Theme Of Family In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Great Essays
Family is an integral theme of the novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, and this concept plays a huge role in the lives of both main characters, Mariam and Laila. Throughout the book, the differences in parenting and the characters themselves are clearly apparent, and it is shown how this affects them. Mariam and Laila’s relationships with their family differ greatly from each other yet both of those relationships influence and prepare these women as they reach adulthood. Mariam lives a sorrow life, with loss, and this same idea follows in her family life as well. Since her childhood, Mariam is belittled by her mother. She is raised to believe she is a harami, a demeaning name for a fatherless child. Mariam’s mother also warns her about her father …show more content…
Mariam’s unfortunate relationship with her father caused her to be emotionless, and taught her to subsist through all negativity in her life without hoping for change. This specific mindset helped her, yet hindered her while she was with Rasheed. For one, Mariam’s strong mentality made it easy for her to detach herself from the man she was forced to marry, and live her life as if she were alone, without depending on anyone. She was more of a lone wolf, and this was mainly because of how she was raised to be. However, Mariam’s upbringing made it difficult for her to feel emotion for others, or allow anyone to get near her on a personal …show more content…
Firstly, Mariam and Laila both had one prime parent in their lives. For Mariam, that person was her mother, who despite her overprotective mannerisms, cared for her greatly, and depended on her so much as to take her own life when Mariam left the Kolba. Jalil might have been present in her life for a time, but for the most part, Mariam stood alongside her mother, and they depended on each other profoundly. Moreover, for Laila, that significant parent was her father. Laila’s mother was not very present in her life due to her grief, so the two women’s lives are comparable in that aspect. Also, these two women’s’ life experiences and family relationships caused them to value their family even more further in the book. Both women implement teachings from their childhood, onto the two children. For example, Laila’s father emphasized the importance of schooling to Laila, and as a result, Laila does the same to her children. Furthermore, because of the women’s realization of the absence of the strong family relationship in their childhood, they both tried to be active in the children’s lives and develop that relationship for themselves. For example, following Aziza’s release into the orphanage, Laila continued to visit her in spite of the grave risk she was taking. This was fueled by her own feelings of her

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    I choose this passage because it evidently shows the unhealthy relationship between Laila and Mammy. At the beginning of the novel it is seen that Fariba is a happy, loving mother but she suddenly changes when her sons leave for war. Although Mammy cares for her daughter she is consumed with her sons departure. Laila is a constant reminder to Mammy of her two sons, as a result Laila is abandoned. Laila is yet very caring and considerate to towards her mother, “ Laila used to sit for hours outside the door.”…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Khaled Hosseini, the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns used a extravagant amount of diverse literary devices to convey the theme of the novel as a whole. He used devices to help the reader get a better understanding for example he used similes, imagery, and personification. With this he was able to show the emotions and actions within characters and how it affected everyone in the end. In the novel he also puts some lines to help show the foreshadowing that is going down throughout the text. Around the commencement of the story he shows that Mariam is distressed in such a way she would do anything to get what she wants.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Syntax In The Kite Runner

