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A Thousand Splendid Suns Symbolism

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In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, there are many important symbols throughout the story to develop important themes.

The first symbol used in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is the symbol of the burqua. A burqua is “a long, loose garment covering the whole body from head to feet, worn in public by Muslim women”. The burqua in A Thousand Splendid Suns represents the theme of the power men have over women in the country of Afghanistan. Due to the full covering, women also are able to hide their negative emotions about their state in life. Although women are not required to wear a burqua at home with their family, the husband do require them to wear one when they go out into public. Therefore, the women are not able to hide their emotions to their husbands, only to other men. As a result, they feel as though they are trapped.

Another symbol …show more content…

It helps the reader understand the low levels in which women were treated. Rasheed and Mariam take Laila to the hospital to give birth to her son only to find that the hospital doesn't serve women. They are told that only one hospital in the entire city does treat women which ends up being in poor condition.They had no clean water, oxygen, medication or electricity. “The waiting room at Rabia Balkhi was teeming with women in Burqas and their children. The air stank of sweat and unwashed bodies, of feet, urine, cigarette smoke and antiseptic.” This hospital shows us the terrible conditions in which women were forced to cope with and the pain and agony they had to go through. When Laila is required to have a caesarean she has to do it without anaesthetic resulting in her having to go through immense pain. This shows the power of the Taliban and the terrible ways in which women are forced to live. The symbol of hospitals shows the theme of courage because women are forced to go through fear in order to

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