Patriarchy In A Thousand Splendid Suns

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila are learning to live in a war zone when the Taliban gains control of their country. Consequently, the Taliban's laws are one source of major female inequality within

“A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mariam. It isn’t like a mother’s womb. It won’t bleed, it won’t stretch to make room for you.”

Growing up and living in Afghanistan as a woman has its challenges. Parents choose who can marry you and they choose everything for you. In this book, Laila and Mariam both show the struggles it is to be a girl, and how much disrespect they get in Afghanistan. Both Mariam and Laila are married to the same man, and he is abusive to both of them. They also live under Taliban rule, and the rules that they set are very unfair for women. In Khaled Hosseni’s novel, he has many different themes but the most prevalent one is of woman inequality, and that is shown through multiple accounts of abuse, disrespect, and unfairness.

Historical information about the Setting: The major events in this book occurred in the last decade. After the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, the lives of many Middle Easterners (Iraqians, Iranians, etc.) and South Asians (Afghans, Pakistanis, etc.) were changed. Many people, especially women, were brutally slaughtered for disobeying the Taliban, a terrorist group that worked closely with al Qaeda. Not only were the Taliban extreme religious fundamentalists, they were also strict with enforcement. The US and many other countries have tried to end these terrorist organizations, but they hurt a great deal of innocent people, which this book goes further in depth about. In these recent years, there has been great progression in basic rights for women, as well as men, which most likely could have never happened prior to this time.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a high-quality novel that should be continually read for years to come in English II classes at Cannon School. This book is not only an enjoyable read for students, but it also teaches students lessons and helps them improve their abilities with literary devices.

A Thousand Splendid Suns shows the downsides of patriarchy though the use of the word harami, through the irony of Jalil betraying Mariam, and through the irony of Rasheed’s treatment of Mariam. Firstly, at the very beginning of the novel, Mariam recalls being called a harami. After Mariam broke Nana’s prized tea set, Nana said, ”… This is my reward for everything I’ve endured. An heirloom-breaking, clumsy little harami.”

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.

Afghanistan was not always cruel towards it’s female citizens, before Taliban came to power

The Taliban implemented laws restricting the movements and actions of women in Afghanistan in public places. While attempting to visit her child in a home for young girls, Laila is beaten within an inch of her life as a consequence of walking outside without a male escort (Hosseini). The extreme course of action, beating a woman for walking alone, demonstrates the illogical and unjustifiable actions the Taliban promotes the practice of in Afghanistan. The women and men have dramatically unequal rights.

Feminism examines how female characters are portrayed, exposing the patriarchal ideology implicit in classic literature. Females are often portrayed as timid, submissive, passive, emotional, and having numerous instances of misogyny, patriarchy, and sexism. Often in literature, females are undermined by the dominance of males in the society, and by presenting women as submissive and timid which in turn marginalizing and objectifying them. Often times, females find comfort through one another by recognizing their limitations while sharing their experiences with women around them. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini presents the reader with a world of patriarchy, where Mariam and Laila, the two main female protagonists are subjected to

Before everything happened such as the Taliban, women were allowed To choose their own clothing. They were allowed to leave the house without a male by their side every second. The Taliban was a big controversy with women because They outlawed education for women, There was a lot of abused physically and mentally, And I had to wear full veils from top to bottom. If you didn't follow the rules or betrayed them you would either go to jail, They would cut parts of your body are, they would leave you to flee for your husband, Are you at have a public death. The rules were even more enforced and

n the book A Thousand Splendid Suns , which was written and published by Khaled Hosseini in 2007, is an engrossing historical fiction novel that goes in depth about the mistreatment of women in Afghanistan in the mid twentieth century until now. The author pinpoints and focuses on the ill-treatment of women and how they are treated like property instead of human beings. Also he focuses on the harsh laws that are made in Afghanistan for everybody. As you read the book , you will feel like you’re in the middle of the chaos in Afghanistan.

The main character in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Laila, was caught in the middle of a clash of cultures. The desperate circumstances of her life forced her to move from a progressive household–one encouraging of the progressive role of women–to one of a more conservative nature–one nearly obsessed with the suppression of women. Her reaction was a blatant attempt to run away. Laila responded to the oppressive nature of Rasheed’s home by attempting to run away, this drove Rasheed to cut down on her freedoms–the lack of which is a major theme in the book.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is such a beautiful book because of the copious ways a reader can intrepid the novels meaning. There are three that stand out above the others. That is to say, the connection with theses perspectives occurred without the need to intensely analyze the text. Historical, Marxist and feminist lenses did just that. From a historical perspective, the text is a factual telling of Afghanistan from the nineteen sixty’s to the early two thousands. Specifically, the reader quickly understands the social, political, economic, cultural and intellectual turmoil of the time. On the other hand, if viewed from a Marxist lens, the text becomes a reflection on class struggle and materialism. Why else would Hosseini choose to imply, even straight up tell which class each of the character belonged to? Finally, there is the feminist perspective. The story in this novel deals in copious amounts with feminism and gender. Gender in equality is rampant from the start almost through to the very end, with forced marriages, rape and misogyny.

In Afghanistan, it is widely known that certain sub-cultures allow a man to violate his wife physically and sexually to gain dominance over her. This notion is typically created by the unequal treatment of women in their society. The low social statuses of women in society and the power imbalances between men and women created by this, result in discriminatory practices and physical and sexual abuse against the female population of all ages in Afghanistan. (Povey 268). Despite violence against women being part of their general society, during times of war or political conflict, similar to Afghanistan in the novel, this violence toward women increases. This idea is presented throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns in Rasheed’s relationships with