Mary Ovsepyan Mrs. Shamoyan Writing for College 12 March 2023 Running A Thousand Miles For Freedom Paragraph 1: Give background information about the setting and the overall treatment and rights of women in Afghanistan at the time. Khaled Hosseini's novel A Thousand Splendid Suns delves into the lives of Afghan women in the 1990s. Women in Afghanistan faced severe restrictions on their personal freedoms and opportunities during this period. The novel emphasizes the patriarchal nature of Afghan society, in which women are expected to be subservient to men and perform only domestic duties. Women are not permitted to work outside the home or attend school, and are required to wear a burqa in public. Domestic violence was widespread, and women had few legal options or protection. Women accused of adultery or disobedience faced public …show more content…
She is the illegitimate daughter of wealthy businessman Jalil and her mother, Nana, a servant in Jalil's home. Mariam's childhood is marked by loneliness and isolation because her father is ashamed of her and refuses to publicly acknowledge her. When Nana dies, Jalil marries Mariam to Rasheed, a much older man from Kabul. Rasheed treats Mariam with kindness at first, but as their marriage progresses, he becomes increasingly abusive and controlling. She is already relegated to a subordinate position in Afghan society, with limited opportunities and freedoms. Rasheed's abusive and controlling behavior exacerbates Mariam's mistreatment, and he is jealous and suspicious of Mariam, blaming her for their inability to have children. When she becomes pregnant, he physically and emotionally abuses her and forces her to have a miscarriage. Mariam's situation worsens as the Taliban gains power, and she becomes even more isolated and vulnerable. Overall, societal prejudices, familial rejection, and domestic abuse shape Mariam's life
The story begins with Mariam, a young woman living secluded from the world with her mother, who later marries an older man, Rasheed. The story also presents Laila, a young woman from a progressive family who also ends up married to Rasheed. The characters of Mariam and Laila share both similarities and differences in their childhoods, relationship with their father and their interactions with Rasheed and the
"And Mariam was afraid she lived in fear of his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies and sometimes not." (Hosseini 97) The fifth phase of the life of Mariam is Laila's Entry and Marriage with Rasheed. Laila, a neighborhood friend's daughter of Rasheed is nearly killed in a bomb blast which takes away the live of both her parents. Rasheed saves her and Mariam helps him to nurse her back to normalcy.
And, with that, Mariam brought down the shovel. This time, she gave it everything she had" (Hosseini 329). Next, Mariam's experiences with her husband throughout the book also show her continuous resilience toward his unjust actions. When Rasheed is furious at his wife, Laila, he strangles her and wraps his hands around her neck, intending to kill her. Fortunately, Mariam steps up by holding a shovel over his head.
Margareta Kulusic-Ho Mr. Schmidt English 3I March 29, 2022 A Thousand Splendid Suns Mariam Characterization Essay In literature, characterization is a key element in how characters are represented and described. Through different experiences, characters can evolve to demonstrate how unique experiences can change their nature and give the characters depth. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini displays Mariam’s progression, as one of the protagonists, who is burdened with shame for being born out of wedlock, going on to marry an abusive man, Rasheed. Mariam begins the story as an innocent and hopeful child, then as the novel progresses she grows from a resentful and inferior woman to being able to defend herself.
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 the Novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam is shaped by nana’s strictness, Rasheed’s abusiveness, and Laila’s affection. This accentuates the overall theme that despite all of the conflict and oppression she faces, Mariam is still able to find love and affection in her life. In the beginning of the novel, Mariam is constantly reminded the she is a “Harami,” a bastard child of Nana and Jalil. Mariam is forced to grow up quickly as Nana makes her cook, clean, and do chores without any form of appreciation or thankfulness.
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.
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.
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.
Throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini uses external conflict, internal conflict, and characterization to reveal how a woman in a patriarchal Afghan society endures more struggles and hardships than a man does. Hosseini uses external conflict to show how women have suffered under the hands of Islāmic government, such as the Mujahideen and the Taliban.
Both Mariam and Laila face a brutal and forced marriage at a very young age in their life. For example, Mariam is forced to marry Rasheed although she has no desire to marry him. Mariam begs her father not make her marry a man yet: “‘I don’t want to,’ Mariam said. She looked at Jalil. ‘I
Mariam’s character as being playful to Aziza and Zalmai shows that she is like a mother to them on the grounds that she played with them to bring about
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.
Mariam and Laila had both faced struggles being women in a country that did not value women highly. Rasheed was able to overpower them easily because of this. Mariam’s mother says to her “Learn this now and learn this well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman” (Hosseini 26). It shows how women always get blamed for everything even when they are not responsible. Women in Afghanistan grew up thinking about how life is like this for everyone.
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.