Who Is Mariam In A Thousand Splendid Suns

The reason Khaled Hosseini wrote A Thousand Splendid Suns was to tell the abuses that the people of Afghanistan, mostly women, had to endure. Hosseini shows the readers this by using the lives of Mariam and Laila. He made these women to help the reader understand the sadistic part of the world. Hosseini gives us a new lease on life, from the horrible lives these women had to live through. I would have liked to recommend A Thousand Splendid Suns to anyone, but because of such adult themes like abuse and murder I think it shouldn’t be given the faint of heart and to anyone younger than thirteen years old. Still there? Great, and I hope you enjoy this book of heartbreak and

Mariam is married off to a disgusting man named Rasheed and he mistreated her just like her mother treated her. Rasheed then gets another wife and things for Mariam and Rasheeds new wife, Laila , don't get off to a great start. Mariam is told to take Lailas orders, but upon one of Laila and Mariam's first conversations with each other Mariam gave a crude tone and let it readers know that “I was here first and I won't be thrown out” (225). Mariam believes that Laila will get rid of Mariam and this causes disagreement and tension between the two. Mariam later opens her eyes and realizes that Laila isn't an enemy and forgives Laila for trying to get her thrown out. Mariam allowing herself to forgive Laila leads to a bond that helps Mariam find meaning in their lives (250). Laila seems to have a better life than Mariam, but that all changes when Laila's parents are killed by a rocket. Laila was not mistreated as bad as Mariam was but still wasn't loved as much as her brothers were. Lailas mom loved her sons and once they were killed Mammy became distant towards Laila. Laila is aware of the change and knows that “She would never leave her

One similarity between Mariam and Laila is that both women, in one point of their lives, were aware of the things they could do in life. Mariam became aware when Rasheed took her out to Kabul for the first time they were married. While waiting for Rasheed, Mariam observed modern Afghan women and she thought how successful they all were. They made Mariam aware of how little she has accomplished and what she could if was given the opportunity. A quote from the list to support this is, " She imagined that they all had university degrees... these women mystified Mariam. They made her aware of her own lowliness, her plain looks, her lack of aspirations, her ignorance of so many things. (p. 75)". Laila was aware of her abilities, her aspirations and priorities were clear, since she was encouraged to study and her friends had high hopes for her. One difference between Mariam and Laila is that Laila did something significance in her life. For example, at the end of the novel, Laila open a classroom to teach the new generation of Kabul and landed in a newspaper. She came back to Kabul to help rebuild it. Laila and Mariam were aware of their endless possibilities as women, even under the never ending oppression but Laila was the one who acted

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. 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. Look at me... Only one skill, and it's this: tahamul. Endure’’(Hosseini 18). Mariam must be strong and adapt to how she is treated by people. Nana explains snow to mariam at a young age, "She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how women like us suffer, she’d said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us" (Hosseini 91). Although Nana is

The story starts with two interchangeable characters, Laila and Mariam. Similar in many ways, both of these women are introduced in the novel as young children. The author expertly describes events Laila and Mariam encountered within their everyday lives that has either affected them or helped them progress and deal with the modern rules for women rooted within Afghanistan. The novel starts by introducing Mariam, in the beginning, she’s a self-conscious young lady with a mother who is despicable and suffers from depression.Her father has entirely different family and shuns her when she tries to be indulged in his life. Mariam is the banished child, due to Nana and Jalil having intercourse while unmarried, resulting in Mariam being illegitimate. At a young age, she was forced to marry a severely abusive man named

In Gary Soto’s short story ‘Growing Up,” the main character, Maria, says, “‘I know, I know. You’ve said that a hundred times,’ she snapped.” Maria is acting ungrateful because she doesn’t want to go on vacation with her family and she is arguing with her father about it instead of being grateful for what she has. Being grateful is feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness and being thankful. In the story Maria argues with her father about not wanting to go on vacation with her family and claims that she is old enough to stay home by herself. Maria is trying to grow up too fast and she put her family to the side instead of being grateful. In this story, conflict, characterization, and symbolism all have an effect on the overall theme.

