Women In A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns Essay What horrors and struggles did the women living in Afghanistan during a time of continuous fighting have to endure? In the historical fiction novel A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini, readers are able to understand the harsh oppression women faced. Mentioning times like the rule of the Taliban, and using characters like Laila and Mariam, he is able to show examples of life as a woman and the need for hope. Through his use of setting, characterization, and symbolism, Hosseini develops the theme of how important hope and endurance is when facing the effects of war and the unjust gender inequality of women, because it helped people persevere and continue forwards. Hosseini is able to use setting

Hosseini uses the characterization of Rasheed to highlight what type of treatment was normalized. “We need to legitimize this situation… people will talk. It looks dishonorable, an unmarried young woman living here. It’s bad for my reputation”(214). Not only does this show how manipulative and controlling Rasheed was in the relationship he had with Mariam, it also showed how society viewed women more as objects rather than human beings. Not only did Mariam feel helpless in this situation, she also felt as though she had lost someone who was considered “her’s”. Through the years she has been drained out by Rasheed’s mistreatment to the point where she “dreaded the sound of him going home in the evening… these were the sounds that set her heart racing… there was always something, some minor thing that would infuriate him” (99). Rasheed would constantly abuse and torture Mariam, taking out any anger onto her and always trying to find ways to humiliate her. Readers get to observe the change in Rasheed’s attitude not only towards Mariam, but also towards Laila when both fail to provide him a son. With Mariam, anything begins to set him off, even causing him to force “ cold, hard pebbles” (104) into her mouth, and ridiculing Laila’s appearance, becoming cold and beginning to hit her as well. He beats and starves his wives, yet he still considers himself a hero, asking “do you know how lucky you two are to have a man who’s not afraid of shaitan himself?”(254). Using fear, knowing Laila and Mariam have nowhere else to go, to make himself look better, hiding the terrors he puts them