A Thousand Splendid Suns Conflict Analysis

Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns narrates the lives of two Afghan women through three generations of war and conflict in Afghanistan. At first glance, the novel appears to be a appalling depiction of the injustice and cruelty towards women in Afghan society. However, Hosseini’s message may be far more hopeful than the novel’s grim atmosphere may suggest. A Thousand Splendid Suns depicts the conflict in Afghanistan through the lens of the country’s oppressed women. Yet, the novel actually breaks western stereotypes of Afghanistan by highlighting acts of resistance and bravery among its female characters.
A Thousand Splendid Suns paints a vivid portrait of Afghanistan through the lives Afghan woman, who despite starkly different backgrounds, …show more content…
The main domestic conflict within the novel is between Mariam and her husband Rasheed. At first, it seems like Mariam is completely submissive and helpless to her circumstances as she does not lift a finger or protest as she is beaten, slapped and punched, But Mariam’s constant hope of a better life is evidence that she has not given up, and is not the stereotypical submissive wife that the reader may be imagining (Akhtar, Rauf, Ikram, Raees). Despite being constantly abused, and betrayed, Mariam never gives up on the hope that she will find a family. As a child, Mariam is verbally abused by her mother, but she finds solace in her father, Jalil’s, weekly visits. Mariam trusts her father more than anyone, until Jalil betrays Mariam by selling her off to Rasheed in marriage. Yet, Mariam remains hopeful that Rasheed will be kind, as “in the early days of her marriage she quickly responds to the attention and praise Rasheed gives her, for ‘It surprised her, this thrill she felt over his small compliment’”(Akhtar, Rauf, Ikram, Raees). Mariam assumes that Rasheed’s gun is for her own safety, though ironically, he will hold the gun to her face just weeks later. Again and again, Mariam hopes that someone will show her the kindness she has never been given, and her optimism shows that a part of her stubbornly refuses to given-in …show more content…
Mariam and Laila are “poles apart in their disposition and conduct” (Akhtar, Rauf, Ikram, Raees). If the novel had been set in Afghanistan in peace, it would have been a “ story of contrasts,” a life of “stark deprivation” for Mariam and a privileged, professional career for Laila ((Akhtar, Rauf, Ikram, Raees). But war drags the two women to the same level, destroying both their families. While Mariam remains passive, Laila refuses to back down, punching Rasheed after he tries to hurt her and ignoring his rules. By contrast, Mariam seems even more submissive until the novel’s climax, when Mariam chooses to kill Rasheed to save Laila’s life. Yet, Mariam does not choose impulsively, but makes a calculated decision to kill her husband, even “making sure sure that Rasheed looks at Mariam in her eyes so that he can acknowledge her action” (Hosseini 253). Even though Laila and Mariam are so different in personality and upbringing, they are both capable of resistance when necessary, which suggests that we are all intrinsically capable of fighting for ourselves and for those we care about (Gordon, Areej). Hosseini’s protagonists are representative of the women of Afghanistan as a whole- despite living through years of oppression and inequality, Mariam and Laila, and by extension, all women of Afghanistan, are neither helpless nor passive,