The story begins in a kolba (small cottage) outside of Herat, Afghanistan, in the early 1960s. Mariam is a young girl that lives with her mom Nana. Meanwhile her father Jalil a rich business man, that lives in Herat with his three wives and kids, visits her once a week. Mariam is Jalil’s only bastard child. Her only wish is to live with Jalil and her half-siblings. For her birthday Jalil promised to take her to the movies he owns, but ironically he doesn’t show up that day. Even after being warned by her mother to not go, Mariam heads to Herat in hopes of finding her father’s house. After finding the house, Jalil’s driver stops Mariam from entering the house claiming that her father is outside. Stubborn Mariam waits outside until the …show more content…
Her ambitions are more than getting married and having children at a young age. Her father Hakim always enlightens her on the importance of education. Hakim was a teacher until the Soviet fired him, now he works in a factory. Laila’s best friend and later her love interest, is a one-legged boy that is few years older than her called Tariq. She visits him and his family regularly. Even though Laila was informed by her father on the tension between the different tribes, Tariq’s family treat Laila as if she’s part of the family. That same night, a stranger knocks on the door and tells the family that Ahmed and Noor have died. The next day, Laila’s house is filled with women trying to calm Fariba. The men sit in a hall, while the women gather at home. Even though it hurts Laila to see her mom upset, she could not feel sad and sorrow for the loss of her siblings. After the funeral, Fariba’s emotional and physical state got worse, even though she did not have an evident physical illness. Therefore, Laila does all the chores for her mother but she doesn’t notice her efforts. Laila fears her that her mother would commit suicide. Fariba assures her that she will not do it, and that she wants to see the
However, instead of allowing the corruption and grief of losing a significant figure in her life completely consume her, Leah embraces a new culture and turns to another male figure, her husband Anatole, for guidance. With new surrounding influences, Leah encounters various forms of separation, whether it be from her birthplace, father, or husband, and accepts all the drawbacks and loses that come along with the isolation. At the same time, Leah also challenges herself to overcome the loss and succumb to the loneliness that could potentially bring her closer to a new aspect of life never explored before. Through it all, Leah turns her experiences with exile into bittersweet memories sprinkled across the time span of her life for each rift allowed her to obtain a sense of self identity during periods of time free of human contact or, in Leah’s case,
For her 15th birthday, Mariam asked Jalil if he could take her to his cinema to watch Pinocchio. She also asked if Jalil could bring her brothers and sisters so she could meet them. Both Nana and Jalil thought it wasn’t a good idea, but Mariam insisted on going, so Jalil said he would send someone to pick her up. Mariam did not like this idea and said that she wanted to be picked up by Jalil. Jalil reluctantly agreed. Later that day, Mariam gets the backlash and hate from her mother from her decision: “Of all the daughters I could have had, why did God give me an ungrateful one like you? …How dare you abandon me like this, you treacherous little harami!” Mariam wakes up the next day, disappointed and fed up since Jalil did not come to pick her up. She heads out to town to find Jalil herself. She makes it to his house when a chauffeur tells Mariam that Jalil was “away on urgent business.” She slept outside of his house and was awoken by the chauffeur, telling her that he would take her home. Mariam snatches away from the chauffeur’s grip and turns around towards the house, to see Jalil in an upstairs window. It was then that Mariam figured out that all she was to Jalil was a disgrace. Jalil had always been careful with the information he told Mariam. He may have loved her, but only on his own terms. Once Mariam realizes that her father allowed her to sleep on the street rather than bring her into his
The story had only just begun when La Loca died in an unsettling fashion; her tiny body thrashed so violently that it was thrown from the bed and foam, mixed with a dash of blood, escaped her mouth. While she was in the powerful throes of death, Sofi and her daughters wailed and watched helplessly, because they were too frightened by the girl’s seizures. It was a sad time for the people of their village, because no one likes to bury a child, especially a young one. After La Loca’s wake, her mother wanted to give her a Mass before placing her corpse into the ground. It was here, as Father Jerome, offered some comforting words that the girl pushed open her coffin and “returned” to the waking world.
Upon arrival to Yasmina’s apartment, Sara, Abdul Samee’s mother, is discontent with the home. When she learns that Yasmina and her father are refugees, Sara wants to leave immediately. She believes that a refugee is not suitable for her son and that their family is too high in stature to be marrying below themselves. Yasmina’s father also reveals that he is unemployed due to his dental credentials not transferring to the United States. This adds to Sara’s discomfort with her son potentially being in a relationship with Yasmina. Abdul Samee’s father states that since Abdul Samee is going through a divorce he is damaged goods; thus, none of the upper-class families would have him, and they must settle for what they can
The novel tells the story of, Amir. Amir is portrayed as the protagonist; the novel revolves around his recollection of past events 26 years ago as a young boy in Afghanistan. Amir is adventures and brave. Hassan is Amir’s closets friend and servant to his house and is portrayed as a subservient male, often supporting and accepting blame for Amir’s actions. Assef, Wali and Kamal are the “ bad guys” within the novel; Wali and Kamal hold down Hassan and Assef rapes him purely for ethnicity differences, as Hassan is a Hazara. Afghanistan boys are supposed to be athletic and true to Islam .The leaving of Soraya Hassan mother with another man gives the notion that women lack morality leaving behind there children .The Taliban laws are followed closely within Afghanistan and women are treated without any rights, beatings, stoning and execution become the reality for women who violate the laws. Culturally Afghanistan women are portrayed to be subservient to there husband only live and breath to provide children, cook food and clean their
Both Laila, the lucky girl with breathtaking beauty, whose luck suddenly vanishes, and Mariam, the unlucky and illegitimate daughter, whose luck goes from bad to terribly worse, become dynamic and complex characters. This transformation is brought about by the gradual revealing of Hosseini’s motivation. In fact, Hoesseini is evidently motivated to reveal the truth, and let the emotional and physical realities of Afghani women’s lives be known to the
With the struggle of social stature between two boys; Amir, a Pashtun - Sunni Moslem that is considered of a higher class with seniority, and Hassan, who is looked down upon because he is a Hazara of lower class. Hassan and his father Ali, (a good friend of Baba, Amir’s father) live in a mud shack on Baba’s property together – they are servants for Amir and Baba. Despite the social differences between the boys, and at a time in Afghanistan when bigotry has sparked flame between these two ethnic groups, they still find a way to create what seems to be an everlasting bond with one another. “Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard, and under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba, his was Amir.” (Page 13) Even as children, Amir was always the weaker one; Hassan was always sticking up for him and fighting his battles for him. Even though Amir was educated and Hassan was not, Amir still found ways to be jealous of Hassan at times especially when he corrected him and foun...
