How Is Mariam Portrayed In A Thousand Splendid Suns

In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, many characters are forced to overcome obstacles in their personal lives. Laila and Mariam, the two main characters, find themselves married to the same man, Rasheed. Both had a good relationship with Rasheed at the beginning of their marriages. Soon they found that they were both being abused by Rasheed. Mariam and Laila overcome the abuse by taking matters into their own hands. Khaled Hosseini introduces the reader to the ways many Muslim men and women believe that marriages should be private and that how the man treats his wife or wives is his business. Many relationships find themselves trying to overcome an abusive marriage.

However, Mariam changes after Laila comes into her life. At first, her hatred towards Lails shows Mariam’s change, her beginning to understand that she is allowed to fight against injustice. She asks Rasheed not to take her in that “in all her years this was the one thing she asked of him.” (?) The fact that Mariam asks at all depicts her growing courage to stand up to her abusive husband. She also defends herself against this injustice of Rasheed marrying Laila, loving Laila over her, by demanding her authority over the younger girl. However, it is when Mariam and Laila become companions that Mariam’s understanding truly alters. This is because she begins to love Laila and the children that Laila have. Laila has provided her the one thing that “she

This passage shows that Laila had made an abrupt decision that would change the course of her fate and set up a new life for her. Without the prospect of seeing Tariq or her family again, she was forced to this crossroad, where she had to decide whether to stay or leave. Because of her choice to settle with Rasheed, she would develop new relationships, but destroy her

Religion is highly influential throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns and the lives of the characters. The novel’s main focus is on Islam in particular Muslim women - Mariam and Laila. Their stories express how Muslim women were treated and what was expected of them compared to men who were considered in power. Religion also expressed the role of a man – he is the provider, the ruler, and has the freedom to do as he please. for

Much like the country of Afghanistan, characters in A Thousand Splendid Suns carry on through tough times and loss. Mariam and Laila persevere through unhealthy relationships with their mothers, as well as their abusive relationship with Rasheed. Through their character growth throughout the book, they grow into strong individuals. The war that has greatly damaged their country leads them to be able to overcome anything in their lives. Through this character growth, strength and perseverance through tough times proves to be the most prominent and important theme in the

In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns Nana tells Mariam that a man always finds a way to blame a woman. Women in Mariam’s culture are treated with no respect because in their culture men are more superior. Due to the men being more superior, woman are expected to care for the men in their family. Sometimes they can't do the tasks that are given to them. The woman get blamed because they are unable to do the task. Some examples of this is when Rasheed blames Mariam for the hard rice and makes her eat it. Another example of this is when when Rasheed blames Mariam for not being able to have a child. The last example of this is when Naghma gets blamed for seducing a man and this ends her up in prison. Men are always finding ways to blame things on woman in the book through marriage, household responsibilities, and the social statuses of women.

One important difference between the two girls lives is their education. In the book, education is a big theme in this story, especially surrounding these two characters. Thanks to the soviets, Laila was able to go to a school and learn, something that was only privileged for men and boys. Mariam on the other hand, was poor and considered illegitimate and not able to attend school like she wanted. In the book, Laila states "Babi had made it clear to Laila from a young age that the most important thing in his life, after safety, was her schooling." Laila's father, Babi, had always valued education. He had made sure Laila got the most out of her chance at education while she could before it was taken from her. After all, he had firmly believed that women could and should do what man can do as well. Mariam's mother, Nana, never allowed her to go to school or bothered educating her. She said how horrible school was and how learning was a waste of time. Though Mariam didn't see it this way, this was her mother's way of protecting her from having the same bad experiences as she had. Her intentions were good, but this only drove Mariam further away from her.

“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.

The novel revolves around two women, Mariam and Laila. The novel takes place during a terrible time to live in Afghanistan, but things were especially hard for women. Their lives brought together and are forced to live through unimaginable situations. At first, they didn’t get along, but then a beautiful friendship began. Their friendship would eventually be their salvation. They both experienced incredible character development. Mariam and Laila’s childhoods were very different, which is explains their characteristics in the novel. Laila’s modern upbringing gave her courage, which inspired Mariam to take action in both of their lives.

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

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.

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

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

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini takes a solid focus on the lives of two young women, Mariam and Laila, who grow up in a struggling and turbulent Afghanistan. This book emulates the lives of those who have actually been affected by the extreme changes of power within their culture. From the Soviets to the Taliban, these people are caught in a war they cannot win but must deal with the consequences of. The lives of Mariam and Laila are consumed and silenced by those with power over them, namely males with traditional values. The book conveys the idea that even with an immense amount of destruction and terror wrought throughout Afghanistan, underneath lies a beauty that has been muted but it still provides hope for the future.