Victimization Of Women In A Thousand Splendid Suns

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Victimization of women The systematic victimization of women by patriarchal societies is extremely prominent throughout the book “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, written by Khaled Hosseini. For example, Mariam has been victimized since birth with her father not being around, her not getting a proper education, she is outcasted by everyone around her. This patriarchal society allowed her to be married off to Rasheed at the age of 15. Another way this theme is displayed is through Laila. She was a young girl that was living a fantastic life but once her father and mother were killed she was taken in by Mariam and Rasheed, which then lead to her becoming a victim. Rasheed abused her mentally, and physically with no remorse. She had to abide by his …show more content…

Rasheed was the man in the relationship and Mariam was the typical wife that did her wifely duties and stayed home while he goes and works and provides money. He treats her as if she’s worthless and means nothing to the world. When he eats he doesn’t look at her or speak to her, he is demanding, and tells her how worthless and uneducated she is. This then leads to him becoming abusive punching her, slapping her, kicking her, speaking rudely to her, he did this to damage her. A lot of this occurs because Mariam can get have his son and she is also considered a harami. Everything she does infuriates him and blames all the issues on her. She constantly tried to avoid making mistakes and did everything to his liking, but he always found a way to abuse her and blame it on her. Rasheed did not care about anything but himself he abided by the patriarchal stereotype ,which is being the dominant one throughout society and making women inferior. Mariam felt powerless and fearful. She was a victim of abuse and oppression. She married a man that said everything he did was normal in a relationship. Even though Mariam was in a violent marriage she became a strong women and soon she overcomed these …show more content…

He knew that if he took her in she could have his son. Rasheed then became violent with Laila just like he did with Mariam. If Laila ever talked back to him he would slap her, if she said something more intelligent than him or proved him wrong he would call her stupid say that she was uneducated. When she became pregnant with his son he couldn't wait to teach his son how to act like him. Rasheed made sure Laila was having boy because if he had a girls she wouldn't be dominant in life, she would be considered a harami. Mariam did not like Laila because she saw her as a threat but she also felt bad for Laila because Mariam knew how it felt to not be wanted and to be a victim. Later in the story they became close and Mariam looked at Laila and her kids as if they were her children. Mariam cared for Laila and her safety that they decided they would try to escape and start over. But that did not work out. The police brought them right back home and Rasheed tortured them but throwing Laila and Aziza into a room and looking the door and boarding the windows and threw Mariam in a shed outside. He kept them there for days without food or water. He saw this as a punishment for them disobeying his rules. The violence that Mariam and Laila endure is through this patriarchal society where the man is the dominant individual and can do anything he wants to his wives, even his

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