A reluctant hero refers to someone who did not readily choose to be a hero, or be involved in a situation that would have caused them to be a hero. In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam is a young woman living in the war-torn Afghanistan suffering through the extreme oppression of women. A young woman unsure of herself or her own abilities, Hosseini utilizes Mariam Jo’s character in this novel to explore her constant search for acceptance and the reluctant hero characteristics that define her life.
For the duration of her life, Mariam's mother constantly refers to her as a “harami”. Which Mariam later learns with age that a “harami” describes an “unwanted thing,” and “that she, Mariam was an illegitimate person who would
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never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance”(4). Mariam seems misguided due to her complicated upbringing. The combination of a frequently absent father, and an emotionally damaged mother leaves her with little guidance or love throughout her childhood. Constantly berated by her own mother, Mariam does not see herself as someone who could help anyone, let alone herself. Coming from a more westernized upbringing, Laila’s life differs from Mariam’s drastically. Laila’s father encourages education in her upbringing and held high hopes of her success. Although her mother struggled through bouts of depression, Laila’s favorite days were the ones when Nana had good days. Nana “sprang out of bed bright eyed and playful. The droopy lower lip stretched upward in a smile”(119). These days were Laila’s favorite because she caught a glimpse into how Nana used to act. Laila received affection and reinforcement throughout her life but still has problems within her own family. When Mariam witnesses an air strike that targets her neighbor’s home, she hesitantly offers assistance to the lone survivor. Slipping in and out of consciousness, Laila does not know where she is or with whom she is with. After taking Laila in, Mariam only helps Laila under the direction of Rasheed, her husband. Mariam tends to Laila but still asks Rasheed “How long is she staying?” with Rasheed responding “Until she’s better. Look at her. She’s in no shape to go”(200). Although Mariam possesses motherly instincts, she still questions the reasoning behind helping a girl they both barely know. Mariam knows that helping someone often leads to the formation of a bond, something she is extremely afraid of. The feeling that someone could swoop in and create a connection with the only person she has left frightens Mariam. She has spent years trying to make Rasheed accept her and within a few days Rasheed willingly accepts Laila into his life. Witnessing her own replacement, Mariam turns a cold shoulder towards Laila. Rasheed’s attitude also changes with Mariam’s arrival. He starts eating with utensils, wearing proper clothing, and acting genial towards both women. Mariam figures something must be behind Rasheed’s sudden shift in attitude and appearance and “suddenly Mariam knew that her suspicions were right. She understood with a dread that was like a blinding whack to the side of her head that what she was witnessing was nothing less than a courtship” (213). Confirming her worst fears Mariam realizes that the reason Rasheed has taken such an interest in their new house guest is to make her his new wife. Mariam’s efforts to generate acceptance from Rasheed disappear the minute Laila enters their home. During Mariam’s trial, she refuses to see visitors or use any witnesses, in order to spare Laila.
She knows that if she flees along with Laila, the Taliban will never stop searching for them both, but if she admits to the crime and accepts punishment, Laila will be able to go freely and live a happy life with Tariq. Mariam faces her punishment knowingly. She does not protest, although she knows she is not really to blame. The ten days Mariam spends in prison proves valuable for her. Many of the women in the prison were serving time for the common crime of “running away from home”. None of these women imagined that any woman could possess the courage to do what Mariam did. In turn, Mariam “gained some sort of notoriety among them, became a kind of celebrity. The women eyed her with a reverent, almost awestruck, expression”(363). The women in prison committed crimes that seemed unforgivable in their minds, to see someone who had the courage to stand up for themselves and fight back, these women idolized Mariam. In her final moments, Mariam felt no regret but a sense of peace. Her life-- “a harami child of a lowly villager, a regrettable accident”-- was not meant to wind up this way (370). Meant for a life of submission and condemnation, Mariam changed her path. Entering this world a weed and leaving it someone who loved and someone who had been loved. Mariam’s life was not so bad after all, “a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings”(370). Mariam’s whole life …show more content…
foreshadows a ghastly end, from her mother hanging herself to Mariam killing Rasheed. She knew that Laila held a better chance at living a better life if she could escape her past, so Mariam created a way for her to escape. When Tariq reappears in the novel, it seems as if he will fulfill the role of a knight in shining armor, or of Jack in the movie Titanic, and save Laila—but instead, it is Mariam who saves her. By killing Rasheed and dying for the crime, Mariam becomes a true hero, one who is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for those she loves and the ideals she cares about. Khaled Hosseini develops Mariam’s character as a reluctant hero by creating a journey for acceptance that she searches for her entire life.
Mariam finally reaches the idea of acceptance when she realizes she defied everyone’s thoughts that she would not amount anything. This mental fortitude plays a large role into the characteristics she displays as a reluctant hero. Someone who did not readily choose to be a hero defines Mariam’s life. She did not choose to take Laila under wing and become a mother to her nor did she chooses to kill Rasheed to save Laila from his grasps. Mariam never chose to any of these things, they all fell into her lap because no one else could handle the pressure of doing it. Although she thought of herself as weak and unable to help anyone, she was the complete opposite. Mariam helped everyone she surrounded herself with and saved most of them by providing them with hope while they provided Mariam with
acceptance.
