A Thousand Splendid Suns (414 pages), by Khaled Hosseini, is a compelling and emotional novel that takes place in a small city in Afghanistan and describes the lives of two young women during a time of war, oppression, and poverty. Mariam and Laila are forced to marry a man who turns out to be abusive, however, they eventually develop a beautiful bond that helps them endure all the struggles that come along in their lives.
In the beginning of the novel, after Mariam’s mother dies, she is forced to marry Rasheed, a man who turns out to be abusive, physically and verbally. All he wants from Mariam is a son to replace his own son that died. However, Mariam suffers from a miscarriage more than once, and this makes Rasheed even more abusive. Laila’s story soon ties in with Mariam’s when a rocket injures her, and Rasheed decides to take her to his home to marry her because she is already pregnant. The oppression of women was an important part in this novel, because Mariam and Laila were forbidden from doing many things such as walking outside without being covered in a burqa, making any eye contact with men, and even just speaking in public was a crime. These restrictions were made by the Taliban. The characters also suffer greatly from poverty, because Laila’s daughter, Aziza, had to go to an orphanage due to the lack of food she …show more content…
She explains that she was only defending herself, however, she still gets publicly executed. Laila marries Tariq, and she starts a new life with him in Kabul. Before returning to Kabul, she also goes to Herat to visit Mullah Faizullah’s son to get a box that Jalil left for Mariam. Although I did not like the fact that Mariam is executed, but I did like the very end, where Laila decides that if she was to have another girl, she would name her Mariam. This shows how important Mariam is to her and Laila will never forget
In the beginning of the novel, after Mariam’s mother dies, she is forced to marry Rasheed, a man who turns out to be abusive, physically and verbally. All he wants from Mariam is a son to replace his own son that died. However, Mariam suffers from a miscarriage more than once, and this makes Rasheed even more abusive. Laila’s story soon ties in with Mariam’s when a rocket injures her, and Rasheed decides to take her to his home to marry her because she is already pregnant. The oppression of women was an important part in this novel, because Mariam and Laila were forbidden from doing many things such as walking outside without being covered in a burqa, making any eye contact with men, and even just speaking in public was a crime. These restrictions were made by the Taliban. The characters also suffer greatly from poverty, because Laila’s daughter, Aziza, had to go to an orphanage due to the lack of food she …show more content…
She explains that she was only defending herself, however, she still gets publicly executed. Laila marries Tariq, and she starts a new life with him in Kabul. Before returning to Kabul, she also goes to Herat to visit Mullah Faizullah’s son to get a box that Jalil left for Mariam. Although I did not like the fact that Mariam is executed, but I did like the very end, where Laila decides that if she was to have another girl, she would name her Mariam. This shows how important Mariam is to her and Laila will never forget