ipl-logo

How Is Mariam Portrayed In A Thousand Splendid Suns

761 Words4 Pages

A Thousand Splendid Suns Essay
The novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, depicts the hardships and suffering women in Afghanistan are forced to face everyday. Throughout her life, Mariam dealt with many struggles, yet, she was able to endure all the pain and eventually found happiness. The beginning and end of her troubles were represented by legal documents Mariam signed. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam’s action of signing her name on a legal document signifies death, both literally and figuratively, while also representing Mariam’s growth as a character from the beginning to the end of the novel. This is shown through Khaled Hosseini’s use of symbolism.
The first time Mariam signed her name on a legal contract was when she married Rasheed. …show more content…

At the trial, Mariam admitted to her crime and while the judge didn’t not believe Mariam was a wicked woman, he still believed Mariam had to pay for her actions. As a result, Mariam was sentenced death. To make her guilty plea official, Mariam had to sign a legal document in the presence of a mullah, just as she did when she signed her marriage contract years back. “As the Taliban watched, Mariam wrote it out, her name- the meem, the reh, the yah, and the meem- remembering the last time she’d signed her name to a document, twenty- seven years before, at Jalil’s table, beneath the watchful gaze of another mullah (pg. 366).” This time, the literal meaning of the document was a legal documentation of Mariam’s death. Symbolically, Mariam’s signature represented her life that she was surrendering in order to protect her loved ones. Once again, Mariam made her own life changing decision in which she had to make sacrifices. The first time Mariam signed a document, she freed herself from Jalil, whereas the second time, she freed herself from Rasheed by standing up to him. In addition to this, Mariam’s growth is shown through signing the document because her reasons for the signing the wedding contract were for herself, while this time, Mariam reasons are for the benefit of others. This shows that Mariam has grown more loving, compassionate, and confident towards the end of her life because she

Show More
Related

Similarities Between Mariam And Laila In A Thousand Splendid Suns

776 Words | 4 Pages

Mariam is introduced to Rasheed shortly after Mariam had moved in with her father. Mariam had no interest in marrying Rasheed and was deeply disturbed. Mariam reveals this when she says to her father, “I don't want this. Don't make me” (Mariam 47). After expressing to her father that she didn't want to have to marry Rasheed he still continued to force Mariam into the marriage.

Read More

Bless Me Ultima Gender Roles Essay

414 Words | 2 Pages

Her sphere and focus go no further than the family home, and she appears to be satisfied with her role as a wife andmother and is not much of a use outside the family home. For Antonio, Maria's role has always been that of keeping the family functioning; he remarks that she most often appears in the hears of our home.. (her) ketichen. She is easily labeles as a powerless wife, given that her usual responses to family crises is to retreat to a room in prayer. Antonio himself describes her as a "devout catholic" and a woman who believed that "the salvation of the soul was rooted in the Holy Mother Church" One would say that she was a faithful and loving housewife despite the contradictory behavior of her husband; she is powerless when it comes to family arguments, choosing to flee the scene and to pray ahaihfklalkj. As a housewife, she is constantly around Antonio, causing different aspects of her personality to influence his beliefs of growing up, especially the thought of how "it was a sin to grow up and be a man ….

Read More

Injustice In A Thousand Splendid Suns Essay

433 Words | 2 Pages

Rasheed treated Mariam as property instead of an actual spouse. Mariam had no voice of her own, Rasheed controlled every aspect of her life, from what she wore to where she went. Mariam could not carry out a pregnancy causing Rasheed to build anger against Mariam, this led Rasheed to lash out and abuse her. Mariam dealt with endless beatings from Rasheed, over the simplest mistakes, because she was too afraid to stand up for herself or leave Rasheed. “It wasn’t easy tolerating him talking this way to her, to bear his scorn, his ridicule, his insults, his walking past her like she was nothing but a house cat.

Read More

Maya Angelou Obstacles

740 Words | 3 Pages

She asks her readers to rise above their defeats, to not allow anyone to stop their dreams. In demonstrating how she succeeded she has been a role model for women of all cultures and races. The “Phenomenal Women” poem is a celebration

Read More

Mariam As A Christ Figure In A Thousand Splendid Suns

690 Words | 3 Pages

Hosseini gives Mariam many Christ-like qualities in the novel like forgiveness. Like Jesus, Mariam shows forgiveness in the novel towards Jalil when she reflects “he’d not been a good father, it was true, but how ordinary his faults seemed now, how forgivable, when compared to Rasheed’s malice” (309). Mariam reveals that she knows Jalil has faults and that they seem easily forgivable compared to the

Read More

A Thousand Splendid Suns Relationship Analysis

227 Words | 1 Pages

The motif of Relationships is prominent throughout The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini uses relationships to develop characters and move plot. “I was Sunni and he was Shia’a” Hosseini continues to use character opposites to express diversity in successful relationships. He does this to emphasize how different ideologies can coexist. This is inspired by his life in Afghanistan living under the Soviets, then moving to the US where people from all races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds live together.

Read More

Mistreatment Of Women In A Thousand Splendid Suns Essay

1495 Words | 6 Pages

In Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns , Nana tells Mariam that a man always finds a way to blame a woman. This mistreatment of women is depicted in the novel by utilizing multiple examples. Throughout the novel, men were able to use women as scapegoats in the Afghani society that deemed women as unequal to men.

Read More

Theme Of Motherhood In A Thousand Splendid Suns

727 Words | 3 Pages

Mariam’s character as being playful to Aziza and Zalmai shows that she is like a mother to them on the grounds that she played with them to bring about

Read More

Motherly Sacrifice In A Thousand Splendid Suns

775 Words | 4 Pages

The Significance of Motherly Sacrifice Many people take the sacrifices that parents make for them for granted. Specifically, many mothers give up important aspects of their lives for their children. Khaled Hosseini, author of A Thousand Splendid Suns demonstrates the significance of motherly sacrifice in several different ways through Nana, Laila, and Mariam.

Read More

Rasheed In A Thousand Splendid Suns

861 Words | 4 Pages

The character of Rasheed is an epitome of the male dominated Afghan society. He is an unsympathetic patriarch who treats his wives as pieces of property. He exercises his power over them and uses them for the satisfaction of his physical needs. In the beginning after marrying Mariam, Rasheed treats her well. He takes her out to show around the City of Kabul and also buys a beautiful shawl for her.

Read More

What Is Mariam's Relationship In A Thousand Splendid Suns

680 Words | 3 Pages

She finds herself unwelcome in his home and she is locked away by Jalil’s wives. Once again Mariam is living in home where she is unloved, unwanted and more of a burden than a member of the family. They soon find Mariam a suitor and she is once again passed to another home, destroying any trust she has developed for Jalil and his family. At first, Mariam is happy, thinking her arranged marriage is a good thing, She even conceives a child with her husband, Rasheed.

Read More

Education In A Thousand Splendid Suns

1130 Words | 5 Pages

Mariam longed to place a ruler on a page and draw important-looking lines”(Hosseini ). Mariam is an example of how women are banned from an education and whose life could have been changed by education. Instead of being educated, she is sheltered by her mother and lives the rest of her life without high expectations of herself. Nana teaches her that an Afghan woman has to endure the life that is chosen for her because she does not have a say. Nana even 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.

Read More

Compare And Contrast Mariam's Relationship With Her Mother In A Thousand Splendid Suns

1317 Words | 6 Pages

Mariam is raised by an angry and bitter mother and an absentee father who only visits her occasionally. Her relationship with the two is quite different. Her absentee father makes her feel special and she enjoys every moment they spend together, always looking

Read More

Mariam's Short Story Titled, Questions And Answers

1217 Words | 5 Pages

While Rasheed rapes her, Mariam shows signs of pain and anguish. Her clenched hands and gritted teeth convey she dislikes of Rasheed’s actions. Even though she physically displaying signs of refusal, she is doesn’t take any action to stop her rape. No protesting remarks are spoken, and no physical action are taken. Mariam simply allows her rape to happens, feeling powerless against Rasheed.

Read More

Theme Of Sacrifice In A Thousand Splendid Suns

732 Words | 3 Pages

“But in Rasheed’s eyes she saw murder for them both. And so Mariam raised the shovel high, raised it as high as she could, arching it so it touched the small of her back.” (349). This quote was the moment before Mariam’s life would end, she killed Rasheed to save the people she loved which was Laila, Aziza, and Zalmai. But, Mariam’s action would have conscious she knew that she would have to admit to the police.

Read More

More about How Is Mariam Portrayed In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Related Topics

Open Document