In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam fulfills the hero journey. She goes through many tests and hardships to accomplish the journey throughout her life. The obstacles she overcomes helps her to grow and become a much stronger person. Mariam undergoes a hero’s journey in A Thousand Splendid Suns because she is born and raised in a rural setting away from cities, the hero meets monsters or monstrous men, and suffers an unhealable wound, sometimes an emotional or spiritual wound from which the hero never completely recovers.
Secondly, Latifa had to deal with the way women were treated in the Afghan society. Women weren’t allowed to go outside of their homes without the company of their father or brother. Latifa managed to deal with this by staying inside. She knew she wouldn’t have to deal with the Taliban if she avoided them. Latifa also couldn’t stand the fact that women couldn’t hold jobs. She opened up a school for the children of her apartment complex knowing there would be harsh consequences if caught. She also had to deal with knowing her mother and sister had to give their jobs up. Women were also required to dress in certain clothing. Latifa claimed
The story opens up with Mariam’s mother, Nana, calling her a “harami” for breaking a sugar bowl. “Harami” means “bastard child” and Mariam was born out of wedlock, with her father being Jalil, a wealthy businessman. Although it was Jalil’s fault for having an affair with Mariam’s mother, Mariam gets the pain and backlash from her mother for being a “harami.” She did not understand what this meant, though, because she was
Mariam and Laila face a lot of social injustice yet they do not attempt to challenge the issues because they are told to endure all forms of pain and social injustice. From a very young age, Mariam was told by her mother that all she needed to do was to withstand any pain and suffering, it’s the one skill she needed.” Endure . . . Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have”(17). In addition, Laila also suffered the injustice of society since she was a single mother it was not safe for her to live on her own so she had no choice but to marry Rasheed. The society gave women no choice but to endure and that’s the main reason why Laila and Mariam were unable to take a stand. However, close to the end of the novel Mariam decides to take initiative and fights back. She finally takes action because she is driven by the love she has for Laila and her child since they are the only family she’s had that loved her. So when Rasheed her husband attempts to choke Laila to death, Mariam reflects on how much injustice she has faced and how unjust both her husband and the society have been towards her and other women. At this point, Mariam realizes that she must end her and Laila’s suffering once and for all. So she takes Rasheed’s life. Although Mariam is executed as a form of punishment, she is very successful at taking a stand to end the oppression and injustice. Mariam knew her actions were fatal yet she still did what she knew was right. Furthermore, she sacrificed herself and didn’t regret her action instead she was pleased that “she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother” ( 329). Her actions freed Laila and her child from Rasheed’s abuse and helped them build a better life. Thus Mariam was successful and did not want to endure the injustice or see Laila suffer, she did it by
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with [their] freedom” (Dylan). However, though heroes face complications throughout their quest, in the end they often accomplish an important rask. In the book, Like Water for Chocolate, the main character, Tita shows a perfect example of a hero. Tita is in a continuous emotional quest throughout the entire story, but proves along the way she is indeed one who will not fail. Many characteristics of a hero certainly fit Tita’s character, however, there are some very important ones, she: suffers an unusual childbirth, yields a special weapon, goes through a traumatic event that leads to an adventure, has supernatural help, experiences atonement with mother, and when she dies she is rewarded spiritually.