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages

    (E) When Babi takes Laila and Tariq to the top of the Bamiyan Buddha, Laila begins to see a different perspective of Afghanistan. She sees a small self-sufficient community, unlike the community of Kabul, which is busy and large. Laila starts to realize that there is so much more out in the world for herself and her family. This incredibly valuable to Laila because she will always remember that there is more that Kabul, there is a more peaceful pace to spend her life in. Babi also recognizes that he could move his family to a beautiful place like this and live a life away for the high anxiety city they inhabit, but Mammy is holding them back, even more than she already would have before the death of her sons.…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini tells the story of two different women, and how the lives of these two women relate and intertwine. Part two of the novel establishes parallels between the two women, and similarities as well as difference between the two characters are established. Mariam and Laila share the same only-child type of upbringing, both women are influenced by their mother’s behavior, and both women look for protection from men. Laila and Mariam grew up in similar situations, though neither of them were truly only children, they grew up in the absence of their siblings. Mariam grew up without her siblings due to the fact that she was an illegitimate child, and was not seen as equal to her half siblings.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1.How does Laila’s life in Murree contrast with her life in Kabul? Laila 's life in Murree is much better than her life in Kabul. She is safer due to the fact that Rasheed is no longer abusing her or her children and is now in the hands Tariq. In Kabul she was forced to things she wasn 't comfortable doing and forced her to keep herself shut. In Pakistan she has the freedom to do things she couldn 't do while she was in Kabul.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Afghan women, as a group, I think their suffering has been equaled by very few other groups in recent world history.” These are the words of the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini. Oppression of women is an offense that is common in the country of Afghanistan. Majority of the women in Afghanistan are illiterate and suffer at the hand of the misogynistic culture. A Thousand Splendid Suns is an amalgamation that reveals the tyrannical treatment and degradation of women in Afghanistan.…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a child Mariam experiences abandonment from her father when she needs him the most causing her a loss of innocence. Mariam goes to visit her father Jalil, to prove to her mother and herself that he loves her; however, when she arrives her father forces her to sleep on the road causing, “Tears of grief, of anger, of disillusionment. But mainly tears of deep, deep shame of how she had foolishly given herself over to Jalil” (Hosseini 35). By abandoning Mariam, as Jalil pretends that he is not at home when Mariam arrives, Mariam loses her innocence as Jalil's behaviour shatters her illusion of him. She endures the hunger, the thirst and the embarrassment, in her desire for his acceptance and love.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the stories “Aria:Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, A Plague of Tics and Once More to the Lake” the families have many similarities on how they react with each other but each family does it differently. The mothers’ involvement in their children’s education was very similar but just in different ways. In dealing with a supportive father it lacks in all families except in “Once More to the Lake.” Another thing the families do but differently is how the sibling unifies.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    They’ll call you a harami.” (Page 13) Nana constantly didn’t treat Mariam right even when it would be for the best. Nana constantly puts all these negative and false ideas into Mariam’s head that were not true. As a result, one day Mariam decides to go visit Jalil to watch a movie he promised her.…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mariam's Burqa Quotes

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    First of all, it is already hard enough for Mariam to go through all the poor event that has happened in her life and it makes it even worse having to be married to a terrible man. She has no escape or freedom. Mariam may not be a joyful person however, Mariam is not malicious person. Throughout all the horrific events that happened to her, she is still a caring person. No one can knock down her spirit and good heart.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Rasheed was feeling a certain type of way about Mariam because “she could see it in the way he looked at her, when he looked at her. She was a burden to him” (Hosseini 56).After Mariam is having all of those miscarriages, she could see that Rasheed started to lack respect for her and one could see that he was disappointed. Since she was losing all of their babies, he was disappointed and could not stand the change of losing any more babies, so he saw her as a burden. He could not stand the chance of losing another child because he has lost his previous child…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    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.…

    • 1739 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Moreover, a female is capable of learning proper motherly etiquette through the connection to other females. In desperate times, the action of a mother influences the daughter’s behaviour for similar circumstances. In A Thousand Splendid Sun, when Mariam recognizes desperation for food, she is willing to reach out to her unforgivable father for money. Mariam resembles a true mother figure; she is willing to put…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Just like Mariam who overcome the emotional pain she got when she saw Jalil and the physical pain from sleeping on the streets. Mariam pain is much deeper at this point as she experiences physical and emotional pain at this young age not like Laila who only experiences emotional pain, that makes Mariam have a bigger capability of enduring at a really young age. Moreover, Mariam still undergoes bodily and passion suffering from Rasheed who abuses her in the most harshness way a person can take. He said “Put these, in you mouth... Then forced the cold pebbles into it...…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    At the beginning of the book, Mariam couldn’t muster the strength to stop or stand up to her husband. She allows herself to be raped several times, not believing she had the power to stop him. In addition, Mariam experiences multiple types of abuse by Rasheed. After enduring abuse and traumatic experiences, she learns how to channel her power for the greater good. At the end of their marriage Mariam stops Rasheed’s violent actions by doing the only act that will end his abusive behavior, she murders Rasheed.…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays