Mariam's Struggles In To Kill A Mockingbird

To endure means to suffer patiently, or to just simply exist taking everything that life throws your way without breaking down. “There is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me needs in life, and they don’t teach it in school . . . Only one skill. And it’s this: tahamul. Endure . . . It’s our lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have.” (Nana pg. 17) . When talking about endurance, Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” comes to mind. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” Tom Robinson was falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Not only did Tom Robinson have to deal with the false accusation of rape, he had to deal with social inequality and the darker aspects of humanity. The white community in Maycomb was outraged …show more content…
Her father was barely present, her mother neglected her, and made her feel sorry for her entire existence. (Chapter 2, page 11) Mariams struggles were immense, and the only person she felt loved by was her father who had been deceiving her throughout their entire relationship. (Chapter 5, page 35) Once Nana died, Mariam had to endure even more hardships. When Nana died, Mariam had to go live with Jalil, who did not want her. Soon enough, Jalil made Mariam marry Rasheed. Rasheed was kind to Mariam until she was not able to give him any children. He abused Mariam, mentally and physically. Rasheed forced himself on to Mariam, he raped her. “His hand crept lower still, lower, his fingernails catching in the cotton of her blouse. “I can’t” she croaked…” (Chapter 11, page 76). I view this as rape because she said she can not do it, she was not ready but he proceeded anyway. Mariam suffered through seven miscarriages. (Chapter 15, page 99) After the seven miscarriages, Rasheed treated Mariam worse than he ever had before. The abuse increased, he made her feel stupid. “You know nothing, do you? You’re like a child. Your brain is empty. There is no information in it.” (Chapter 15, page 98). Miriam asked a simple question and that was Rasheeds response, he wanted to make her feel inferior in order for him to feel superior. Another form of abuse from Rasheed was when he forced her to put pebbles in her mouth and chew them. …show more content…
Some similarities include the fact that they both lost everything they had, family, friends, their childhood, and their innocence. They both had to deal with the same abusive, narcissistic husband. In their younger years, both of their mothers neglected them, made them feel unloved. But, Laila unlike Mariam had more people around her. Laila had friends, Tariq, and Tariq’s family who all provided her with the love she did not receive at home. Laila’s father was there for her, and he genuinely cared about her and her wellbeing, he let her have an education, ”Every night after dinner, Babi helped Laila with her homework and gave her some of his own. This was the only way to keep Laila a step or two ahead of her class…” (Chapter 18, page 135). Nana did not want Mariam to attend school, she told Mariam that if she went to school she would just get bullied. (Chapter 3, pages 18-19) Laila also had it easier with Rasheed. Rasheed treated and presented Mariam as a servant, telling Laila that Mariam will do anything she needed. (Chapter 31, page 223). Rasheed even called Mariam a harami which touched her emotional wounds and filled them with his emotional poison. Mariam was abused mentally and physically more than Laila was, but she learned from a young age how to endure any hardship life threw her way. “Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have.” (Nana pg. 17). Enduring life’s hardships should not be something people have to do. Enduring