Elli talks about daily life in her neighborhood. Her mother does not show any compassion for her. When Elli complains of this, her mother brings up excuses that are unconvincing. Elli believes her mother does not care for her and that her brother is the favorite. Hilter’s reoccurring radio broadcast give nightmares to Elli, whos family is Jewish. The nights when the Hungarian military police would come and stir trouble did not provide anymore comfort for Elli. One night, her brother, Bubi, comes home with news that Germany invaded Budapest, the town where he goes to school. But the next morning, there is no news in the headlines. The father sends him back to school. He learns the next day that a neighbor’s son who goes to school with Bubi has said the same. The day after, the newspapers scream the news of the invasion. Bubi arrives home, and the terror begins.
As Afghanistan is constantly overshadowed by war, Jamal has to be brave to survive, and keep his family together. He looks out for his little sister Bibi, as girls are prevented from going outside without an adult male. So Jamal is surprised when playing soccer with friends in the desert, and Bibi joins them, alone. He tries to get Bibi to go back home, but when she steps on
“Where is the rest of your family,” asked Masoud. Her father came back to bring her after a long time he left her. As a girl, she wanted to be with her family, but she thought about all the things, about her father, then she determined who knows if her father again abandons her. That was the reason she let her father go, and Jameela let all the pain go from her heart.
From start to finish, one could see how much Mariam values Laila, Aziza, and their friendship. The first example is when Mariam vows to help Laila while they are in the hospital for Laila’s unborn child: “I’ll get you seen, Laila jo. I promise” (287). This simple promise is a deep portrayal of Mariam’s desire to help Laila find a doctor and deliver her baby. Additionally, one can see Mariam’s love for Laila when she protects her from Rasheed’s grip of death, “‘Rasheed.’ He looked up. Mariam swung. She hit him across the temple. The blow knocked him off Laila” (348). Rasheed was going to kill Laila, but Mariam steps in and knocks him off of her with a shovel to save her life. Mariam forms a tight-knit bond with Laila, and when Hosseini includes their relationship, one can see how Mariam values Laila enough to kill another man. The author also describes their relationship after Mariam and Laila discuss plans for leaving: “When they do, they’ll find you as guilty as me. Tariq too. I won’t have the two of you living on the run like fugitives.” … “Laila crawled to her and again put her head on Mariam’s lap. She remembered all the afternoons they’d spent together, braiding each other’s hair, Mariam listening patiently to her random thoughts and ordinary stories with an air of gratitude, with the expression of a person to whom a unique and coveted privilege had been extended” (358). The love Mariam has for
The novel, Wanting Mor, by Rukhsana Khan is an enthralling tale of life lessons. The story unfolds through the eyes of a traumatised Afghan female named, Jameela. Jameela begins to discover and comprehend themes and morals of life after witnessing the death of her loving mother, Mor. As the novel progresses, numerous themes arise throughout the course of the novel. This powerful novel depicts themes of confidence, tranquility, and righteousness in the cruel cold-hearted world in which Jameela inhabits.
who wanted to enter her life, she is left alone after her father’s death. Her attitude
This is a story about a girl growing up in the world learning how to make it on her own. She is going to get into things she thought she would never get into, meet the people she thought she would never meet, learning the things she would’ve never thought to learn, and getting caught up the way she thought she would never get caught up. This right here is Disaya’s past; you have to know where it all started to know where it’s all going to end. Disaya was a very beautiful little six year old girl; she had curly untamed hair and gorgeous green eyes. Dynasty was Disaya’s mother, Dynasty didn’t know where her daughter go those green eyes from, she always suspected that Yaya was really the illegitimate child from one of her clients, yes that’s right I said it clients.
This story is focused on one family in the town of Kafr El Teen, especially on the woman of the family. Zakeya and Kafrawi are Brother and sister and the oldest of the house. Karfrawi's daughters also live with them, Zeinab, and Nefissa's. Also at one point Galal, Zakeys son lived with them ( also Zeinabs husband ). This family is put through many struggles mostly placed upon them by the Mayor of the town, who has an obsession with the daughters of Karfawi.