Laila Sparknotes

1. Laila’s story begins at a young age in the novel as one of the protagonists. She grew up in a comfortable home, in Kabul, Afghanistan during the 1960’s, with parents that valued education and women’s rights. While still in her teens, she became pregnant by a boy she loved, who unfortunately, had to flee to Pakistan due to the war. A bomb that killed her parents led her to marry an older man who already had a wife. She did this to protect her unborn, due to the stigma around an unmarried Afghan having sex. Her attributes include her intelligence, selflessness, resilience against authority; while her roles including being a mother, loving friend and a fighter.
2. I believe that, by nature, Laila does not fit stereotypical gender roles. However, …show more content…
When compared to Laila, Rasheed is basically a perfect fit for a stereotypical male role. Like most stereotypical men, they all want sons. The reasons could be for financial or family name reasons, but one of Rasheed’s reasons is because his own son died. Once Laila bares him a son (which is actually Tariq’s son), he treats little Zalmai with compassion, patience, and so much love. The moment Laila had a daughter, Aziza, Rasheed was in disgust with her. He did not treat her as a daughter or even a person. Another gender role that Rasheed plays his part in is the idea that only the man works and the woman stays at home and does domestic work. Rasheed works as a shoe shopkeeper and is allowed to go out into the world. On the other hand, the wives must stay at home to cook, clean, and watch the children. In fact, they are not allowed to leave the house without their husband by their sides. Another rule that gets Laila into a troubling situation with Rasheed, is that males are not allowed in the house when he is not home. This shows how authoritative and insecure Rasheed …show more content…
Being a man in Afghanistan, it was always a little easier for Rasheed to express his sexual desires. For starters, this man has had multiple wives during his time. In fact, to start with the most triggering problem, he has two wives at once. Even though his first wife Mariam did not want him to marry Laila, she had no say in his choices. Rasheed is a man who gets what he wants, so when he wants sex, he will have sex with one of his wives. Even if he knows they are not comfortable with it or are not in the mood to have sex with him, he will get his way by forcing them. Another way he expresses his sexuality, one could say insecurity, is by not allowing any men near the women. Whether they are at home, out, or see someone they knew they could not talk or associate with them. This is a way for Rasheed to maintain his dominance and distrust in the women.
4. I personally do not believe that Rasheed will have much of an impact on the sexual attitudes of readers. I have an understanding that most readers will know that Rasheed is a cruel man and not to base their sexual attitudes on him. If anything, I hope they might feel more strongly against the idea of having multiple relationships with different women. I also hope that they see that forcing a woman into sex while in a relationship is still rape. They should see the wants of their partner before they act on their own wants and