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Stereotypes In John Steinbeck's A Thousand Splendid Suns

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Furthermore the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns gives people a way to see that not every woman in Afghanistan fits America’s stereotypical view of an Afghan woman. Not only that, but the book describes how speaking out allows one to break the single story. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila are constantly facing the challenges of the Islamic social construction and ideology for women. Mariam came from a poor family and her Nana strongly believed in suppressive roles of women in society. She believed that women should stay at home and do the cooking and cleaning. She did not think it was important for women to go to school; to her the only important thing was marriage and following a mans orders. Because of this belief, Mariam never went to school and was …show more content…

In particular, when Laila decides to go walk to visit her sister, she does it without the supervision of a male and puts herself in danger of the Taliban. By doing this she is fighting against the stereotype that women in Afghanistan are oppressed and showing her voice that women are independent, even with the simplest of things like walking alone. Laila fights with him and the social construction because she does not believe in the social standards for women; thereby breaking down the single story many Americans have placed on Afghan women. Unlike Mariam, who for the whole book never speaks out against Rasheed, even after he treats her like she is worthless. For instance, one night Mariam had undercooked the rice that she was serving to Rasheed; Rasheed was so furious with her that he forced her to chew pebbles. He clamped her jaw down and forced her to eat them, breaking many of her teeth. This abusive punishment not only represents Mariam’s oppression by Rasheed, it also represents the idea that she was physically not able to speak out and stop him from hurting her. This scenario allows the single story to be reinforced because Mariam was not able to speak out and stop Rasheed from subjugating

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Mariam was just something else on earth that was in his way. This proves what Nana said in chapter 2 to be right. That she and Mariam were nothing but a mug wort, they were just ripped out and thrown aside, made unnoticeable to anyone because it looked

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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.

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In the novel Mariam sacrifices her life for Laila and also her freedom for Jalil. Like Jesus, Mariam willingly sacrificed herself and when she descended from the truck to be killed, her “legs did not buckle. Her arms did not flail. She did not have to be dragged. ”(369).

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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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Rasheed however asks her to wear a burqa before going out. He makes it very clear to Mariam and later on to Laila, that a “woman 's face is her husband 's business only”. However when Mariam fails to bear a child, after several miscarriages, Rasheed begins to torture her both physically and mentally. Rasheed also becomes cross on Laila when she gives birth to a girl child. Later on Laila gives birth to a boy, but this does not improve her status in front of Rasheed.

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Nevertheless, Mariam is not a fallen warrior but a victor. Contrasting from Nana, Mariam fought her battle with resistance rather than endurance. She broke free of the oppressive culture and realized her self-worth in the end. Fariba is one of first non-submissive females of the novel and was portrayed as the woman with a progressive mindset.

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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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Khaled Hosseini not only shows the discrimination of minority groups but introduces the notion that people will discriminate not based on their personal views but upon which they believe as their role in society. In Afghanistan culture “Nang and namoos” defined as "pride" and "honor or dignity" is incredibly valued in the culture with people outwardly going out of their way to maintain their reputation. However, in his two novels Khaled Hosseini presents the idea that this pride inevitably leads to the discrimination of another. This is demonstrated In a Thousand Splendid Suns by the characters Jalil and Rasheed due to the way they treat those closest to them. For instance, Jalil ousts Nana outside of his home upon receiving news that she is expecting his illegitimate child.

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Rasheed blames Mariam many times such as her inability to become pregnant and for her bad cooking. It’s not her fault that she can’t have a baby and she tries to make good food for her husband but it could an excuse to hit or abuse her. When Rasheed is angry about this, he takes his anger on Mariam by beating her or such as forcing her to try to chew on rocks.

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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

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In regards to the historiography of gender politics in the Victorian era, the social position of women and femininity had become a problematic issue. Similarly, the gender apartheid instilled prior to the civil war in Afghanistan. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, initially published in 2007, is set in Afghanistan from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. In this, it explores the story of Mariam and Laila as the protagonists, who teach the reader the reality of life as a woman in a backward Islamic country. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny seen from the perspectives of these two women and observes how they become to create a bond, despite having come from previously living in very different backgrounds.

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Abstract women have been living very miserable lives throughout the history somewhere because of gender differences and somewhere base on lame excuses of religion. They do not have equal rights, freedom, opportunities as men and have been suffering gender-based violence perpetuated towards them in the male dominated society. Afghan women show great strength and resistance in the face of adverse circumstances. They have developed traumatic problems and in reaction to their problems, they have grown very resilience to the Afghan tradition and men harsh treatment. The research entitled “Trauma and Resistance of Afghan Women: A Critical Study of Khaled Hosseini’s Novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, was intended to critically analyze the novel to explore trauma and resistance of Afghan women.

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The Kite Runner is a book written as fiction yet possibly read as reality; some readers might even question the veracity of the events narrated throughout the story before realizing its categorization as a novel. This comes exclusively due to the story’s evident partial factual basis, even when said facts only reside in the Afghan and American history cited in the book. But how different can readers truly interpret the text? Knowledge of the novel’s internal and external context can help a reader understand more about the book, and hence possibly even find new hidden meaning in passages that were before just fiction; however, the writer’s understanding of his readers might also help him guide said audience towards a specific message. Is the

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He [shoves] two fingers into her mouth and [pries] it open, then [forces] the cold, hard pebbles pushing into it…. Mariam chewed” (Hosseini 104). This is the beginning of the cycle of abuse for Mariam, as she begins to realize her unfortunate position in her marriage. She begins to finally understand Nana’s saying of “a man’s accusing finger always finds a women”, as Rasheed considers her a burden due to her failing attempts of starting a family with him (Hosseini 7). Her acceptance is evident when she chews the pebbles.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns’ was written by an Afghan American writer, Khaled Hosseini. The novel narrates the strength and resilience of two women who endure physical and psychological cruelty in an anti-feminist society. It also demonstrates how The Taliban uses fear and violence to control the people of Afghanistan, particularly females. Throughout this story the novel exposes the way customs and laws endorse Rasheed’s violent misogyny and it tells the tale of two women who endure a marriage to a ruthless and brutal man, whose behaviour forces them to kill him. The protagonist Mariam is a poor villager who lives in a remote area in Afghanistan, in contrast to Laila who is a smart, educated daughter of a schoolteacher.

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