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The Meaning Of Mariam In 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'

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Recommended: Literary analysis of A Thousand Splendid Suns

Rory Kopelson
Larson
English 10
24, April 2023
The Upbringing of Mariam A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel that takes place in Afghanistan from the 1960s to the 2000s. It illustrates the warring that the Afghans experience through the perspective of Mariam, a woman, born of illegitimate status, and sold into marriage at a young age. As well as Laila, a girl who has a loving father, and is also forced into marriage after her family has been bombed during the warring. The companionship and relations between the characters in the novel weaved the overall meaning of A Thousand Splendid Suns by showing the connections between the characters under the unfortunate circumstances in Afghanistan. Mariam’s terribly toxic childhood has a notable impact on Mariams sense of self and her relationship with others, overall leading to the tremendous impact she has on the storyline of A Thousand Splendid Suns. …show more content…

Four year old Mariam is verbally abused by her mother, calling her a “A clumsy little harami,” and a disgrace to her family bloodline (Hosseini 4). Harami, in this context’s meaning is bastard, but it marks a child with a sin of being born, and an embarrassment to everyone else. This is a word that would haunt Mariam because she is seen as a plague to her families honor. Her toxic mother, Nana would constantly remind Mariam of this, and how Mariam is the reason Nana’s life turns to hell. Nana fills Mariam’s ears with lies and deceit about her father as well whom Mariam adored, saying that he didn't love her or care about her. She claims he wants her to “Live removed, detached,” from the rest of society (Hosseini 8). These toxic traits from Nana severely impacts Mariam’s relationship who became detached from her mother, and develops some of the same toxic traits as seen with her original interactions with Laila. This impacts the story because it causes Mariam to distrust the rest of the

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Laila states, "I wanted to escape, to leave behind the only world I had ever known". Mariam goes further by killing Rasheed, her oppressive husband, as she states "I did it for myself. And for you, too", The technique of irony is used here, as the reader knows that Mariam is not only referring to her own death but also to the death of her abusive husband, Rasheed. This creates a sense of tension and anticipation in the reader as they wait to see how Mariam will carry out her plan and how the other characters will react. Furthermore, the impact of this quote on the reader is significant as it represents a pivotal moment in the story.

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(Illegitimate child) In Afghanistan, being a harami, people treated Mariam differently and unfairly. She had to persevere through this her whole life and even to her death towards the end of the book, it is still one of the key personality traits of Mariam. “The years had not been kind to Mariam. But perhaps, she thought, kinder years were waiting still.

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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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Though the audience does not learn much about Nana’s ideology, it can be seen that she is less progressive than Laila’s family since she believes Mariam should not go to school: “What’s the sense in schooling a girl like you? It’s like shining a spittoon. And you’ll learn nothing of value in those schools” (Hosseini 18). Nana wears a hijab when Jalil visits and Mariam also wears one when she visits Herat for the first time, something that Laila never does; she is even forbidden to wear one in school. Unlike Mariam’s mother, Laila’s father values education above everything for Laila.

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