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The Thousand Splendid Suns Character Analysis

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Manpreet Multani Ms. Gonsalves ENG3U 27 April 2017 Character development: Relationships Relationships are everywhere and thousands of women are abused everyday around the world in those relationships. This abuse can be physical, verbal, or psychological. In the novel The Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, character development of the two protagonists is shown through the different relationships they have. However, Mariam’s experiences within her relationships make her undergo a negative change of self, Laila undergoes both a negative and positive change of self through the experiences within her relationship. The parental relationships of both the protagonists helps them to develop their character. The relationship of the …show more content…

Mariam’s relationship with Rasheed in the beginning is seen as a good relationship. Rasheed brought Mariam a silk shawl. This shawl Mariam saw was a true gift. “It’s beautiful” she said. These lines demonstrate that how Rasheed makes Mariam feel special by gifting her a shawl. And to Mariam it is a true gift. Also for her it is not just a gift but tells her that someone really cares about her which helps her in developing her relationship with Rasheed. Similarly, Laila’s relationship with Rasheed in the beginning can be described as a warm and comfortable relationship. Rasheed said, “You on the other would be a Benz. A brand new, first class, shiny Benz. One must take certain care…as matter of respect for its beautiful craftsmanship you see”. This quote demonstrates that Rasheed treats Laila with respect. He compares her to a Benz, so that she can feel special. Telling her that he will take care of her no matter what. Rasheed treats both Laila and Mariam with respect in the beginning when they are newly married. Trying to make them feel comfortable in their relationship with him. This helped both the protagonists to undergo a positive change as they have went through so much and now someone is making them feel so special. Besides their good relationship, both the protagonists with Rasheed can also be seen in an abusive relationship. Mariam’s relationship with Rasheed is shown as an insulting relationship later in the novel. Rasheed forces Mariam to chew the pebbles. He said, “Now you know what your rice tastes like. Now you know what you’ve given me in this marriage. Bad food and nothing else” (pg.104). This quote demonstrates that until Rasheed is getting what he wants, he does not say anything to Mariam but when he does not gets what he wants he insults her. Laila’s relationship with Rasheed later in the novel

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Foreshadowing reveals that Mariam’s life will ultimately be miserable. Specifically, in Chapter 8, the author describes Rasheed’s fingernails as “...yellow-brown, like the inside of a rotting apple, and some of the tips were curling, lifting” (Hosseini 49). The looks of Rasheed’s fingernails foreshadows how his attitude and relationship with Mariam may “rot” and decay in the future. Additionally, in Chapter 8, the author talks about how Rasheed was forceful with Mariam’s wedding band. Hosseini says, “Her own band was a little tight, but Rasheed had no trouble forcing it over her knuckles” (Hosseini 49).

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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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Mariam sacrifices her freedom for Jalil by marrying Rasheed. In the novel, when the wives told Mariam they found a suitor for her, she tells Jalil to say something and he says “‘Mariam don’t do this to me’”(49). Even though Mariam did not want to marry Rasheed, she knew Jalil wanted her to and so she did, forever surrendering her freedom to him. Marrying Rasheed deprived Mariam of her freedom because when Rasheed tells Mariam “‘a woman’s face is her husband’s business only’”(70), it indicates that she is his and he controls her.

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One night when Mariam was constantly awaken by the scorching heat she went downstairs to drink a glass of water and she noticed Aziza lying awake beside Laila on the floor. Mariam immediately noticed that the little girl was “dressed like a damn boy” (243). A few days later Laila “found a stack of baby clothes, neatly folded, outside her bedroom door” (247). Laila knew that Mariam had generously given these clothes to her for the reason that Mariam knew that Rasheed was not going to buy any for her, and since Aziza was the first person to love Mariam “so undeservedly” (252) Mariam felt a connection between both of them. This interaction causes Mariam and Laila to come closer together also, and therefore the drinking of “chai” (251) became a “nightly ritual” (251).

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When Laila’s parents were killed and she was injured, Mariam took her in and sacrificed her time and space in order to take care of Laila (199). Mariam didn’t have kids of her own, yet took care of Laila as if she were her own daughter. She cared enough for the young girl’s well being to take her in and show her kindness. When Rasheed is about to kill Laila, Mariam hits Rasheed with a shovel so hard that it kills him (349). She viewed Laila as her own daughter, and she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her daughter.

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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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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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Rasheed treats her lovingly and assures her that she will get whatever she needs. He says, “anything you need done just ask Mariam and she will do it for you.” “And if you fancy anything, I will get it for you” (Hosseini, 2007, p.

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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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“But in Rasheed’s eyes she saw murder for them both. And so Mariam raised the shovel high, raised it as high as she could, arching it so it touched the small of her back.” (349). This quote was the moment before Mariam’s life would end, she killed Rasheed to save the people she loved which was Laila, Aziza, and Zalmai. But, Mariam’s action would have conscious she knew that she would have to admit to the police.

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