Character Analysis Of Mariam In A Splendid Suns

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.

In the story "A Thousand Splendid Suns", we follow the life of two different girls, Mariam and Laila. They both lead two very different lives that spiral into two entirely different directions. They had different education, different influences throughout their lives, and

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

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

It is a common experience: a woman dates a man who is rude to everyone except for her. He makes her feel special, but a few months later, he becomes an abusive, controlling boyfriend. Walter Younger from the play “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, while not an abusive person is a milder example of this phenomenon. He is the father in a large African American family, and lives with his mother, sister, wife, and young son. His father has recently died, and his mother, Lena, receives an enormous check from their life insurance. They need this money, as they live in a small house and need to move to a larger one, but Walter wants to invest the money into opening a liquor store instead. Although the play seems to revolve around him, Walter

From the very beginning, Mariam grew up in cruelty. She was a Harami, which means “bastard child,” and her mother didn't let her forget that. Her mother blamed for her not so good life. Mariam’s mom was a cleaning lady and she had Mariam with her boss, she was shunned because they weren't married. Her mom blamed her for all this even though they were all her mistakes. Even Mariam's father was ashamed of her since she was born. When Mariam’s mother passed away and he was the only one that could take her in, he sold her off to a man thirty years older. Laila in the other hand didn't have a rough childhood. It

A Thousand Splendid Suns, is a story about Mariam and Laila, who share their experiences from their perspective. The story begins with the life of Mariam, who is a daughter of a wealthy businessman, but is kept living in the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan. She is known as a harami or bastard child and is the result of a forbidden sex. As the story progresses, she is forced to marry a man named Rasheed at the age of 15. Rasheed progressively abuses Mariam as she fails multiple times to provide him with a child. After eighteen years of marriage, Rasheed gets another wife, Laila a 14-year-old girl. She is a very educated and determined girl, but marries Rasheed after the death of both her parents during the war. Mariam and Laila being both wives

To begin with, Their are many similarities between Mariam and Laila in 'Thousand Splendid Sun”. The key comparison between both of the characters are they are both young women. In the fourth quote which clearly states, “It's our lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It's all we have. Do you understand ? Besides, they will laugh at you in school”. This clearly shows the reader that Mariam's mother was taking to Mariam about women like them and what they had to go through. Just like Laila even thought she didn't go through the same experiences. This is show how both Mariam and Laila are young women and how both of them are similarities between them.

Finally, she is able to detect the lies of her father. Lies he tries concealing. As he once indirectly pushed her away, Mariam needed him to know how much damage he causes. She would not spare him of the injustice he has commit. It would be the first time she speaks against a man. “ ‘I’ll visit you’ he muttered.[. . .] ‘No. No,’ she said. ‘Don’t come. I won’t see you. Don't you come. I don't want to hear from you. Ever. Ever.’ ”(50). Mariam is an intelligent, outgoing girl, daring at times. She went as far as walking to the busy streets of Kabul to search for her father. With this, she wanted to leave him with a wounded heart. Like she felt when he refused to open the doors of his home. After the miserable ceremony, these traits withered away.

Mariam is in absolute disbelief when Jalil’s wives instruct her to marry a forty-five year old man immediately while Jalil watches speechlessly and approves of the arranged, instant, forced marriage. After less than a month of living with her father, his wives find the perfect opportunity to remove Mariam from the household which simultaneously abolishes the last trace of her father’s scandalous mistake of an affair with his housekeeper, Mariam’s mother.

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

The relationship between Mariam and Laila grows overtime into an unbreakable love. Mariam is a vulnerable character that experienced hardships and negativity throughout her life. Her reliance on faith and religion gave her hope. Laila however, has had a positive upbringing from modern parents. Her education is what made her a strong and intelligent girl. Their personalities contrast to bring the best out of each other. However at first, in fear of being overshadowed by Laila, Mariam says “If [Laila] thinks [she] can use [her] looks to get rid of me, [she is] wrong. [Mariam] was here first. [She] won't be thrown out” (225). As Mariam has never been a priority to anyone in her life she was very defensive over her role in the house. As jealousy embarked upon Mariam,

Everyone has relationships, whether it be with parents, friends, or even the special someone. It is also true that those relationships can change in an instant.. Authors show that truth in their work. Khaled Hosseini is no exception; including his novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. The main character Mariam does not see her dad, Jalil, except once a week. She loves him, but Jalil does not treat Mariam as well as he does his other children. When Mariam goes to Herat and wants to see Jalil,she ends up not being allowed into his house. This is when Mariam starts to dislike her dad, but Jalil only grows in his love for Mariam. Their relationship changed because of this one event. In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns , Khaled Hosseini uses character relationships to show that relationships can change or develop as a result of one event.

In Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila were brought together due to circumstances they could not control. Although they were both oppressed wives of a cruel and violent husband, Rasheed, they were eventually able to regain power over their own lives. The two women supported and learned from each other, finding strength in their relationship. Their relationship was an alliance of sorts and was essential to their ability to regain power over their lives. Once Mariam and Laila befriended each other, they each started to gain courage and hope and began to take more control over their lives in separate, small acts of courage and rebellion that eventually led to significant events which cemented their newly regained power. The developing of power did not come without obstacles, but Mariam and Laila were able to persevere and continue to stand up for themselves against both Rasheed and their societal constraints. Finding strength and motivation from each other and from other loved ones essential to their efforts, Mariam and Laila were able to take power over their own lives by standing up to and retaliating against oppressors in a series of events which led to the pivotal moment when Mariam kills Rasheed, finally setting both women free and giving them both complete power over

Mariam is the first main protagonist the readers meet in the novel. Her first apparition is at the age of fifteen, she lives with her mother commonly known as Nana, in a small shack just out of Herat. Jalil is a wealthy man, also Mariam’s father who lives in Herat with his three wives and his kids. The main character has