Cruelty In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Mariam’s alienation prompted by her mother, father, and husband, in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, reveals the oppression and shame around being a woman in the society of her native Afghanistan. Mariam’s countless, inescapable struggles throughout her life were all regulated by the systematic dehumanization of women in a patriarchal society, which resulted in her living in constant shame and fear. Starting from her birth, she was seen as a bastard because she was conceived out of wedlock, from both her parents, Jalil and Nana, and her society. In her childhood, Mariam is marginalized, by living in a cottage far off from the public eye, because of her father’s fear of humiliation and her mother’s fear of Mariam experiencing the

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

Mariam has a basic understanding of justice. She believes that she does not have it, will not have it, and even that she does not deserve it. The beginning of the novel

In both Osama and A 1000 Splendid Suns the female protagonists live a patriarchal society enforced by the Taliban. Examples of how a patriarchal society is established and shown in Osama and A 1000 Splendid Suns is through the idea of polygamy and the fact that men are allowed to abuse their wives. In a community that is driven by males, men have many more rights than women. For example, men are allowed to practice polygamy. In Osama, the family had already lost their husbands and male relatives, but at the end of the movie, the daughter is married off to an elderly man, whom when she is taken back to his home, has many wives who despise him stating that he, “ruined their lives” (Osama). In A 1000 Splendid Suns, Laila and Mariam were both Rasheed’s wives. When Laila had been added to the mix, Mariam was defensive of Rasheed saying to Laila, “I wouldn’t have fed you and washed you and nursed you if I’d known you were going to turn around and steal my husband” (226). The second example of how a patriarchal society is expressed through both A Thousand Splendid Suns and Osama is through the abuse the women face from their husbands and other men in the society they live in. In Osama, the daughter was hung by her torso above a well when they were suspicious about her gender (Osama). In A 1000 Splendid Suns, abuse is something Laila and Mariam face

In William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, Jack and others use their acts of cruelty towards the other boys to show a sense of power and role on the island higher than everyone else’s. In the book, Jack and his choir are obsessed and driven to find and kill a pig. While killing the pig they chant, “Kill the pig! Cut its throat! Kill the pig! Spill her blood!”. These words are evidently an act of cruelty because they could have simply killed the pig quietly and civilly. However, by chanting and frolicing about, they were given the power they had desired through cruelty. After successfully killing a quantity of pigs, the author states, “The Compulsion to track down and kill was swallowing him up”, meaning that he desires to kill because

Liala shows this in a big way, when she chooses to keep rasheed kid. She was ready to abort the baby “And there had been enough killing already. Laila had seen enough killing of innocents caught in the crossfire of enemies”(Hosseini 284), saying that she is going to keep the baby. Her war was with rasheed and not the baby so why take a life that doesn’t deserve to die. She had lost everyone she ever cared about this way, war had taken away everyone she loved.she was faced with adversity when she found out Rasheed got her

Miriam's mom died, she was given up by her dad ever since she was born even although she does get weekly visits from him. Miriam was also put into an arranged marriage by her father even though she was only 15. Rasheed, Miriam's husband, was very abusive and forceful to her. She also was never able to have children even though she became pregnant 7 times, all ending up in miscarriages. Laila experienced a good childhood, she had friends and a good family. Soon all her friends either moved away or died. Laila and her family were going to move away from Afghanistan until their home was struck by a rocket, her mom and dad both died in the house while she was rescued by Rasheed who cared for her wounds. She was than convinced that he would be the safest person to be with, so then they married. Soon she became pregnant with Tariq's baby but had to act like it was Rasheed's. Miriam and Laila were both abused by Rasheed if they did anything wrong. They both experienced difficult lives. The driver states "the story of our country, one invader after another... we're like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing." Miriam and Laila are like the Buddhas, they are constantly receiving bad things one after the other. Miriam and Laila slowly falling apart, yet still holding their will. They both show how much they've gone through but what they are still trying to get to. Afghanistan has

People in first world countries with privileges tend to overlook their good fortune and take everything for granted. Women in third world countries such as Afghanistan can only dream of the privileges and opportunities that would be given to them if one were to live in Canada, for example. Recently, media had been continuously trying to stress this concept of privilege difference to the Public. Attempting to amplify the amount of gratitude and thankfulness that people express for the good life they have been given. The novel ‘1000 splendid suns’ by Khaled Hossieni is a wonderful written example of this, as it explores the lives of two Afghan woman and their everyday struggle with oppressing forces in every aspect of their lives. Visual

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

of Darkness: the chain gangs, the grove of death, the payment in brass rods, the

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,

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.

The three characters (Mariam and Laila from Suns, and Osama from Osama) were oppressed and shaped by the Taliban’s rule over women. Taliban rules about women working most significantly changed Osama’s life, since her mother was supporting her family by working as a doctor before the Taliban forbade Osama’s mother, and all women, to do so. This shaped Osama by putting her life on another course, where she was forced to work, pray, and learn as a boy, when she could otherwise have continued to stay at

From her very first breath she is neglected by Jalil and abused by Nana, and as a child every time she tries to assert herself she is met with ridicule and failure, which leads to her become, understandably, cold and pessimistic. For most of her life she was taught that she was worthless and weak, so she eventually believed it and accepted her life as the doting wife of an abusive man who made sure to always keep her in her place: far, far below him. But, when Laila arrives her life is changed forever; Laila reminds her that she is worth something and that there is good in the world. She, and her children, give Mariam a purpose which in turn gives her strength and with her newfound strength she is able to take control of her life for the first time by sacrificing herself for Laila and her children; when she tells Laila to leave without her she says, “For me, it ends here. There’s nothing more I want,” (Hosseini 358) and shortly before she is killed she thinks of all the things she still wishes she could do. But, despite her regrets, she is finally at peace, because her sacrifice is, “a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings,” (Hosseini 360). Physically, she is more trapped than ever before, but mentally Mariam is finally

At a young age, her own father was persuaded by his three wives to kick out Mariam and her mother, Nana. Growing up she had a limited amount of time to see her father, as he only visits her once in a while. As she grows up to be fifteen years old, she leaves home to go see her father. Nana has an illness, and ends up committing suicide because Mariam had left home. Having said this, she moves in with her father only to be quickly wedded off to a widow, Rasheed. Already by the age of fifteen she had already been abandoned, or left by both of her own blood parents. When she was wedded off to Rasheed, she tried her