A Thousand Splendid Suns Relationships

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, through the pivotal moments of an arranged marriage, the resentfulness of Laila, and the plan to escape for a better life, Mariam develops from being a young quiet, keeps to herself person to a strong and brave woman who isn’t afraid to stand up for what is right, revealing the theme that one’s relationships with others, shape you as the person you are as well as helps you grow both mentally as well as physically. At the beginning of the book, the reader learns that Mariam is a quiet young girl, who keeps to herself. Who also lives with her grandmother “Nana.” Though that experience was a lot for Mariam to handle, that by far wasn’t the biggest moment of her not-so-amazing childhood. When Mariam was a young teen, around age 15, her father Jalil arranged a marriage for Mariam to marry a man in a different city named Rasheed. This happened without her consent of course. This moment drastically changed Mariam and Jalil’s relationship but not in a good way. Mariam had lost

She obeys Rasheed’s rules and does as she is told. That is at least until Laila comes into the picture. Laila is a young female who Rasheed brings home after “rescuing” her from a pile of rubble. Right away Mariam became nothing other than furious and had much resentfulness towards Laila. Mariam did not approve of another woman coming into her home, as well as stealing her husband. Later on, she gets jealous too, due to the fact that Laila was able to get pregnant but she couldn’t and that was her lifelong dream; to be a mom. On page 226, Mariam says to Laila, “I wouldn’t have fed you and washed you and nursed you if I’d known you were going to turn around and steal my husband.” This contributes to the theme because it shows how Mariam and Laila’s initial first impressions of each other don’t only affect their relationship now but also their future of