For the first thirty years of Mariam’s life, she was mistreated, unloved, and neglected. Mariam was verbally and physically abused by her mother and husband, Rasheed. The book A Thousand Splendid Suns explores the positive and negative impact relationships have on the character's quality of life. While living with Rasheed, Mariam formed a strong connection with Laila and her daughter Aziza. Together they supported each other and survived Rasheed’s madness. When Mariam, Laila, and Aziza create a close bond, they help one another to find happiness and satisfaction in their lives. HER MOM TELLS HER THIS IS WHAT SHE IS.Mariam experienced a childhood full of neglection and abandonment. Her mother was unkind to her and often made her feel unwanted. …show more content…
You are nothing!”(27). This shows Mariam’s mother’s manipulative personality. She convinces Mariam that she is all she has in the world in order to stop her from having relationships with others. The mother also tells her she is nothing, causing Mariam to question her self-worth. This shows how Mariam’s relationship with her mom negatively affects her life. While all living with Rasheed, Mariam, Laila, and Aziza form a close relationship. Laila’s daughter Aziza develops a strong love for Mariam and a constant desire to be with her. Although Mariam is confused by Aziza’s affection, she cries knowing for the first time she was loved. As Aziza cries for Mariam,“ she marveled at how, after all these years of rattling loss, she had found in this little creature the first true connection in her life of false, failed connections.” (252) Aziza love for Mariam changes her life and perspective on herself, After years of neglect and abuse Mariam finds is able to find someone who loves her. Mariam’s life was forever changed. Both Mariam and Laila are married to Rasheed and together they experience abuse and maipulation. Although they live their lives in fear of Rasheed, they are able to find peace and happiness in each other and
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.
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
Rasheed tries to convince Mariam that the only way to keep Laila safe is by marrying her. He ends up hiring a man named Abdul Harif to tell Laila that he had met the love of her life, Tariq, in the hospital and that he had died. Laila is told this right when she finds out that she is pregnant with Tariq’s child. Rasheed had hired Abdul Harif to tell Laila this because he wanted to get Laila to marry her. When Rasheed brings up marriage to Laila, she jumps on board right away, and falls into Rasheed’s trap. After Rasheed and Laila get married, he treats her like a queen. He becomes very protective of Laila. Almost all his attention is spent on her, and in a sense, forgets that he is even married to Mariam. But him acting affectionate and caring does not last very long. When Laila gives birth to a baby girl, named Aziza, Rasheed starts to treat Laila how he treated Mariam when she could not successfully carry a child full term. Again, Rasheed ends up not getting what he wants, and therefore he turns onto Laila. The abuse, both verbal and physical, starts to get worse in the household. A particular situation that displays just how violent the abuse in their household can get is when he locks Laila and Aziza in their room, and Mariam in the shed because they tried running away from Rasheed and the abuse. He leaves them without water or food, and it ends up almost killing Aziza. This is where Rasheed falls into the paradox of power again. “ ...the 16th century Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli insisted that compassion got in the way of eminence. If a leader has to choose between being feared or being loved, Machiavelli insisted that the leader should always go with fear. Love is overrated” (Lehrer The Power Trip). Rasheed would rather have his own family be completely afraid of him and almost
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
It’s known that in some areas of the world, girls as young as 14 years old can get a child. This fact, although it’s disturbing, can become meaningful according to the setting of a story. The locations, the culture and the historical context can sometimes clarify some events that have taken place in a book. It’s the case in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini and published in 2007 in which the setting clearly impacts the plot and the characters. First of all, let’s take a look to the setting itself.
