Thousand Splendid Suns

Mariam lived with her mother outside of Herat and her father Jalil would visit her. She grew up called a harami – bastard, by her own mother. Mariam’s mother advised her to be wary of men, since Mariam’s mother didn’t have a good relationship with Mariam’s father. “It’s our lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have. Do you understand? Besides, they’ll laugh at you at school. They will. They’ll call you harami.

These laws that limit the freedom of women within the country give men more freedom, which leads to abuse in Mariam and Laila’s family. Rasheed is physically and mentally abusive towards both of his wives, and because of this, the women attempt to run away, only to be sent back home by police. The reaction from Rasheed shows that he knows he holds the power: “‘You try this again and I will find you. I swear on the Prophet’s name that I will find you. And, when I do, there isn’t a court in this godforsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do.’” (Hosseini 272). Rasheed’s threats are serious; many times, the verbal abuse escalates into physical harm towards his family. Moreover, without any support from the Taliban, the women are forced to obey their husband and sustain his

In the story the reader finds out that men blame women for not doing there so called marriage responsibilities. In the book Rasheed blames mariam for not being able to have a child. They have multiple conversations about her being unable to have a child in the book. Shortly after the baby died Mariam said, “ A change had come over Rasheed ever since the day at the bathhouse. Most nights when he came home, he

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

The forced marriage between Mariam and Rasheed represents the oppression that women experienced in Afghanistan. Mariam's father and his wives arrange for Mariam to marry Rasheed, leaving Mariam with no say in the matter. The marriage that joins Mariam and Rasheed together is tainted by horrible mental, physical and sexual abuse. There are horrible dangers that arise from an arranged marriage, especially in Afghanistan where men view women primarily as child bearers. Married wanted to so badly to have not been forced into marriage, she was homesick and scared, “Her teeth rattled when she thought of the night, the time when Rasheed might, at last, decide to do to her what husbands did to their wives” (Hosseini 57). Laila was also forced into marriage with Rasheed, however, the circumstances differed. Laila was given a choice whether to enter into the marriage, but it was essentially life or death. Marrying Rasheed was the only way she and Tariq’s baby would ever survive. Rasheed was abusive to both Mariam and Laila. While he had once worshipped them, after not giving him the son he always wanted he no longer cared for them and began a cycle of horrible abuse. He treated them horribly, to which they could do little about, “there isn’t a court in this g-dforsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do.”(Hosseini 243) Rasheed says to Laila in reference

Another example of the unfairness to women is that fact, that men are also abusive to them. Being a man, means they have all the power. They make all the decisions and what they want to happen happens. Early in the book, Jalil, Mariam’s father, chooses a random suitor for her to marry. He forces it on her just to get her as far away from his family as possible. Her suitor ended up to be an abusive husband. Just in a matter of seconds, Rasheed, their husband would flip and turn abusive. As depicted early in their marriage, Khaled Hosseini wrote, “He was like this, sneering, tightening the belt around his fist, the creaking of the leather, the glint in his bloodshot eyes. It was the fear of the goat, released in the tiger’s cage, when the tiger first looks up from its paws, begins to growl” (216). Another time when Laila and Mariam try to escape Rasheed’s grasps, they both get caught and get sent back to him. Mariam took most of the punishment for leaving. “There was a sound now like a wooden club repeatedly slapping a side of beef.” His abusiveness led them to leave but only brought them back to it. As women they have no power in the relationship. Eventually Rasheed’s abuse came back to bite him, and it led to his death. Mariam had enough of his abuse. “Mariam brought down the shovel. This time, she gave it everything she had” (310 Hosseini). Rasheed tried everything in his power

Rape happens to many women, including Mariam and Laila. They never say no when he wants sex because that will set him off and they will get abused. It’s a terrible cycle. Women are always expected to cater to a man’s needs. Another cultural difference is violence of the Taliban. They make a rise in the middle of the novel and continue to get worse. Women’s few rights are shaved down to literally nothing when the Taliban take control of Afghanistan. Laila loses her parents in an explosion caused by the Taliban. No one is criminalized for it. Soon after Laila and Rasheed’s marriage, the Taliban force the women of Afghanistan to stay inside. Literally. If they leave their house without a male presence, they get violently abused and sent home. Laila tries to visit her daughter in the orphanage that Rasheed sent her to, and a young Taliban member slashes her numerous times with a car antenna. The concept of young children fighting for one’s country is peculiar. Taliban also ban women from working and going to school. They shut down every woman’s school to make offices for themselves. When Laila goes into labor, Rasheed rushes her to a hospital, which no longer sees women. The Taliban are responsible for that. They then go to a woman’s hospital and they reject her as well. Finally they find a hospital