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
Originally, Mairma would acquiesce to Rasheed’s demands: if he said “shut up,” she would (98). If she was beaten, she would take it. She felt no hope of freedom from his brutish acts so she endured through them. Wallowing in despair would only make her marital-situation worse. Later, out of routine, Rasheed’s abuse is prevented because of Laila. She pleads “please Rasheed, no beating!” over and over until he forfeits his attack against Mariam; feeling loved, it is a kindness that Mariam cannot forget (241). In Mariam’s final resistance to the churlish man, she shows her love for others. Aiming to kill, Rasheed acts violently upon Laila, and Mariam fights back. As he once beat her, she beat him back. The scene juxtaposes how she once accepted the abuse, and now she fights back because she does not want to lose the one who makes her feels that she “had been loved back”: Laila (224). After being controlled by Rasheed for the majority of Mariam’s marriage, she takes control of her own life for once by making he decision to kill him in order to protect Laila. Mariam’s fight back shows her willingness to sacrifice to prevent Rasheed’s cruelties further. Risking worse abuse, Mariam chooses to save Laila’s life in exchange for her own. Laila brought Mariam an unmistakable happiness: “[Mariam] was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. ... It was not so bad ... that she should die this way ... This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings” (224). Mariam gives Laila the opportunity to live a life sans of Rasheed’s barbarities to plague them after learning herself how inhumane he was. Moreover, the cruelties Mariam faced against Rasheed revealed her endurance as a woman. Mariam remained strong throughout her marriage and fought back against her husband, an act
In Part three, a shift in this isolation occurs when Laila becomes a part of her life. An epiphany occurs where Mariam starts to realize the injustices that surround her; The amount of her life wasted with Rasheed, the physical and emotional abused endured from him, and the injustices she knows Laila is about to endure.Then as she starts to bond with Laila, Mariam feels a sense of purpose; the kids look up to her as a secondary mother figure and she has Laila as a companion. So when Rasheed had the intent to kill Laila, Mariam had to act. She has taken justice into her own hands by responding to Rasheed’s physical injustice and the injustices of equality rights towards women at the hands of the Taliban. She later tells Laila that she was simply “acting like a
Mariam’s strength is immediately tested from birth and throughout her whole childhood. She has been through a lot more than other children of her age, and one of those challenges is the hope for acceptance. She is looked at as an illegitimate child by her parents, and they say there’s no need to attend school. We learn right away what the word “harami” means when Nana uses that to describe her own daughter. She says, “You are a clumsy little harami. This is my reward for everything I’ve endured. An heirloom-breaking, clumsy little harami” (Hosseini 4). Nana especially pushed Mariam away from pursuing her goals. She said there was no need for education and men always find a way to blame it on a woman. This pushed Mariam away from her mom and closer to Jalil, but he refuses to acknowledge her and his wives look at her with cold stares of disgust. Mariam only feels loved by Jalil through all of this, mainly because he brings her things and shows her some love. She asks him to do something with her outside of the kolboa and he first agrees, but never brings her because of his fear with his wives and the structures of Afghan culture that frown upon it. He starts to act as if she was a burden to him and Mariam’s hope for acceptance is crushed. She realizes the truth, especially once she reaches adulthood. In Afghanistan, marriage is not all about love for eachother, it is about traditional role...
While many people would have given up hope during difficult situations, Maria does not because she has
In the story “In Camera, Saadawi illustrated how women were treated by the legal system in Arabic country when they did something against the system. The protagonist, Leila Al-Fargani, who was a young woman on trial for calling the “mighty one”, which is a respective title for the President of their country, a stupid man. Moreover, during the time she was waiting for the court date, she was brutally beaten and raped by ten men who seem to be the guards. At the time she was in the court, she was still suffering from the pain both in physical and mental way, but she did not collapse. When the time the judge and those with him declared that ten men raped Leila and also her father’s honor got trampled. (This is the way we torture you women- by depriving you of the most valuable thing you possess”). For the response she said: “You fool! The most valuable thing I possess is not between my legs. You are all stupid. And the most stupid among you is the one who leads you.” In one hand, this quote completely showed that the man thought this sexual violence was totally right when the woman had committed a crime. In anther hand, it also showed that in the very deep of Leila, the...
Heroism entails several things; a selfless act, courage, or the accomplishments of bold and daring expeditions. A hero can also mean courage in the face of death. Others may view this type of hero as stupid, or a martyr. Every hero has faults and these faults along with heroic deeds make the man or woman; a hero, heroine.
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
Next let us examine Mariam's plight. She is denied the chance to go to school. "What's the sense schooling a girl like you? It's like shinning a spitspoon." She lives with a cruel mother. "You are a clumsy little harami. This is my reward for everything I've endured. An heirloom-breaking, clumsy little harmi"(4). She has a neglectful father. "Mariam kept thinking of his face in the upstairs window. He let her sleep on the street. On the street. Mariam cried lying down"(35). Her mother commits suicide and Mariam blames herself. "You stop that. These thoughts are no good, Mariam jo. You hear me, child? No good. They will destroy you. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault no". Mariam nodded, but as desperately as she wanted to she could not bring herself to believe him"(44). She is forced into marriage to a man she does not love. "I don't want to," Mariam said. She looked at Jalil. "I don't want this. Don't make me"(47). She is sent to live in a strange city were she does not know anyone. She has a physically abusive husband. "Then he was gone, leaving Mariam to spit out pebbles, blood, and the fragments of two broken molars"(104). Her husband is cruel and says hurtful words to her. She can not do anything right in his eyes. When he is not ignoring her he is being verbally or physically abusive towards her.
In a nation brimming with discrimination, violence and fear, a multitudinous number of hearts will become malevolent and unemotional. However, people will rebel. In the eye-opening novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini, the country of Afghanistan is exposed to possess cruel, treacherous and sexist law and people. The women are classified as something lower than human, and men have the jurisdiction over the women. At the same time, the most horrible treatment can bring out some of the best traits in victims, such as consideration, boldness, and protectiveness. Although, living in an inconsiderate world, women can still carry aspiration and benevolence. Mariam and Laila (the main characters of A Thousand Splendid Suns) are able to retain their consideration, boldness and protectiveness, as sufferers in their atrocious world.