Thousand Splendid Suns

The fight for justice is not always unequivocal or favorable, sometimes justice is given by means that do not seem fair at all. William Styron says in a novel that life “is a search for justice.” It is blatant that throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, female characters are continuously battered with injustices. Hosseini hones into the oppression of women and the fight for women empowerment through the life of one of his main characters, Mariam. Her journey is shown throughout the novel where she struggles to search for and understand justice.

The inequality between men and women is highly elevated and marriage to Rasheed clarified the difference between genders. Mariam was expected to obey and do what he wished of her. Mariam dressed modesty and wore a hijab following the expectations of Muslim women. Rasheed expected her to wear the burqa and to stay in her room when he had guests. It was clear within the novel, that one of the most important tasks of women is the ability to conceive a child and when Mariam failed, he treated her as if she was not worthy at all. It also portrayed the value of a son over a daughter when he expected nothing less than a son from Mariam – in which she could not have

Laila is a good representation of this contrast by her two marriages. When with Rasheed she is often feeling fearful and restrained, whereas with Tariq she feels comfortable and content. • In the story many different bonds are created between women to show how women have a strong ability to find strength and support in one another when in desperate times. The burqa symbolizes the entrapment of women and the loss

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, takes place in Afghanistan between the 1970’s and early 2000’s. The novel starts with Mariam, a teenager who lives in Herat with her mom and rarely sees her father Jalil. One day she goes to see Jalil, but when she arrives back home she sees that her mother has hung herself. Mariam is forced to marry a man, Rasheed, who is much older than her. In part two Laila is introduced as a young girl who lives in Kabul with her mother and father. However the Soviets bomb Kabul, killing Laila’s parents and injuring her. Rasheed and Mariam take Laila in and nurse her back to health. Rasheed marries Laila and has a child with her. In the beginning, Mariam dislikes Laila, however they learn how to become friends

Brooks uses the sources to bring the thesis together and to help get her point across about the oppression of Islamic women and the pride and power of their male figures. An Islamic law states that women are not to commit adultery, but their husband can have more than one wife. When Brooks learned the story of Rehab and Mohamed and how Mohamed left Rehab for Fatima, it really opened her eyes on how different the treatment of married women of the Islamic world.

Friedrich Nietzsche once stated, “The world is beautiful but has a disease called man”. It can be inferred that “man” is a cliché that defines humans in general; therefore, the quote can be interpreted as, the world is pure, but humans are otherwise. I agree with Nietzsche, and I believe that his quote can be reinforced by the morals of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and the various stories found in Greek myths. A Thousand Splendid Suns makes common usage of the theme of struggling and enduring to demonstrate immoral decisions that people have used to hurt others. Greek myths, however, use metaphors that range from characters and what they embody to gods who represent different parts of human life.

Though the veil forms an inconvenience in the lives of all Iranian women, it serves as a form of protection in their lives against the dangerous religious extremists fighting for the revolution. Marjane and her mother did not believe in the religious importance of wearing the veil but knew they had to wear them for their own protection against radical religious men that could try to take advantage of them. The president claimed that “women’s hair emanates rays that excite men” (74). Supported by this proposition, men could claim that a woman without a head scarf excited him and he would rape her because that is what she deserved for being a “little

The character Maryam defends women right to wear the niqab from a liberal perspective and emphasizes Islam as a religion of peace and argues that the niqab is an Islamic woman’s expression of her faith. Maryam is optimistic and believes in a progressive Islam as she attempts to break the barriers of stereotype. Yehudit makes valid points about trying to change traditional, restrictive, and misogynistic practices. She sees room for growth and change for women in leadership roles in their

Laila, Mariam, and Rasheed settle into a routine. After Rasheed leaves for work, the women do their best to avoid each other throughout the day. Finally, over dinner one night, Rasheed insists they act as a family. Rasheed then tells Laila that Mariam is a bastard, then he gives Laila the same lecture he once gave Mariam — she must wear a burqa in public. This time, Rasheed goes one step further and tells Laila that she's not to leave the house at all — if Laila needs anything during the day, she should send Mariam out for it. Rasheed then threatens Mariam to enforce these guidelines, making it clear that Mariam will be the one who suffers if Laila breaks the rules.

In the novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, the war setting plays a crucial role in shaping Laila's character and forcing her to grow and change. Her priorities are always changing depending on the environment she is in, causing her to make difficult decisions on what to do. Since the story takes place in a violent and brutal war in Afghanistan, Laila is confronted with numerous challenges and hardships that lead her to pain and suffering. In the end, however, she must endure all this pain and make sacrifices for the ones she loves, even the new people she has met along the way. The setting of the war causes the conflicts to become more brutal and intense, as Laila must deal with the destruction, violence and loss that surrounds

In the novels ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ and ‘The Color Purple’ the violence and its effect can be explored through the patriarchy that provides for male domination in the political, economical and social status in the female protagonists Celie and Mariam. Within the exploration of oppression and its effect of women the oppression the female protagonists endure is correlated to the novels social, historical and political context of war, racial discrimination and cultural traditions of society led by man. Khaled Hosseini in a ‘Thousand Splendid Suns’ provides description of the oppressive nature by the presentation of the controlling husband Rasheed. Rasheed forces Mariam to wear a burqa against her will. Hosseini describes how the ‘pleated

A Thousand Splendid Suns tells of the story of two Afghan girls living during the Taliban infestation. The author Khaled Hosseini uses style and point of view to present the hardship Mariam and Laila, the main characters, experienced throughout their lifetimes. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is also about two girls in 17th century China living in a patriarchal society. They have no rights of their own and they are not allowed to enjoy everyday things because they are considered ‘manly’. Their feet are bound because of myths that it makes intercourse more pleasurable and because women who do not move a lot are considered more desirable. However, they find a secret way to communicate and they find a home with one another. Both books explore the hardships of two women from very

An experience is a personal involvement or observation of an occurrence by a person. Every day, various people experience different events of their lives and learn from these many undertakings. People however, cannot experience everything, but rather only experience what they undergo. Nevertheless, for others to distinguish different accomplishments that they cannot be a part of, many must learn from the experiences of others. In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, characters are exposed to various events that affect themselves and the ones around them. In the text, the characters help readers in becoming familiar with the experiences that they are not accustomed to as it demonstrates the affection people have for

In part 1 of a Thousand Splendid Suns my impression of the plot and conflict of the book is that it is very depressing so far the fact her father just has given his daughter as if she means nothing to him is upsetting in my opinion. Not only she loved her father but she worried every thursday that he will not come to see her. Mariam practically worships the ground he walks on and it hurts to see that he can not even defend her against his own wives because of his “image”. Mariam has to be one of the strongest people in this book. The way she handles everything is unbelieveable. She has a tough life her mother took her own life and her father just given her away to a 45 year old man that is abusing her because of her inability to have children.

In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, the theme of control looms large, with men wielding power and dominance in Afghan society. Women like Mariam and Laila find themselves severely restricted in their rights, forced into submission by their husband, Rasheed. Despite his hold over them, their mutual support eventually empowers them to defy Rasheed's control. Control is a power that can be stripped away, given the help and time needed to muster the strength. Mariam was born into a life where she had no control, a consequence of being hidden away from society due to being labeled a "harami."