A Thousand Splendid Suns: Gender And Identity

Gender and identity play a pivotal role throughout both Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. They are the key basis of the novels where both depict the powerlessness and struggles of women: In Sense and Sensibility it is through having to conceal their true selves in order to achieve societal acceptance whereas, in A Thousand Splendid Suns it is through subservience and abuse. There is a huge imbalance of power between women and men causing women to practically be slaves to humankind. They have no rights thus stripping away their identity and leaving them as the sufferers of society.

Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns uses the dual point of view of Mariam and Laila in order to portray the extreme gender

At first, Willoughby is described as a lovely and dashing young man who wins Marianne Dashwood's heart. But as the novel goes on, it becomes obvious that Willoughby has erratic affections and that his motivations are anything but noble.”I endeavoured, by every means in my power, to make myself pleasing to her, without any design of returning her affection..” In the end, he deserts Marianne in favour of a wealthy heiress, leaving her crushed and heartbroken. Austen illustrates through Willoughby's actions how men of his era may use their charm and attractiveness to manipulate and deceive women, leading them on and then abandoning them for their own selfish benefit. Willoughbuy’s emotional abuse towards Marianne is a clear example of how women are taken advantage of and mistreated and this is also seen through the character of Rasheed in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Rasheed is presented to be a pure product of the men in his society where he uses his power, the one thing women do not have in order to abuse both Mariam and Laila. This begins with Mariam’s forced marriage to Rasheed where she was only fifteen and he was forty though despite the massive age gap she had no say whether she wanted this marriage or not. Rasheed dehumanises Mariam where he treats

Colonel Brandon's actions are contrasted with those of Willoughby where Colonel Brandon’s actions are selfless and honourable compared to Willoughby whose actions are purely selfish and deplorable. Page 39, presents Willougby’s cruelty towards Colonel Brandon where he speaks ill of him saying “Brandon is the kind of man ... whom everybody speaks well of and nobody cares about.” Willougby’s cruelty here presents his ill character and perhaps also his jealousy towards Colonel Brandon who is seemingly seen as more righteous compared to Willoughby. Colonel Brandon being one of the only moral people in a selfish and cruel society similar to Hakim in A Thousand Splendid Suns depicts how there’s always a minority who do not believe in society’s ways and wishes more for those who suffer from it, “There is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.” He also wishes to see women thrive outside of societal expectations and expresses his disappointment to see some people conform to the norms rather than go against them. His infatuation with Marianne is understandable considering she is one of the rare exceptions of society where she forms her own identity rather than following along with the one society expects her to take, “Marianne Dashwood was born to an