Those who read The Kite Runner expected from the author another inspiring story about male friendship but received a heartbreaking novel about the women of Afghanistan. Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns was first published in 2007 and immediately received positive feedback (Dhakal 229). The story represents the period from 1960 to 2000, during which the rules and conditions in the country changed to the complete invalidation of women’s rights (Yeasmin 389). The story started with Mariam’s childhood when she had to live in a village with her mother Nana because the girl was born outside of marriage. Since her father, Jalil, had an official family of three wives and nine children, he could not take her to his house. Later, when Nana commits suicide, Mariam is forced to marry an older man, who abuses her. This book also tells the story of Laila, who had a substantially different childhood but became the victim of male despotism under the Taliban regime. Mariam went through a dramatic transformation from a girl afraid to raise her voice against a man to a strong woman who murders the tyrant to save Laila.
The first critical issue raised in this novel was the complete lack of power and agency for women in Afghanistan. Being an Islamic state, the government distorted religion and the Sharia rules, removing all rights from the female population (Yeasmin 382). Mariam’s life was the example of the individual being oppressed for being a woman, born outside of marriage. Her mother, Nana, who was hyperaware of this injustice, expressed her anger about this situation. She told her daughter about Jalil’s argument for his three wives to explain Nana’s pregnancy: “You know what he told his wives by way of defense? That I forced myself on him” (Hosseini 9). Mariam’s mother summarizes her experience by stating: “This is what it means to be a woman in this world” (Hosseini 9). The mother passed this piece of observation to Mariam because she never saw a different treatment. She believed that her daughter would never have a better life because of being an illegitimate child and girl (Dhakal 230). It appeared that Nana was not wrong since Mariam’s fate was brutal, and her ending was tragic since she was a woman.
The protagonist’s second period of life was associated with a tyrant husband, Rasheed. Mariam’s marriage confirmed her mother’s bitter statements about females in Afghanistan. Indeed, as Nana predicted, Mariam turned into a burden for her husband after seven miscarriages: “When I’m gone, you’ll have nothing. You’ll have nothing. You are nothing!” (Hosseini 44). She was obliged to cover her face so that other men could not see it, was not allowed to cry, was forced into the painful coupling, and was constantly criticized. Despite the Soviets’ invasion and the liberal rules for women that they wanted to establish, many girls were kept in strict conditions without the right to raise their voices (Yeasmin 384). The main reason why Nana’s statement was true for most Afghan women was that many men accepted the Taliban rules, and the female part of the country lacked the pour to resist this oppressing order.
The third period of Mariam’s life was associated with Laila, a girl representing the new generation of Afghan women who dream about having equal rights with men. Laila is a progressive and educated young woman raised in a protective and loving household. However, the war destroyed her dreams and forced her to marry Rasheed to protect her unborn child from disgrace. She was not afraid to talk back to her husband, while Mariam was still trying not to provoke him. However, Mariam’s attitude and behavior changed when she finally realized that her tyrant husband did not have any right to humiliate his wives. When Rasheed tried to strangle Laila, Mariam “tightened her grip around the shovel’s handle” and “hit him across the temple” to save her younger companion (Hosseini 341). Indeed, in helping Laila raise Aziza and protecting her from Rasheed, Mariam transformed into a strong woman with a distinct purpose in life (Dhakal 232). The protagonist could not only fill herself with the righteous anger but also turned it into protective action. This incident showed that Mariam overcame her fear due to the appearance of Laila in her life.
In summary, Mariam was able to undergo a significant change after many years of abuse from her husband to gain life purpose to protect Laila and allow her to live a better life. In fact, her final act that resulted in killing Rasheed showed that she became emotionally strong enough to rise against the tyrant she had been afraid of for a long time. Although Mariam’s silence enabled Rasheed’s behavior, Laila’s influence altered her mindset. A Thousand Splendid Suns was essential to demonstrate the terrifying life of Afghan women who also dream about a different future for their children but lack enough support to stand against the oppressing political regime.
Works Cited
Dhakal, Sedunath. “Endurance of Women in Afghan Society in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (Book review).” Molung Educational Frontier, vol. 10, 2020, pp. 229-233.
Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Penguin Group, 2007.
Yeasmin, Farhana. “Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns: A Saga of Afghanistan.” Research Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 8, no. 3, 2020, pp. 381-390.