6) Nana says to Mariam in chapter 3, "it's out lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It's all we have." How does this statement prove foreboding as you read through Part One? Provide a specific example in your answer. When Nana says this she means as a woman, Mariam does not have the power or freedom to change her life and find her own happiness. If something bad happens to her, there is nothing she can do but endure it. This statement proves foreboding later on when she learns just how powerless she is in her society. She is married to someone she does not have any say in and when he becomes abusive towards her, she understands what Nana meant through experience that there is nothing she can do but endure. However, this is not to
With each thing her father does including punishing her for her owl, and losing his temper frequently, she finds her self more independent because she has her own thoughts and beliefs that are different from her father.
3. Mariam was never wanted by her parents. This was emphasized since the beginning of the story
She uses her desire to further her education, an escape plan with her sister, and her shame from being a forager to motivate her to bring a change into her life. Despite the constrictions
Her father’s job and reputation in the town is something she always had to grow up with. She knew some people liked her father and others did not. She shows courage when she stands up for her father when the mob is trying to hurt him. After
Here the author points out that the Grandmother “lurches from one strategy to another” (9) in an attempt to save herself. Almost as though the death of her family does not affect her, she exhausts all of her “manipulative techniques” (9) and ruses until her ultimate demise. While this argument may seem harsh, it is helpful because it allows students to see multiple layers of the character. It offers an opinion that students may not have been exposed to, and in the process, illuminates a more well-rounded character. In a sense, it pulls back the mask she carefully creates to reveal new aspects of her, ultimately making her a more interesting character to study.
In the resolution, she inadvertently unleashes the adult in her and she truly realizes vulnerability, compassion, and
Mariam’s life was such a car accident. As it seems from the beginning, she was hated. Her mother, Nana, constantly
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
She even believes that she shares in the blame for her abuse, for she shows an apologetic attitude others (Allison 116). Through her feeling of isolation, she learns to depend on herself, especially on her imagination. She imagines herself with strength enough to fight back against Daddy Glen with “hands…a match for his” (Allison 109). She also visualizes other
After the death of her husband, Mother struggles to keep her family together by providing the support and guidance they need, and encouraging them to use good judgment and think of the family as a whole before making their decisions. As the family faces various obstacles, each seemingly more severe than the last, Mother begins
These constant beatings in Maggie Johnson’s home, furniture thrown from parent to parent, and every aspect of her family life as being negative, her family situation is not an extremly healthy one. But, despite her hardships, Maggie grows up to become a beautiful young lady whose romantic hopes for a more desirable life remain untarnished.
Lastly, her family betrayed her by not listening to her side of the story after her sister told lies about her, and they betrayed her when they acted as if they did not care if she moved out of the house. In all of these actions, the family itself and certain members of the family are portrayed as uncaring, unsupportive, disrespectful, conniving, deceitful, and hateful to Sister. Through every action of the family, Sister is treated harshly, and she tries to not let this bother her. Yet, anger and bitterness build up inside of her until she cannot take it anymore. Consequently, it built up so much inside of her that it severely affected Sister so profoundly that she moved away from her home to get away from her family.
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.
her father tries to change who she is and force her into a gender role
The resentment within the young girl’s family is essential to the novel because one can understand the young girl better as she makes her decision.