A Thousand Splendid Suns Oppression Essay

Since even before biblical times, gay, lesbians, and bisexuals have been faced with extreme oppression. Discriminated against by governments, friends, and even their own church, these people had no choice but to hide their true self or either become subject to the immense amounts of hatred from everyone around them. While gays, lesbians, and bisexuals have faced oppression for thousands of years, citizens in Afghanistan are facing severe oppression that is somewhat similar to the gay, lesbian, and bisexual population. These people are accurately represented by the characters in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and by the film Osama. T

Thesis: Three characters in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns and the film Osama. These

The first way Mariam is affected by oppression is emotionally. Throughout the novel, one can see Mariam becoming emotionally tougher. At the beginning of the story Mariam is easily upset but by the end of the story the reader notices that Mariam endures the never ending emotional abuse from Rasheed’s constantly changing moods. Most of this is because of her mom Nana who at the beginning of the novel tells her a lesson about how to live when she 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...Only one skill. And it’s this: tahamul. Endure” (18 Hosseini). Nana teaches her how to endure the constant abuse of women from society which helps her later in the story when she marries Rasheed. Mariam is also affected intellectually. Early in the story, Mariam has Mullah Fazullah speak with Nana to see if Nana will let her attend school but Nana will not allow it. This is because the Afghan government was so oppressive to women that they were not welcomed in schools. Mariam obviously has intellectual potential, but she is not able to learn like she should because of the oppression. These are two ways the oppression in Afghanistan affects