Symbolism In A Thousand Splendid Suns

On the other hand, in their neighborhood lived Laila, the youngest child of Hakim and Fariba. Laila is a beautiful smart child and Hakim has big dreams regarding his daughter. As Afghani war against the Soviets breaks out, both of her older brothers leave to join the war. The absence of her brothers make her mature for her age. In the same neighborhood lives a boy named Tariq, Laila’s best friend.

Laila and Mariam are influenced by their mother’s behaviors. At times, both girls have hard feelings towards them, but at other times are empathetic. Nana and Fariba have experienced a lot of grief in their lives, but both of them can not look past it. Their inabilities to overcome the different losses in their lives affected the egos of their daughter’s, which is why Laila and Mariam feel much closer to

Laila’s father Hakim, provides his daughter with the following, “Marriage can wait, education cannot. You can be anything you want, Laila. I also know that when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to

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.

Women have limited opportunities to have a prosperous life due to the unequal treatment that is based upon gender roles in society. The suffrage of women in Afghanistan is based on; the constant abuse and control over women by men, the loss of freedom, expression of oneself, and the authority’s use of severe restrictions that dominates their way of living. Forced marriage is one of the many aspects in the oppression of women that is evident in Afghanistan. Young girls who are forced into an unwanted marriage, begin to face many challenges such as enduring the cycle of abuse and losing self-control. Mariam becomes more submissive and fearful of Rasheed, whose temper and displeasure dominate her life.

“But in Rasheed’s eyes she saw murder for them both. And so Mariam raised the shovel high, raised it as high as she could, arching it so it touched the small of her back.” (349). This quote was the moment before Mariam’s life would end, she killed Rasheed to save the people she loved which was Laila, Aziza, and Zalmai. But, Mariam’s action would have conscious she knew that she would have to admit to the police.

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.

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.

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

For centuries, women have been exploited by the society. Events of women being prohibited from doing things like voting or working and being forced to behave the way it is considered to be socially acceptable have been jotted down in history. Until today women are still viewed as the weaker sex. In some countries, women are regarded less than human and are treated like slaves. Khaled Hosseini goes into the oppression of women in his novel A Thousand Splendid Suns.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini exposes the scenario of that time of society under the rule of fundamentalist government like Taliban and with this also exposes the suffering of women in that environment. He reflects the cultural, political and social structures of Afghanistan in degrading Afghanistan women. At various instances in novel Khaled Hosseini tries to reflect the situation of women or how they are being treated by the male dominant society which reflect other themes as well as relates with their oppression and hope, the senselessness of War, also points toward women education with other issues. Throughout the novel one may see in the characters who retain themselves with a particular hope dealing with certain oppressions.

Buy the book and read it. The story revolves around two women, Mariam and Laila, born 20 years apart, but whose lives are intertwined through the events of the novel. Mariam (born in 1959) is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy merchant named Jalil who has 3 wives and 9 “legitimate” children. Mariam’s mother, Nana, was a servant in Jalil’s house whose affair with Jalil resulted in Mariam.

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.

Sadly, the hero in her came out and had to return to the war to help rebuild the city after it was over. Because of Laila was such a great mother, this helped make her a much greater hero. Hopefully by now you understand why the furiated wiater claimed that you must have the “cheese” or Lailia on your pizza rather than the minor flavors for instance: pepperoni, bacon, and ham. Laila is the overall hero of the novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” because, she was able to obtain a great amount of knowledge, she had little to no fears, and she was an amazing mother for her two