Theme Of Sacrifice In A Thousand Splendid Suns

As children both Mariam and Laila suffered from mental abuse from their parents. In Mariam's life, her father was ashamed of her because she was a harami and her mother saw her as a burden. Her mother would make her feel like she was less than a person by calling Mariam a bastard, when she did Mariam “..understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she...was an illegitimate person who could never have legitimate claim over things...such as love, family, home, acceptance.."(Hosseini, 4). This was something that has affected Mariam throughout the novel. It was until Aziza came into her life and made her realize that what she was told when she was little was incorrect. This use of diction made the reader realize how heartbreaking it was for Mariam to hear those words from her mother. Laila on the other hand was severely neglected. After being bullied by the neighborhood kids after her mother once again forgot to pick her up from school; Laila believed that people "Shouldn't be allowed to have new children if they'd already given away all their love to their old ones..." (Hosseini, 119) Laila’s mother, Fariba's love for her two oldest boys always put Laila's needs and attention on the end of the list of many things she as a mother should have done. Hosseini's use of diction let the reader know how Laila felt her mother’s neglect more as a child whenever she would want her

Laila also has to endure many hardships in life, like her family’s death, Tariq leaving, and living with Rasheed. All these factors start to break her and she becomes more depressed and starts making bad decisions. First, Laila survived injuries from a nuclear rocket explosion after being saved by Mariam and Rasheed (Hosseini 193-200). This explosion killed both of her parents forcing Laila to alter her plans for the future. After Laila moves in with Rasheed and Mariam, Rasheed tells Mariam about how he wants to propose to Laila and “Later, in the dark, Mariam told the girl. For a long time, the girl said

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

Sacrifice is a common theme brought to the forefront of many stories throughout history, stories both real and fictional. From beginning to ending, Khaled Hosseini perfectly establishes the theme of sacrifice in his novel The Kite Runner. Baba, the father of the protagonist, sacrificed much in his life purely out of the love in his heart. His love and sacrifice spread from his family, to strangers, and most importantly to his son Amir.

All throughout this book, Afghanistan had many switches of power and constant war involving many countries, including the US and Russia. At the end of the book, as things are calming down, Laila says to Tariq, “Maybe there will be hope at the other end of this war, maybe for the first time in a long time.” (Hosseni 386). This quote shows the hope that the people of Afghanistan still had to possess to persevere through the years of war. The war affected thousands of lives in the country, as the war swept through the different cities. This war of especially affected Laila because it resulted in the death of her parents. Afghanistan as a whole had to show tremendous strength throughout the book as they endured through the war. Perseverance is most prominently shown through all citizens during the country’s war.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khalid Hosseini explores themes relating to hardships and family, especially having to do with the oppression of women. This novel follows the lives of Mariam and Laila, two Afghan women whose interactions arise from their forced marriage to Rasheed, and the abuse they face together. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of Jalil, a rich businessman, and his former housekeeper, Nana. Struggling with the stigma surrounding her birth and guilt following her mother’s suicide prompts Mariam to be unable to stand up for herself. Laila is quite the opposite and grew up with the desire for an education and the knowledge that she could change the world. After her parents and Tariq’s deaths, Laila is forced to set

According to New York Times, in the twentieth century over 108 million people have died because of war. Knowing this, it is easy to say that people affected by these numbers have developed depression, or a similar disease relating to the trauma they have endured. Characters in the book A Thousand Splendid Suns and the movie Life is Beautiful have done just the opposite. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila make sacrifices for Laila’s daughter Aziza, in order for Aziza to get the most out of the life they are living. In Life is Beautiful, while in a concentration camp, Guido, the father of Joshua creates a game to comfort Joshua and distract him from the torture of the camp. Through the sacrifices they made, the lies they told to loved

Adversity is the difficulties or misfortune an individual may face in their life. Adversity can nurture an individual into becoming stronger or it can break a person apart and destroy them internally. People can face adversity when they a pressured or stressed in life to make quick decisions or even long term hardships. How an individual faces this adversity will determine how this affects an individual, whether it will nurture them to become stronger or whether it will tear them apart and this is what shapes their identity. In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini shows how when an individual is faced with adversity, their reaction to it can force them to endure suffering over time building a sense of patience and strength which ultimately leads to them overcoming and changing the way they perceive themselves. In this novel Mariam is called to bring upon her strength to fight back against the expectations set on her and her identity, initially, she is unable to fight back and conforms to the expectations of those around her. However, as time passes and she continues to persevere and ultimately she is able to overcome and thrive over her suffering creating strength in her identity.

That day, “Mammy was wearing the same cobalt blue dress she had worn the day of the lunch party four months earlier” (192 Hosseini). It was moments after that Laila had noticed this that her life was dramatically changed, her family was blown to oblivion by an astrayed rocket, and she was now left and orphan fading in and out of consciousness in the wreckage of her home. Rasheed and Mariam, who lived down the street from Laila’s family, saw the accident and brought them to her home. Days later Rasheed proposed to Laila, and told her that if she refused she would be thrown out into the dangerous streets of Kabul. Laila reluctantly agreed. The day of Rasheed and Laila’s wedding, Rasheed wore a “new used suit, [with] blue [and] white pinstripes” (217

He was an abusive man that constantly beat them. He despised Mariam more at times because she couldn't give him children. He would beat her just because of it or anything else he believed to be wrong she did. The taliban did not allow women to be in public without a man. The taliban were harsh cruel people who would find a simple reason to kill somebody. They turned the pure Muslim religion into something cruel and imposed it on the people. Women were less than men. Hosseini displays domestic violence in the lives of these two women and it's unusual as a man is realizing the horrible mistreatment and unfairness towards women in Afghanistan. Men were the head of the household and that's why Rasheed could do what he wanted.There was no equality there and as time passed by in that household, there was nothing but cruelty there for Mariam and Laila. Its as if they were punished for simply being

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

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.

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.

Explosions, Death, Loss, Fear- all are great symbols for war in A Thousand Splendid Suns. In this novel, Khaled Hosseini uses tumultuous environments to bring up some of the most interesting characters in the 21st century. The three strongest examples are Laila, Tariq, and Aziza. From losing your parents, to losing your leg, Hosseini uses these types of characters to almost make a connection with them. Because we see weakness in them it truly makes their triumph that much greater. War is a raging bull charging through the lives of many, but for some, it makes them stronger.

In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, main character Mariam is forced into exile after a horrific set of experiences. After her mother’s suicide, she is removed from her home and is later arranged to marry a random man she never met before. Before her departure, Mariam lived in a “kolba,” a small hut on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. With no other place to go, she disapprovingly lives with her father for a short period of time before being shipped off to her new husband. Her encounter with exile is almost unbearable, yet she endures and grows into a hardworking and respectable woman. For Mariam, exile is both alienating and enriching; it illuminates how withstanding life’s challenges and learning to overcome them with love will ultimately be beneficial in the end, no matter what happens.