of the war. He shows this mostly through the use of two major literary devices: Symbolism and Imagery. These two literary devices impact the reader because it gives a deeper insight and understanding of the pain and fear these characters were forced into dealing with every day.

A Thousand Splendid Suns was a really well written book, and it was a great learning experience for me. I really liked how real Mariam and Laila's feelings and thoughts were conveyed. It was like I was standing in their place as they suffered through their hardships and trials. I could hear Nana lecturing Mariam, and I could see in my mind how Mariam reacted to the lectures. I could invision Laila's class in school perfectly. I could also feel the fear as the rockets whistled over their houses, and the bullets zooming through the air. I got so into it, and sometimes it made me a little scared. It made me feel so glad that I'm fortunate to have the things I do.This book really taught me how unfair life is for women in some cultures. It also