Shame In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Nana believed that Mariam was going to like the life she found when she went to Jalil’s and not return back home. There has never been a time in Mariam's life that she has not had to endure from childhood to her

The blow knocked him off Laila. (34) Mariam had killed Rasheed because of what he put them through for many

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Tariq demonstrate the power of the human spirit. In A Thousand Splendid Suns one character whose human spirit triumphed above the rest was Mariam. Despite losing her mother and learning her father was ashamed of her, Mariam did not crumble. Also, she tolerated Rasheed’s abuse and remained humble through it all.

When Mariam was a young teen, around age 15, her father Jalil arranged a marriage for Mariam to marry a man in a different city named Rasheed. This happened without her consent of course. This moment drastically changed Mariam and Jalil’s relationship but not in a good way. Mariam had lost

Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" presents a powerful exploration of the complexities of the human experience, particularly as they relate to the relationship between characters and the past. Through the journey of the central character, Mariam, Hosseini masterfully illustrates the transformative effects of memory and the past, demonstrating how individuals are shaped and defined by their experiences. At the start of the novel, Mariam is a product of her past, defined by the rejection of her mother and the abandonment of her father. Her status as a harami, a sin to the haram, has caused her to feel marginalized, unwanted, and isolated. However, she witnesses and experiences the injustices of Afghan society, through her marriage with Rasheed, enduring his heavy hand, and strict rules.

She wanted him to see”(Hosseini 348). These quotes represent the revival of courage they had to oppress the one human being that deterred them from happiness. This gives a sense of power to Mariam as she declares Rasheed to look at her to let him know before he dies that she is the one who did it. Laila obtained her power by having the courage and determination to slam a glass vase against his head. Their actions occurred because of 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.

Mariam states "Was this what he did then, those nights that she did not visit her room? Had she been a disappointment to him in this particular regard?", showing that Mariam is blaming herself for Rasheed's inappropriate acts. Mariam blames herself because her anxious ambivalent attachment style internalizes her guilty and leads her to believe that Rasheed is only doing that because she's not able to satisfy all his needs. Mariam's tendency to blame herself in situations that are not her fault in her relationship reflects her need for validation and fear of

By this time, Rasheed was done with Laila, he had already been on the edge after Mariam and Laila had tried to escape their living situation and felt she would never learn to obey him. To prove his power in general, he felt that the most effective way of teaching them a lesson was through cruel behavior. Mariam has seen a lot with Rasheed, but this quote specifically exhibits how she saw the look in his eyes and knew that he was going to kill Laila. This is only one example of Rasheeds acts toward the girls, these beatings created fear and are the ultimate reason why they stayed in the situation they were in for so long, there was no escape for them. If Mariam hadn’t feared losing Laila to Rasheed, she would have never killed him and he would’ve been still alive; changing the story completely because Mariam would also be alive and we would never know if Tariq and Laila would get their happy ever after.

Rasheed treats her lovingly and assures her that she will get whatever she needs. He says, “anything you need done just ask Mariam and she will do it for you.” “And if you fancy anything, I will get it for you” (Hosseini, 2007, p.

When Laila’s parents were killed and she was injured, Mariam took her in and sacrificed her time and space in order to take care of Laila (199). Mariam didn’t have kids of her own, yet took care of Laila as if she were her own daughter. She cared enough for the young girl’s well being to take her in and show her kindness. When Rasheed is about to kill Laila, Mariam hits Rasheed with a shovel so hard that it kills him (349). She viewed Laila as her own daughter, and she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her daughter.

Mariam longed to place a ruler on a page and draw important-looking lines”(Hosseini ). Mariam is an example of how women are banned from an education and whose life could have been changed by education. Instead of being educated, she is sheltered by her mother and lives the rest of her life without high expectations of herself. Nana teaches her that an Afghan woman has to endure the life that is chosen for her because she does not have a say. Nana even says "There is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me needs in life, and they don't teach it in school.

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.

When Mariam unexpectedly killed Rasheed, Laila was terrified by what had happened and Mariam “had Laila lie down, and, as she

Rasheed however asks her to wear a burqa before going out. He makes it very clear to Mariam and later on to Laila, that a “woman 's face is her husband 's business only”. However when Mariam fails to bear a child, after several miscarriages, Rasheed begins to torture her both physically and mentally. Rasheed also becomes cross on Laila when she gives birth to a girl child. Later on Laila gives birth to a boy, but this does not improve her status in front of Rasheed.