Thousand Splendid Suns

The endless endurance of Mariam and Laila

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is an outstanding narrative of about thirty years of the Afgahanistan history. It is an in-depth story of how families come together, friendship is formed, faith lingers and how true love comes to the rescue. According to Silima (2013:456) the novel describes the struggle of two women, Mariam and Laila, to escape insubordination imposed upon them by the society and culture of Afghanistan. She goes on to further say that, it shows how these women are caught in the net of different political factions and cultural standards and how the clashes between them have devastating effects on their lives (Silima, 2013:456). This essay aims to demonstrate on how social,

It is known that throughout history, women across the world, including South Africa, have fought for gender equality and for those who are within this struggle are considered to be feminists. Women in Afghanistan have been going through gender equity in its severe form since ages (Singh,2013). Hosseini’s novel aims to draw out the troubles of women living in Afghanistan. The issue of feminism and gender equity has been brought out through the characters of Mariam and Laila (Singh,2013). The novel derives its title from a poem written about Kabul by the seventeenth century poet “Saib-e-Tabrizi” (Philip, 2016:793). It covers decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny seen from the perspectives of these two women. Hosseini uncovers the cultural, political, religious and social structures of Afghanistan in degrading and devaluing of their

She witnessing Rasheed in the act of strangling Laila into unconsciousness, putting her in the position to try and protect her co-sister. Mariam steadied her feet and tightened her grip around the shovel’s handle. She raised it. She said his name. She wanted to see him... Mariam swung. She hit him across the temple. The block knocked him off Laila (Hosseini, 2007: 340). A pure act of long-term abuse. Not only was she protecting herself but she was protecting Laila and the children too. According to Philip (2013: 799) that is for the first time that she decides the course of her own life. As these two women have finally overcome their social differences, they join forces to free themselves from Rasheeed’s own brand of dictatorship (Philip, 2013: