Discussion Topic C

To be brought up as a child in a humble environment, one must be accustomed to the shortening of wealth and the oppression shown from the upper class. But for the character Mariam, in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, the obstacles in life seemed nearly unsurpassable. She was raised by her mother, Nana, in a shed on the outskirts of a town, away from others. Her father Jalil, a well-known and extremely wealthy man, only visited her from time to time but never really much involved her into his life. She had to live with this split home burden, being known in society as a ‘harami’ or bastard-child. After loosing her mother in a cruel turn of events, her father marries her off to Rasheed, one of his friends. Her corrupted childhood from then on builds onto the structural backbone of the novel. Being socially looked down upon as a child, she was taught to endure. When she goes and lives with Rasheed, she endures years of physical and social mistreatment, things that she had already experienced as a child. The more time Mariam spends with Rasheed, the more suffering and beatings she has to encounter. And when Rasheed marries another women, she is set aside once again. Her life has been built around total despair and suffrage, with only one word of advice, endure. But when Laila, Rasheed’s second wife, and Mariam confront Rasheed during one of his out lashes, Mariam has a surge of her bottled emotions. Of all the years she has encountered oppression and beatings, she has a feeling of freedom and she blows away Rasheed’s life with the strike of a shovel. Even though Mariam never would have gained the strength to fight Rasheed if she had not gained confidence and love from Laila, all of the prior experiences Mariam had led her to act in the most confident and superior way towards Rasheed in the climax of the novel. She went along with all the beatings Rasheed served her until her ultimate trial of life, where she finally stands up for her life, ending not only the life of the oppressor Rasheed, but also ending the novel in a bittersweet way, as she is executed for her slaying of her husband. Nonetheless, the novel is built on the way Mariam struggles until she finds the freedom she pleaded and deserved.

Discussion Topic B

In the heart wrenching novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, Hosseini using literary elements such as diction and imagery to acquaint his readers with the plight of the women in Afghanistan, who endure hardships of life and suffer in the hands of men. Each passing day is an ordeal for these women.  According to the Afghan society, men are allowed to have complete power of their wives and then, the Taliban makes it law.  Throughout the novel, Hosseini emphasizes the fact that women in Afghanistan are treated filth for something they cannot control through the use of diction. Both Mariam and Laila are perfect examples of how women in Afghanistan are treated.  They are reminded that “like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman.” This meaning that there is no exception to this rule, women will always be blamed even if a man is truly at fault. In other words, Mariam’s mother implies that men cant be trusted. Hosseini uses this quote to show the relationship between the men and women. The women are looked down on and blame the men for their unhappiness. 

Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny—"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"—is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.  In the whole novel, the Taliban is held responsible for enforces this unequality between the men and women. Hosseini uses rules and laws such as telling them, “stay inside your home at all times. . . If you go outside, you must be accompanied by a mahram, a male relative. If you are caught alone on the street, you will be beaten and sent home.  The imagery in this quote shows the struggle these women endured. The control they assert over women's conduct and liberties is "only" an extreme form of what we have already seen, transferring completely to the public sphere what has been considered acceptable already in the household namely, the horrors inflicted on women by men who cannot, or will not, be held accountable. Hosseini expresses the needs to be an equal balance of men and women in power because of the different qualities they possess. The society in Afghanistan makes it hard for the women to grab control of their lives.