Jalil In A Thousand Splendid Suns

The way a person treats others is greatly affected by how they think other people will treat them. If positive treatment of others results give a positive result to the person they will continue to treat others positively. If the result of negative treatment is positive or neutral the chances of the person treating others negatively are higher. The person in A Thousand Splendid Suns, whose actions toward others are dependent on how they will be treated is Jalil. Jalil is an emotionally disconnected person. This affects Jalil's relationships with the people in his life because he can only think about their impact on his reputation. He does not think about how people in his life feel. Jalil wants to care for his daughter but his fear of her

Jalil is relatively successful, owning a movie theater. Jalil is not ashamed of his wives and their children. He provides them with what seems to be a large comfortable house to live in. After Mariam's mother dies Jalil takes her into his house. He gives her room. Even though she is living with him, Mariam chooses to not eat with Jalil and the rest of his family. She spends most of her time in her room by herself. “‘You could eat downstairs with the rest of us,’ he said, but without much conviction. He understood a little too readily when Mariam said she preferred to eat alone.”(Hosseini 40). This shows that Jalil is trying to care about Mariam. This quote shows that he is not caring about her because he loves her but because he feels that it is his responsibility to physically care for her. He is not excited at the idea of Mariam coming down to eat with them. This shows us that he still cares about what his Wives and legitimate children think about him. The reason why Jalil is able to bring Mariam into his house is that her mom just died. This shows that Jalil is more ashamed of Mariam’s mom than Mariam. Jalil's wives are his main concerns. So now that his mistress is out of the picture he feels better about having Mariam in his

He realizes too late that the solution to his problems is not money but his actions. Before Mariam's mother's death, Jalil brings her gifts. Most of her gifts are not the cheapest. Jalil gives her these gifts as a solution to all the problems around Mariam. “He fished a small box from his pocket and gave it to her. He did this from time to time, a choker with lapis lazuli beads another. That day, Mariam opened the box and found a leaf-shaped pendant, tiny coins etched with moons and stars hanging from it.”(Hosseini 49). This shows us that Jalil must feel bad about Mariam's condition. He wants Mariam to see him as a great guy, not as the one who caused all of her problems. He still cares more about his reputation than his relationship with Mariam. One of Jalil's main goals is to not have any problems. After he loses his wealth to the communist takeover he has to find a better way to solve his problems. Many years after Jalil marries Mariam to Rasheed he realizes he does not have much longer to live. This causes him to write an apology letter to Mariam. This letter is one big apology for everything that he has done. Laila and Tariq are going back to Kabul. On their way back Laila is given a box with a letter from Jalil to Mariam inside. The letter is an apology letter to Mariam. “I regret that I did not make you a daughter to me, that I let you live in that place for all those years. And for what? Fear