Rasheed's A Thousand Splendid Suns

In all my 10 years of schooling, I have had no greater teacher than that of a book. They are a mighty force, and it is a shame that some would think otherwise. Each and every word alone is useless, but once transformed into sentences, pages, chapters, it’s where the magic lies. Books present us with knowledge, either factual or sentimental, that take root in our minds, and through each thought, slowly shape the way we feel and think about the world around us. How easily they influence us is both incredible and alarming, but nonetheless powerful. Although, novels seem to be a different story. Characters face challenges and perils in love, life, and their journeys;ones that we will likely never experience. The thing about novels though, …show more content…
their fates crossing because of their marriage to one man: Rasheed. Mariam was actually arranged to marry him at the young age of 15 (while he was in his 40’s) and Lalia many years later at 15 agrees to marry him, because the father of her unborn baby has fled the country (she passes her child off as Rasheed’s). As the story progresses it is learned that Rasheed has an awful temper and frequently abuses both the women. Through the pain and troubles they face by him, they form a unique bond. This leads them to decide to abandon home along with Laila’s child to start a new and better life somewhere else. Unfortunately, they are both stopped while on the run and are sent back home to an awaiting and cross Rasheed. The rest is too graphic, but the situation for both women headed into a situation worse than before. There was one part in the book that spoke volumes to me, because Laila again is pregnant, but with Rasheed’s child and contemplates whether or not she should use a bicycle spoke to abort the baby. In the end she decides not to, because the baby was innocent in the crossfire between her and Rasheed. In the end a series of incidents take