Hardships endured by Two Afghan women. If we could all put our problems in a pile and see other people's; we'd take ours back. According to Sighn (2013) "women in Afghanistan have been going through gender equity in its severe form since ages. Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns depicts the plight of women behind the walls of Afghanistan during several invasions in the country". In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, we come across two women Mariam and Laila, who endure extreme hardships that most women across the world experience. In the following essay I am going to critically discuss the statement that says "A Thousand Splendid Suns shows the social and cultural- and, ultimately political structures that support the devaluation, degradation, and violence endured by Mariam and Laila". This will be done by focusing on the events that take pace in …show more content…
They make common cause and endure degradation, starvation and brutality at the hands of their husband until they are forced to take up a desperate, joint struggle". After being severely beaten, locked up and starved by their husband, Laila and Mariam's differences lead to a conflict that ends in Rasheed's death and Mariam takes the blame; and is killed by the Taliban for killing his husband. This novel deals with many deep topics under the surface, mainly feminist issues, I have critically discussed the statement that says "A Thousand Splendid Suns shows the social and cultural- and, ultimately political structures that support the devaluation, degradation, and violence endured by Mariam and Laila". This was done by focusing and taking into consideration the events that take pace in the novel; which include the decisions that the two women made that led to their conditions that they find themselves in, and the hardships that the women went through, throughout the
In regards to the historiography of gender politics in the Victorian era, the social position of women and femininity had become a problematic issue. Similarly, the gender apartheid instilled prior to the civil war in Afghanistan. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, initially published in 2007, is set in Afghanistan from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. In this, it explores the story of Mariam and Laila as the protagonists, who teach the reader the reality of life as a woman in a backward Islamic country. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny seen from the perspectives of these two women and observes how they become to create a bond, despite having come from previously living in very different backgrounds.
In Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns , Nana tells Mariam that a man always finds a way to blame a woman. This mistreatment of women is depicted in the novel by utilizing multiple examples. Throughout the novel, men were able to use women as scapegoats in the Afghani society that deemed women as unequal to men.
The novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is a story written by Khaled Hosseini about two women and the lives they had and what they faced as they grew up. It focuses on Mariam and Laila. The two were brought up in very different ways and they were raised by very different parents. Mariam was raised by a single mother since the father was mostly absent, only visited occasionally and she was a bastard child. Her mother bore her before marriage; she got pregnant for Jalil while working as a housekeeper at Jalil’s place who later threw her out.
She knew how much of an abomination killing her husband would be to society, but she loved Laila enough to risk the punishment. Instead of running away from Kabul with Laila, Mariam stayed behind so that Laila would never get in trouble for killing Rasheed. She was then arrested and later shot for murder (371). Mariam sacrificed her own life so that Laila could marry Tariq and live happily and freely with her family. She gave up everything, even her life for those whom she loved, even though they biologically were not her children.
The work is not yet complete, and is evident by looking at the domination of women throughout the centuries, specifically the 19th and 20th century, which was the height of the women’s rights movement. By analyzing two literary works from two different eras, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the late 19th century and “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” written by Adrienne Rich in the mid-20th century, one can conclude that while there have been improvements to women’s rights, there is still discrimination prevalent. Although set in two different time periods, the main
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a historical fiction novel published by Khaled Hosseini in 2007. In the novel, Khaled Hosseini emphasizes the vicious acts of cruelty and punishment bestowed upon Afghan people, particularly children and the women of the households. This book will change your perspective of life and how you view it and the people around you. In this novel , Hosseini helps the people who are outside of Afghanistan acknowledge and be aware of the treacherous events and despair that takes place inside of Afghanistan. Can you imagine you no longer being an outsider?
In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Khaled Hosseini emphasizes the importance of education in woman. With the importance of education in women comes the endurance of woman. Hosseini displays the endurance of hardships that women face in Afghanistan through his female characters in the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Mariam wants to go to school and be able to learn like other children,“She pictured herself in a classroom with other girls her age.
Equality of genders is a basic human right that all should posses. However, in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, the reader explores Afghanistan’s true nature of extreme gender inequality towards women and how it affects all the characters within the novel. The novel explores how within a marriage, women have unequal rights, undergo major amounts of physical abuse, and are emotionally and mentally tormented by their very own supposedly beloved husbands. A marriage is defined as a union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.
Hosseini 104).When Rasheed forces Mariam to eat pebbles, he represents the corrupted person, or vampire, who only perceives his wife as an object that seeks to serve him and his relentless demands. After a while, Rasheed begins to look at Mariam as a burden that needs to be lifted off of his shoulders, so he tortures and abuses her, turning himself into a monster in the process. Furthermore, Rasheed does the same thing to his other wife, Laila, and his daughter. When Laila and Aziza attempt to escape, Rasheed is outraged, so he asserts his power when, “ [He] had not given them any food, and worse, no water. That day, a thick, suffocating heat fell on them.
A Thousand Splendid Suns Essay Women in the 1990’s had it rough after the Mujahedeen take over. After his takeover, an increased number of laws were made to limit the freedom of women when before, women were happy, they could get educated and roam freely. The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini demonstrates the life of an Afghan woman before and after the Mujahedeen take over. Babi, the father of Laila tells the reader that women were lucky to be living during their time, “It’s a good time to be a woman in Afghanistan.”
When Mariam unexpectedly killed Rasheed, Laila was terrified by what had happened and Mariam “had Laila lie down, and, as she
They represent the plight which the Afghan women have been facing since ages. These characters give hope to the countless women who still suffer the dominance and hardships of the Afghan society. The actions of these characters symbolize their strength to endure things as they join together and retaliate against the man, and in turn the society, who has taken away their rights to live their lives according to their own choices. The ‘thousand splendid suns’ represent the thousands of Afghan women with immense potentialities who are still under the clutches of patriarchal domination and are forced to hide behind the walls. Khaled Hosseini has beautifully portrayed the cruel realities of the lives of Afghan women through Mariam and Laila and this is what separates A Thousand Splendid Suns from literary works that deal with Afghan women.
A Thousand Splendid Suns’ was written by an Afghan American writer, Khaled Hosseini. The novel narrates the strength and resilience of two women who endure physical and psychological cruelty in an anti-feminist society. It also demonstrates how The Taliban uses fear and violence to control the people of Afghanistan, particularly females. Throughout this story the novel exposes the way customs and laws endorse Rasheed’s violent misogyny and it tells the tale of two women who endure a marriage to a ruthless and brutal man, whose behaviour forces them to kill him. The protagonist Mariam is a poor villager who lives in a remote area in Afghanistan, in contrast to Laila who is a smart, educated daughter of a schoolteacher.
The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.
This novel is also autobiographical. Throughout history, women have been locked in a struggle to free themselves from the borderline that separates and differentiate themselves from men. In many circles, it is agreed that the battleground for this struggle and fight exists in literature. In a