Oppression In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Kevin Dickey

Ms. Eichler

English

16 June 2018

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, follows the the lives of two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, from childhood into adulthood. The story shows the hardships both women are going through in their lifetime including oppression in Afghanistan as well as abuse. The women live by enduring what they are going through in order to survive their hardships. Mariam and Laila’s mothers differ from their daughters in the way that they just gave up on life rather than endure the hard times like their daughters. It is first seen that Mariam and Nana don’t see eye to eye when Mariam puts faith into her father showing up to see her, while Nana maintains a bitter attitude

She was brought up with the intent to pursue an education and live up to her full potential. Her father believed, “ a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated,” (114) and he was Laila’s main source of encouragement unlike her mother. Her mother st in bed most days depressed because her two sons were sent off to war. This is the first instance where Laila and her mother differ because her mother cannot endure the pain and hardship that was brought upon her and gives up on doing everything. Laila loses both of her parents when a rocket hits and is injured herself. She is taken in by Rasheed and Mariam. In that time she has to cope with the loss of her family as well as deal with life in this new environment. She too ends up married to Rasheed as he sees this as a moment to take advantage of the vulnerable girl and marry her. Everything started out good, but soon Laila would see the emotional and physical abuse Rasheed delivered to his spouse, “ We are city people you and I...have you told her, Mariam, have you told her you’re a Harami?” (222) “ Laila would soon experience and endure the abuse and oppression of a married

The woman's life was so unbearable, they planned to run away from Rasheed to try to gain some freedom. Unfortunately their plan doesn’t work out and Rasheeda finds out. Rasheed instills discipline on the women and physically abuses and threatens them, “ You try this again and I will find you. I swear on the prophet’s name that I will find you. And when I do, there isn’t a court in this god forsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do. To Mariam first, then to her, and you last. I’ll make you watch. You understand me? I’ll make you watch” (272). Oppression and control is shown to the extreme as Rasheed intimidates his wives with death threats to them and Laila’s child. He mentions the prophet in order to instill the power of religion into the the death threat in order to maintain power over the women. Their mothers did not endure the same lives but they knew what was to come of their society and warned them of the life their children could live. As it seems their daughters were stronger than they were because they had to endure more, it seems they are equally as strong in the way that their mothers had to endure sending their child out into their unfavorable society well aware of what was to come for their children. Unfortunately for Mariam and Laila they did have experience more of the abuse and oppression than their mothers, but with the lessons they were