Violence In A Thousand Splendid Suns

War is different from violence in that it mirrors itself in the society involved; Violence directly affects ones participating. Author Khaled Hosseini sets the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, in Afghanistan during a bloody war with unprecedented amounts of carnage and violence. The savage nature of war leaves any person susceptible to its primal influence. The horrific scenes are not easily forgotten, mentally scarring many from witnessing them. The violence is reflected in dialog and interactions between characters; non-violent characters are forced to participate to save their own lives. Catalyzed by the onset of war, violence seeped into the Afghan culture. It subsequently mirrors its gruesome qualities in the changes concerning characters'

They participate in incidents they normally wouldn’t or become unusually cautious, all because of their fear towards violence. Mariam, the wife of Rasheed, had put up with his torture for years never once retaliating until she was forced to. “Mariam swung. She hit him across the temple…this time she gave it everything she had”(348-349). Rasheed was about to kill someone she cared for, Laila; she had to do something. Mariam wouldn’t have killed Rasheed if he weren’t so violent; His violence forced her to respond with the same, illuminating why she had to kill him. Her fear of Rasheed forced her hand, but even now that she was free of him free of the man that abused her but still chained by the society she lives in Laila, the woman that Mariam saved, similarly changed because of what she had experienced. Laila’s parents were killed in a blast that left a mark on her. She is forever fearful of war because she loves her family and doesn’t want them to get hurt. Her husband, Tariq, believes a new war might be beneficial to the country by forcing the bad men out. Laila disagrees with Tariq about the benefits, scarred that the same thing that happened to her parents will happen to others. “Not so bad? People dying? Woman, children, old people? Homes destroyed again? Not so bad?” (386). The war has changed her because she has been hurt by it and wouldn’t want the same hurt to fall upon others. Laila and Miriam have both been affected by violence and both changed into hardened woman that want no violence or war, proving how a war torn society can change a