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Human Spirit In A Thousand Splendid Suns

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What is the human spirit, and why is it so important? The human spirit is a person’s ego, mentally and emotionally. Everyone has his or her own personal human spirit. It is the perseverance everyone needs to keep going when the heart tells him or her to stop. Christians state that the human spirit is the “real you”, or the center of a person, the main meaning of their existence. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Tariq demonstrate the power of the human spirit. In A Thousand Splendid Suns one character whose human spirit triumphed above the rest was Mariam. Despite losing her mother and learning her father was ashamed of her, Mariam did not crumble. Also, she tolerated Rasheed’s abuse and remained humble through it all. Even as Rasheed …show more content…

She is the youngest and only daughter of Hakim and Fariba. The lack of both of Laila's older brothers, who have gone off to war, makes her mature for her age and fills her with a common sense with a of purpose. Laila has a strong desire to use her intelligence and common sense to improve the world around her. A few Days later after Tariq flees to Pakistan, a rocket kills Laila's parents and hurts her, and Rasheed and Mariam help get her back healthy. After becoming a mother, Laila puts her children first and finds out that she is willing to accept limitations she once would have mocked. Through her steadily growing friendship with Mariam, Laila not only becomes happy in having a friend and mother figure, but she also begins to understand the sacrifices that are necessary to be a good mother by following Mariam's example. Mariam sacrificed her life to save Lailas. The human spirit is important because it is really the spirit that gives life to the soul and body. The spirit puts the power and truth to the body, so that it works as it is supposed to. If we don’t know of this then we are for sure living below potential. When we start to pay attention to our spirit, then we are beginning to acknowledge that we need help. Help to bring our human spirit higher and lift us up. “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human

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In this chapter, Foster discusses the importance of viewing a story from the perspective of the character. This accounts for fully understanding the character’s background and weighing that with the current occurrences. After taking into account Laila’s familial and religious background along with her new situation with Rasheed, this passage has a lot more weight. In the situation Laila is in right now, she likely feels repressed and alone. Because of this, she confides in her memories with Tariq.

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The injustice Mariam endures in the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, leads Mariam on a struggling journey impacting her future path in life. The injustice that Mariam endures leaves a permanent mark on her life and impacts her from the beginning. Life wasted no time throwing the cruel injustices of life at Mariam. Mariam was marked a harami, otherwise known as a child without a father, even though her father Jalil was alive, near, and well. “She understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing: that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person that would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance.”

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What makes one willing enough to sacrifice her own life for others? How difficult can it be to willingly die for what one believes? What does it take to be a Christ-figure? Khaled Hosseini emphasizes the concept of sacrifice in A Thousand Splendid Suns. In this novel, Hosseini presents Mariam as a Christ-figure through her qualities and sacrifice.

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The 1997 science fiction film ‘Gattaca,’ directed by Andrew Niccol delves into the concept that the human spirit will prevail despite an uncaring fate. Protagonist Vincent Freeman represents powerful notions of perseverance and humanity, and through his victory epitomizes humanity’s triumph over science. Niccol implies that all children deemed Valid do not possess the trait of the human spirit and consequently have no true dreams nor aspirations. Niccol infers that when one knows their predetermined fate, they will not strive to accomplish anything further. When a Valid does not accomplish their predetermined fate they struggle under the burden of perfection.

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(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

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When Mariam unexpectedly killed Rasheed, Laila was terrified by what had happened and Mariam “had Laila lie down, and, as she

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The definition of the human spirit is "sometimes used to refer to the impersonal, universal or higher component of human nature," which Harriet Tubman strived to accomplish. Tubman faced many challenges as she grew up, making her heroic actions even more incredible. Expressing the idea of "the human spirit," Harriet Tubman endured life as a slave, then helped free other slaves, and even contributed in the Civil War. Growing up, Harriet Tubman felt the excruciating life of slavery. Tubman basically began her life living as a slave, due to entering the world with already enslaved parents.

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She knew how much of an abomination killing her husband would be to society, but she loved Laila enough to risk the punishment. Instead of running away from Kabul with Laila, Mariam stayed behind so that Laila would never get in trouble for killing Rasheed. She was then arrested and later shot for murder (371). Mariam sacrificed her own life so that Laila could marry Tariq and live happily and freely with her family. She gave up everything, even her life for those whom she loved, even though they biologically were not her children.

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However, after a long time of struggling against the society and the loss of her two sons in addition to that, her role as an ideal feminist challenger is no longer dominant. Much like Mariam, Laila is a victor. The difference between Mariam and Laila is Laila has been defying the norms of the culture throughout her life, unlike Mariam, who was submissive for the early years of her lifetime. Laila represents a hope for woman in the male dominated culture, as she goes on to escape from her abusive husband, finds happiness, pursues education, and contributes back to the society postwar. The male characters are also notable to observe from the novel because the patriarchal society, as well as for the comparison purpose.

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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.

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The war and prejudice against women in Afghanistan changes everything for Laura. Her parents die in a bombing and she is left to find her way and determine her fate by herself. Just like Mariam, she is married and like fate would have it, as a second wife by Mariam’s husband, Rasheed. Laila however bears two children for Rasheen unlike Mariam who has none and is treated much differently from Mariam. He compares her to a brand new first-class shiny Benz.

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Her husband happens to become Rasheed. He finds Laila unconscious after a bomb went off, dissipating her entire family. Rasheed then takes her in and nurses her back to health. He feels that because he saved her, he should be rewarded, “The way I see it I deserve a medal”. Rasheed later practically forces her to have sex with him.

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Hosseini 104).When Rasheed forces Mariam to eat pebbles, he represents the corrupted person, or vampire, who only perceives his wife as an object that seeks to serve him and his relentless demands. After a while, Rasheed begins to look at Mariam as a burden that needs to be lifted off of his shoulders, so he tortures and abuses her, turning himself into a monster in the process. Furthermore, Rasheed does the same thing to his other wife, Laila, and his daughter. When Laila and Aziza attempt to escape, Rasheed is outraged, so he asserts his power when, “ [He] had not given them any food, and worse, no water. That day, a thick, suffocating heat fell on them.

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“I admit to what I did, brother,” Mariam said, “But, if I hadn’t, he would have killed her. He was strangling her” (P365). This shows that Mariam is willing to take responsibility for her action she knew that there would be conscious, but she also knew that what she did was to save Laila and her children. Mariam’s actions would lead to this moment, “Kneel here, hamshira. And look down.”

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