Laila never faced abuse of any kind as a child. While she was neglected by her mother, her father showed her plenty of love and attention. She also experienced a great deal of affection from Tariq, a boy that lived near her neighborhood. Tariq and Laila quickly became best friends and, in their teen years, lovers. When a Soviet rocket hits Laila´s house, however, everything and everyone she cares for, is instantly taken away. Her parents had died, and her friends had either been killed or fled the country. When a stranger approaches Laila with the news that Tariq has been killed, she realizes that she has nothing else to lose. She cannot live as an unmarried woman in Afghanistan, and so she agrees to marry Rasheed who, at the time, appears kind and welcoming. This is one of the most painful

From the very beginning, Mariam grew up in cruelty. She was a Harami, which means “bastard child,” and her mother didn't let her forget that. Her mother blamed for her not so good life. Mariam’s mom was a cleaning lady and she had Mariam with her boss, she was shunned because they weren't married. Her mom blamed her for all this even though they were all her mistakes. Even Mariam's father was ashamed of her since she was born. When Mariam’s mother passed away and he was the only one that could take her in, he sold her off to a man thirty years older. Laila in the other hand didn't have a rough childhood. It

Miriam's mom died, she was given up by her dad ever since she was born even although she does get weekly visits from him. Miriam was also put into an arranged marriage by her father even though she was only 15. Rasheed, Miriam's husband, was very abusive and forceful to her. She also was never able to have children even though she became pregnant 7 times, all ending up in miscarriages. Laila experienced a good childhood, she had friends and a good family. Soon all her friends either moved away or died. Laila and her family were going to move away from Afghanistan until their home was struck by a rocket, her mom and dad both died in the house while she was rescued by Rasheed who cared for her wounds. She was than convinced that he would be the safest person to be with, so then they married. Soon she became pregnant with Tariq's baby but had to act like it was Rasheed's. Miriam and Laila were both abused by Rasheed if they did anything wrong. They both experienced difficult lives. The driver states "the story of our country, one invader after another... we're like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing." Miriam and Laila are like the Buddhas, they are constantly receiving bad things one after the other. Miriam and Laila slowly falling apart, yet still holding their will. They both show how much they've gone through but what they are still trying to get to. Afghanistan has

Women are so oppressed in this Taliban lead society, that they hardly have any rights. Men are also oppressed as they are forced to do things like praying and growing a beard, but they are much better off than women in this society. Some even take advantage of this oppression, like Rasheed for example, Mariam and Laila’s husband. He had his suspicions about Laila’s daughter looking nothing like him, so he says to Laila, “I could go to the Taliban one day, just walk in and say that I have my suspicions about you. That’s all it would take. Whose word do you think they would believe? What do you think they’d do to you?” (282). He knows that women discriminated in this society and he uses this to threaten Laila. Another right that was taken away was their freedom to go outside, freely, without restraint. The Taliban said in their rules that if they were seen outside of their home without a man they would be beaten. When Laila tried to visit her daughter Aziza at the orphanage, Rasheed wouldn’t go with her so she would try to go alone and she was beaten every time: “Crossing the street, she was spotted by the Taliban and riddled with questions … If she was lucky, she was given a tongue-lashing or a single kick to the rear, a shove in the back. Other times, she met with assortments of wooden clubs,

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

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.

Everyone has relationships, whether it be with parents, friends, or even the special someone. It is also true that those relationships can change in an instant.. Authors show that truth in their work. Khaled Hosseini is no exception; including his novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. The main character Mariam does not see her dad, Jalil, except once a week. She loves him, but Jalil does not treat Mariam as well as he does his other children. When Mariam goes to Herat and wants to see Jalil,she ends up not being allowed into his house. This is when Mariam starts to dislike her dad, but Jalil only grows in his love for Mariam. Their relationship changed because of this one event. In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns , Khaled Hosseini uses character relationships to show that relationships can change or develop as a result of one event.

Hosseini’s parents are put into the characters as Laila’s parents in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. Laila’s father is was a diplomat in the Afghan Foreign Ministry and Laila’s mother taught Farsi and history at a high school similar to Hosseini’s parents. Hosseini place this tiny detail to emphasizes the relocated the Hosseini family to Paris when Hosseini was young ("Biography"). Somewhat similar to the Hosseini family, Laila’s family had to move to Pakistan to be in a safer condition. In Kabul, both Hosseini and Laila faced “bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet Army” ("Biography"). The event that happen to Hosseini was he was at a young age was placed on on Laila’s family, proving that this personal experience impacted him. Hosseini’s childhood memories reappear to him and by adding this as part of his novels, it shows how Afghans back then and now are still living in terror. The Afghans would have to be ready to leave their home at any time to be safe since attacks can happen to them at any time. Because of this he can relate and have more empathy towards them due to his past experience being relocating to Paris when he was a child.