Theme Of Alienation In A Thousand Splendid Suns

When Nana hears about this, she went to Mariam and said this: “ Women need only one skill. And it’s this: Tahamul. Endure” (18). Hearing this, it sounds like Nana is mentally preparing Mariam for whenever she is going to be with a man, if ever, considering Nana wants Mariam always by her side. Another quote that stood out about oppression from Nana’s perspective was when the snow was falling down in Afghanistan, Mariam recalled Nana saying this to her: “She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world” (91). This quote links really well with the theme of oppression because Nana is trying to show how many oppressed women there truly is around the world, linking it with the thousands of snowflakes that fall down when there is a snow storm. In these two quotes, it shows that Nana really believes men oppress women, not just in Afghanistan, but around the world. In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, there is many examples of how oppression is very relevant in the world

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

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.

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 theme of males dominating the course of Nana’s life is one that she passes down to her daughter, Mariam, the moment she was conceived. Although Mariam is only five years old and has difficulties understanding the way of the world, her mother’s piece of advice foreshadows the events of her own life. From Jalil making the decision for Mariam to be wed against her wishes as a means to erase his past, to her abusive relationship with Rasheed in which she is always at fault in his eyes, Mariam’s life revolves around men’s inability to recognize and take responsibility for their own shortcomings. Hosseini’s depiction of Mariam’s inability to escape the tyranny of sexism paints a picture for readers of the lifelong struggle that than millions of Afghan women face to this day.

Women are often stereotyped as powerless beings and objectified as trophies to men. This stigma that women carry is often illustrate_d inrV types of literatur(µA Thousand Splendid, ( .\\ (j{ 1 VftS , Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Hosseini illustrates e power f women, even in the most traiirnatic times of their lives. Hosseini develops a strong female protagonist, Mariam, in the novel through the use comparing and contrasting the cultural views of women durine period to the modem views of women and their capabilities to be just as powerful as men or even more powerful through the development of various traditional and nontraditional relationships. In the novel, Hosseini places a direct focus on family, in the traditional sense.

It is common for Afghanistan women to be forced to get married because of how much money a man has or what kind of business he owns. Usually the girls father will pick her husband based on wealth. A Thousand Splendid Suns character, Mariam, has to marry her husband because he has his own successful shoe shining business and the fact that her fathers wives do not want to take care of her after her mother dies. Her father’s wives think Rasheed is well off and will be able to always take good care of Mariam. She had no say in whether she wanted to marry him nor did she get to meet him before the wedding.

In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, the two protagonists, Mariam and Laila, fight against those who hold power in their lives. In the setting of the book, Afghanistan, women had essentially no rights starting in 1994. This was the year that the Taliban took control of the country after the Soviet Union had left. The Taliban installed a new set of laws which stripped women of their liberties, in the story Mariam and Laila are two of the many women these new rules affected. Mariam and Laila struggle against the structure of their society — which is embodied by their husband Rasheed — and fight against it by continuously trying to break free from Rasheed’s control; and it is this struggle which demonstrates the hardships women face in Afghanistan.

“Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman” (Hosseini 7). The book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, revolves around the lives of two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila. Throughout the book the girls go through many up and downs, experience friendships, and make sacrifices. The book overflows with culture, strong characters, and a theme of powers being defeated. Afghan people have a culture that differs from most, and this book really gives a glimpse into what it is like.

In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossein where the story is set in Afghanistan between the 1960’s and the 2000’s which includes the soviet invasion up to the formation of the taliban. The novel is written through the eyes of two women. Mariam is a harami, an illegitimate child of Jail a wealthy business man who gives away her hand in marriage to Rasheed. As time goes on Rasheed becomes abusive towards mariam due to her infertility. Almost two decades later Rasheed marries a 14 year old girl named Laila who has been left orphaned by a rocket.

The life of an Afghan woman is a life that exists with patience, paranoia, and a great deal of resilience. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, the protagonist, Mariam, possesses the ability to endure, and carries the heavy burden of being a harami; “an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance” (Hosseini 4). Mariam’s restless hunger and longing to be loved is inevitable. She is accepting of her fate, but bears a reoccurring theme; a desire to change the past. She is a people pleaser, and despises the thought of being a burden to anyone. She is one to follow the demands of others, but if she sets her mind to something she will get it accomplished. Mariam lacks ambition for herself, however, embodies a strong sense of responsibility for those she loves. To be endowed with avarice or curiosity may lead to agony or hardship; Mariam learns to endure throughout the struggles in her life, but is constantly followed by a shadow of shame.

Shortly after Mariam is told this by her mother, Mariam’s mother dies. Throughout the rest of Mariam’s life, true to her mother’s words, all she does is endure. Her mother’s statement rings true to the larger themes of the novel in that, throughout the whole of the book, women are oppressed. Mariam lives in a world where women often suffer because they are not allowed to do the same things men are, and are thought of as subordinate. Women endure being discriminated against because of their gender. The women in this book are also tasked with many obligations. They are

Several themes present in A Thousand Splendid Suns such as poverty, war, abuse of women, and love exemplify the impacts that one’s circumstances can psychologically have on the individual. When Mariam, and later on Laila, were stuck living with Rasheed, they became emotionally scarred and lived in a constant state of anxiety. When Mariam first moved in, she lived in perpetual fear of “...the time Rasheed might at last decide to do to her what husbands did to their wives. She lay in bed, wracked with nerves, as he ate alone downstairs.” Before marrying Rasheed, Laila embraced women’s rights and believed that women could be successful in society, due to Babi’s (her father) positive influence on her. After marrying Rasheed, all hopes of a successful life were destroyed. Her plight was exacerbated when the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan with their strict, misogynistic rules. Afghanistan's near constant state of war had negative implications on the two women, especially Laila. Laila lived in constant fear of bombings and shootings killing loved ones or innocent civilians. Because of this, “...sleep never

With the issues in the world today of terrorism and violent fear, families caught in warzones continuously work hard to find opportunities for a peaceful life and give a brighter future for their children. In Khaled Housseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, the mother-daughter like relationship of Mariam and Laila gives them both a significant understanding of their own views, improving their qualities of life for the long term. With Laila's determination for the safety of her family, Mariam's past and sacrifice for the better of her legacy, the years of Rasheed's physical and emotional abuse, and the loving compassion of Laila's children have all influenced the two women to understand each other's lives and carry