A Thousand Splendid Suns Artificial Love Theme

Firstly, in order to ensure Aziza’s safety, Laila sacrifices her future and the idea of true love. After living with Mariam and Rasheed for a few days following the bombing, Laila receives news that Tariq has died. After hearing the news of Tariq’s death, Rasheed suggests that Laila marry him and live with him and Mariam. Rasheed explains, ““These days, times being what they are, a woman needs a husband. Haven’t you noticed all the widows sleeping on the streets? They would kill for this chance.” … “He wants an answer by this morning.” Mariam said. “He can have it now,” the girl said. “My answer is yes.”” (Hosseini, 216) By choosing to marry Rasheed, Laila has thrown away all opportunities of finding another true love to marry. Upon hearing of Tariq’s death, Laila is heartbroken because she was in love with him and wanted to spend her life with him. Now

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.

These laws that limit the freedom of women within the country give men more freedom, which leads to abuse in Mariam and Laila’s family. Rasheed is physically and mentally abusive towards both of his wives, and because of this, the women attempt to run away, only to be sent back home by police. The reaction from Rasheed shows that he knows he holds the power: “‘You try this again and I will find you. I swear on the Prophet’s name that I will find you. And, when I do, there isn’t a court in this godforsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do.’” (Hosseini 272). Rasheed’s threats are serious; many times, the verbal abuse escalates into physical harm towards his family. Moreover, without any support from the Taliban, the women are forced to obey their husband and sustain his

Violence, war, discrimination, and poverty: these issues have long been a part of Afghanistan’s history. Even though things in Afghanistan are getting better, war fills the country, and women and children have to learn to endure abuse, caused by men and the Taliban; they also learn to endure poverty. Considering this, it is no wonder why Afghanistan is in the terrible position it is in now. Many Afghan cities like Kabul are filled with things like violence and discrimination, and the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini takes place in Kabul. This book follows the lives of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, as they suffer pain and discrimination received from the Taliban and their

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.

Laila is aware of the rejection and neglect that baby Aziza will be given when she is born and Rasheed finds out she is not his daughter. To make sure that Aziza is protected from what is coming to her, Laila endures going through a painful night of Rasheed on top of her to make him think that Aziza is his own. “Later, when she was sure that he was asleep, Laila quietly reached beneath the mattress for the knife she has hidden there earlier. With it, she punctured the pad of her index finger. Then she lifted the blanket and let her finger bleed on the sheets where they had lain together” (Khaled, 220). Laila makes the choice to go through a painful night with Rasheed, in order to protect baby Aziza from his horrors and neglect. In the meantime, Rasheed has a breakdown after all the built up anger and irritation, and takes it all out on Laila by pinning her down and strangling her. Near to death, Mariam makes the decision to act quick and kill him, before he kills her: “I’ve killed our husband. I’ve deprived your son of his father. It isn’t right that I run. I can’t. Even if they never catch us, I’ll never...I’ll never escape your son’s grief. How do I look at him? How do I ever bring myself to look at him Laila jo” (Khaled, 358). Mariam made a hard decision to act quick

Mariam and her mother ‘Nana’, reside in a kolba (hut) outside of Herat. Her father was a successful businessman named Jalil who was a polygamist and had nine children. Mariam disobeyed her mother’s wishes and hiked into town to see her Father. Mariam returned to her kolba to her mother’s suicide – forcing her to live with Jalil until he insisted an arranged marriage with Rasheed who was thirty years elder. Once in Kabul, Mariam discovered her infertility complications. Rasheed became angry towards his wife’s inability to carry a child – in particular a son, so he became extremely abusive. Laila grew up in Kabul with Tariq who eventually became romantic despite the boundaries between unwed men and women. War took over Afghanistan and Tariq’s

seen three decades of Anti-Soviet Jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny. They have lived through unimaginable horrors and now, their incredible stories of hope and oppression are being told. In A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra, the women are oppressed by their husbands and society. Mariam is passive and compliant while Zunaira is defiant and angry, yet both suffer the same pain and isolation. Initially, their suffering increases because their anger at being oppressed and tortured is deflected towards the wrong

Ultimately, Mariam and Laila attempt to escape, but fail, which in turn infuriates Rasheed even more. These two women then work together and protect each other, and in due course, kill Rasheed during one of his “ritual” beatings. In the end, Mariam is killed for murdering her husband, and Laila, with her children, Aziza and Zalmai, finds Tariq and marries him; then, together they start their own family. Throughout the course of the story, not only was a passionate, well-written story presented, but also a clear picture of what Afghan culture and its aspects are really like.

Rasheed states that “a woman’s face is her husband’s business only” which illustrates how husbands see their wives as a possession or object rather than an equal. Rasheed made Mariam and Laila wear burqas so other men couldn’t steal them away from him and take away his chances of having a son. Missing: Men have total control over their wives Mariam was forced, by her father, to marry Rasheed and she couldn’t object because daughters must do what their fathers tell them.

This significant as this portrays Rasheed view on Laila as a mere tool of reproduction. As his predominant reasoning in marrying Laila was for the possibility of her bearing his sons. However, after the deed has been done (birth of Zalmai), Rasheed did not hesitate at an attempt on her life after the discovery of her adulterous acts. This also expresses the contradiction within the Afghan society and the struggle that Afghan women are subjected to, as Rasheed is upset at Laila for meeting with Taliq.

Rasheed, her husband, thought that this was a waste of time and would rarely go with her. She would risk getting beaten on a daily basis because, “the reward, if she made it past the Taliban, was worth it. She could spend as much time as she liked, hours even, with Aziza,”(Hosseini 321). This society restrict women so much that to go out without a man meant that if caught the punishment would be severe. Laila tries to defy these rules as much as she can but even she can’t completely push the

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.

After returning to Kabul, following the Taliban’s fall, Laila observes the changes that have taken place, including the warlords - her parents murderers are allowed back into Kubal, she doesn’t give into despair: “But Laila decided that she will not be crippled by resentment. Mariam wouldn’t want it this way…. And so Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that’s all she can do. That and hope”(411).

One of the first instances of such rebellion was when Rasheed, the greatest obstacle to the women’s regaining of power over their lives, was preparing to beat Mariam with his belt. Laila was not willing to succumb to the power Rasheed exerted upon them with violence, so she lunged at Rasheed herself, preventing him from harming Mariam. This small victory against Rasheed was the beginning of several events that marked the women’s attaining of power. Another example of how Laila rebelled against Rasheed’s possessive, controlling nature is when