Rejection can make one feel alone, helpless, and out of place, and it’s a feeling that can make someone feel like they are no good, or that they aren’t worthy of a good life. All throughout the story, we are given examples of how the young girl is shamed and rejected. She was never accepted for who she was and this made her do things, sometimes extreme to help out her family. She knew she would never fit in, and her actions proved just that.

“The greatest sacrifice is when you sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of someone else”. In the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Khaled Hosseini writes a story about an Afghan girl name Mariam. Throughout the book it shows her life and growing up in Afghanistan. She learns about her country from events from her personal life and others. As these events grow throughout her life the color black appear more. As it grows it leads to her sacrificing herself for Laila and her children. A Thousand Splendid Suns develops the theme, human nature plays a factor in one who sacrifices themselves for the one they love through the archetypal uses of black, the mother figure, and the villain.

By letting go of the idea that Black Maria has to a previous state of naivety came and again a little girl, I was seen in a position that they do not regress their past, but rather, it entails a change in marriage freeing in childhood out obligations. Your newly acquired self-esteem was to fight an active state of being. It reflects the conflict of their own past and the memory of her

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.

Laila had to make physical and emotional sacrifices when it came to Aziza. An emotional sacrifice would be when she had to give her away to an orphanage. It broke her heart, but it was the only way to ensure Aziza would be fed and well taken care of during Taliban rule and the drought. Her physical sacrifices made was each time she tried to sneak away to see Aziza without Rasheed and was caught by the Taliban. Even though she was caught many times, she didn’t care, the love she had for her daughter was so strong she would die before she didn’t go see her,she even told Aziza “I’ll come and see you, all the time, I’m your mother; if it kills me I’ll come see you”(315). Tariq made some sacrifices when it came to his mother 's health at the refugee camp. He went to jail for years as a result of trying to smuggle drugs out of Pakistan. He felt the need to even take this risk because his mother had fallen ill during their times in the refugee camps. Considering the harsh times that they had to go through, especially during the winter, he even stooped down to threatening a little boy with a shard of glass in order to obtain his blanket. Readers learn this as he is speaking with Laila, “Tariq had cornered a kid. Twelve maybe thirteen years old, I held a piece of glass to his throat and took his blanket from him. I gave it to my mother””. The ultimate love filled sacrifice would be Mariam. Mariam’s sacrifice was made for the protection of Laila, Aziza, Zalmai, and Tariq. She knew what the punishment would be if she killed Rasheed, but she had to in order to keep him from killing Laila. The day after this incident Mariam says to Laila “ They will find us, sooner or later they are bloodhounds. When they do, they’ll find you as guilty as me. Tariq too. I won’t have the two of you living on the run like fugitives.” (337-338). She loved them so much, and didn’t want anything

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam is presented as a Christ figure in a Muslim society through her humble and forgiving qualities and the sacrifice of her life and freedom. When Hosseini wrote this novel, many people were stereotypical of Muslims. Hosseini presented Mariam this way to show the readers that although people may have different beliefs, they are not as different as one would

Laila’s feminist identity was influenced by her father, Hakim. Hakim is mostly referred to as Babi in the novel. Babi was a high school teacher, in other word, an intellectual. Intelligence is devalued by the majority in their society, therefore being a teacher makes Babi an extraordinary person in the novel. Since Fariba, Laila’s mother, was distanced from her, Laila had a special bond with her father. Babi’s doctrine of the importance of education was implanted into Laila. “I know you’re still young, but I want you to understand and learn this now. Marriage can wait, education cannot. You’re a very, very bright girl. Truly, you are. You can be anything you want, Laila. I know this about you. And I also know that when this

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.

“Do angels wear brassieres?" is a short story written by Olive Senior. In analyzing this story the main theme emanating from this story was one of self-identity where traditional stereotypes about women’s and their identities will be contested. This story is set in Jamaica where the author denotes issues of hierarchy and class stratification in a family which is female centered. The main character are; a girl named Rebecca aka Beccka, her mother Cherry, and aunt Mary. The unfolding story was based in a rural village located in Jamaica. The characters speak a dialect which is rich and colorful, and this is shaped and controlled by humor and comedy, allowing the reader a great insight into their way of life. Olive Senior short story “Do angels wear brassieres?" demonstrates a strong cultural and social reference where the emphasis is on women, and there identity as women.