Courage In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Nelson Mandela bests clarified that courage “is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Brainy Quotes). Humans have the attribute of courage within them; what defines someone is if they allow the characteristic to shine or to hide within them. Courage is a very powerful and impactful word that allows people to complete the daily tasks contained within their typical lives and allows them to complete the hard times when they obtain fear. There are numerous ways to define courage to get a better grasp on the understanding of what this powerful and impacting term truly represents. Courage is an essential quality for all humans to complete the necessary tasks

This is primarily portrayed through the rough life of women and the consequences for men in the life of females. Mariam demonstrated courage by walking to Herat, marrying Rasheed, getting pregnant, and going to jail for her friend. She depicts courage by walking to Herat, lacking the knowledge of what to expect or to find: “She walked until her legs were stiff. This time, she did not go back to kolba. She rolled up the legs of her trousers to the knees, crossed the stream, and, for the first time in her life, headed down the hill for Heart” (Hosseini 30). This took great courage to take the actions that Mariam did because typically, people stay with what they know and understand, not taking any chances to lose what they hold dear to themselves. She later finds that her father bluntly lied to her through his chauffeur while she sleeps on the streets. When she goes home, she finds her mother dead. Soon after, she was forced to marry Rasheed, her second act of bravery. Throughout her later life, she tried to get pregnant so many times, however, she could not because she had miscarriages. She is forced to cope with the new knowledge alone, having to bury the children alone in the backyard, time after time: “‘I’ve been thinking, though,’ Mariam said, raising her voice so as to be heard over the music…‘Then you do it,’ he said sharply. ‘I’ve already buried one son. I won’t bury another. Now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to listen’” (Hosseini 96). Her final act of heroism is going to jail to save her friend, Laila, and her two kids, Zalmai, and Aziza. She wanted to save them from getting executed because of the death of Rasheed. Mariam wanted to show her apologies for earlier in life when Laila first came and they showed their hatred for one