Last but not least, not only do Mariam and Laila have different education privileges and family lifestyles, but they also have one more difference between them, their social lives. First of all, Mariam has never come in contact with her extended family, whom she wished she could meet. For example, when Mariam was waiting for Rasheed to pick her up, She picked up ten pebbles and arranged them vertically, in 3 columns [....] She put 4 pebbles in the 1st column for Khadija’s children [….] Then she added a fourth column. A solitary, eleventh column.” (1.5.28-29) Mariam has always been alone wherever she went or what ever she did. She never got the chance to interact with others her age, not even her own siblings. She was always the odd one out and the unwanted one. She was the one that was a harami. However, Laila on the other hand is allowed to interact with others her age.
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With this she is able to build those social skills and apply them in different ways in her life. Thirdly, after Mariam got married to Rasheed, her social life did not improve any better. For instance, one day, before Mariam and Rasheed were going to head out together, Mariam had to wear her burqa. “The padded headpiece felt tight and heavy on her skull, and it was strange seeing the world through a mesh screen”(1.11.72) Rasheed believes that a women’s face is only her husbands business. Not only was Mariam not allowed to go in public before she was married, now she has to suffer under a burqa whenever she wants to go out in public. In contrast, Laila on the other hand does not have to cover herself at all when she goes out in public. For example on one of Tariq’s days off work, he “takes Laila and the children to the Mall, along which are shops that sell trinkets”(4.48.380). Tariq does not mind not having Laila covered head to toe in cloth, he believes that it is her choice on what she wants to do, and how she wants to
With this she is able to build those social skills and apply them in different ways in her life. Thirdly, after Mariam got married to Rasheed, her social life did not improve any better. For instance, one day, before Mariam and Rasheed were going to head out together, Mariam had to wear her burqa. “The padded headpiece felt tight and heavy on her skull, and it was strange seeing the world through a mesh screen”(1.11.72) Rasheed believes that a women’s face is only her husbands business. Not only was Mariam not allowed to go in public before she was married, now she has to suffer under a burqa whenever she wants to go out in public. In contrast, Laila on the other hand does not have to cover herself at all when she goes out in public. For example on one of Tariq’s days off work, he “takes Laila and the children to the Mall, along which are shops that sell trinkets”(4.48.380). Tariq does not mind not having Laila covered head to toe in cloth, he believes that it is her choice on what she wants to do, and how she wants to