She sacrificed herself to protect Mariam. Laila had to endure Rasheed desire to keep others safe and sound. The willingness of Laila to protect Mariam signifies their unity as females to stand up for each other. Another act of perseverance in this novel, is when Laila had to give her daughter to an orphanage. When Rasheed’s store caught fire, the financial state of the family got worse and worse. They had to sell almost everything they had and skip meals to survive, the kids got weaker and weaker. Due to Rasheed’s ill temper, he got fired from every job. Therefore, Laila is obligated to take to Aziza to an orphanage where she can be fed well. Laila tries to calm Aziza on their way to the orphanage, claiming, “I’ll come and see you.”(315) Laila had to distance herself from her only daughter. She does this for Aziza’s own good, for her to maintain her health. Even though she tells her that she will visit, Laila struggles to go there. The first few time going there is not a problem, since she in the company of Rasheed. When Rasheed refuses to go visit Aziza, the Taliban soldiers abuse her physically and emotionally. That did not stop her from seeing her daughter, she goes there even though she knows the
Hosseni’s application of spousal abuse in the novel inflicts a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for Mariam and Laila. Mariam and Laila are victims of abuse in a patriarchal society. In their polygamous relationship with their husband Rasheed, he oppresses them emotionally, verbally, and physically. After Laila is brought back from the police, Rasheed promises that if she ever tries to run away again, he “swear[s] on the Profit’s name [he] will find [her]”(272) and if he does, he will
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...
Unfortunately, Maria is constantly aware of the children missing from her life and is border-lining depression. Didion shows readers many symptoms of Maria’s depression throughout the novel. For example, the narrator says “When she got home she thought about calling him [Les Goodwin], but instead she went upstairs and lay face down on Kate’s empty bed, cradled Kate’s blanket, clutched Kate’s baby pillow to her stomach and fought off a wave of the dread” (Didion 23). It is obvious that Maria is depressed; however, she cannot confide in anyone. She cannot confide in Carter because he is emotionally distant nor can she confide in her lover Les Goodwin because he is a married man. Thus, leading to Maria becoming self-destructive and unintentionally seeking an identity. For example after a party, Maria “was stopped for speeding outside Tonopah and when the highway patrolman saw the silver dress and the bare feet and the Ferrari registered to someone else” the officer found out it was indeed stolen ( Didion 154). Didion creatively shows readers that Maria is acting out unintentionally because of her lack of control over life. In fact, someone who was in his or her right mind would have not stolen a car from a famous person like the one Maria did. The people in Maria’s life Maria’s notices there is a problem and start to worry about her well-being. This is shown when
They all become a support system for each other. Precious learns to read and write, and starts journaling daily about the life that she daydreams about having for herself. She feels that her body, looks, incest, and abuse in her home with her mother have caused her life to be unpleasant. She daydreams about dating a “light” skin guy, being in movies, and having a very functional family with her two kids. A social worker by the name of Ms. Weiss helps Precious by discovering the incest and abuse in Precious’ home.
basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and
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.
The centre of economy and the focus of many lives, the power of money is punctuated by the difference in wealth in Bhima and Sera’s lives in The Space Between Us. The importance of money is stressed in A Thousand Splendid Suns with the contrast between Mariam’s father’s prosperity and her mother’s poverty and the difference in Laila and Mariam’s lives before and after war. Centred on the newly abolished caste system, the distinction between Bhima and Sera’s financial situations underlines the difference money makes in their society. While Bhima is forced to live in a slum, Sera enjoys the luxury of her home and the employment of Bhima. Another luxury Bhima can’t afford is to welcome Maya’s baby. Instead she is forced to watch her granddaughter suffer from the emotional effects of an abortion. While Sera eagerly awaits the birth of her own grandchild she is the one who financially facilitates the abortion of Bhima’s great-grandchild. Furthermore, because of the pre-existing social constraints of the caste system, Bhima is not permitted to sit on the same furniture or use the same dishes as Sera. Similarly, Mariam’s life is also restricted by her mother’s pove...
In stark contrast to Rasheed’s abuse, Laila and Mariam’s act of sharing food and spending time together shows the audience that they have genuine forgiveness and penance towards one another. This quote, “Laila brought out a plate of figs and poured Mariam a cup of tea. She sat down across from her. They had never sat like this before, one at each end of the table, like friends, like sisters, as equals. Mariam felt her heart swell with gratefulness” (Hosseini 268), capturing a turning point between the women.
Active politics - reflective practice assignment for John Pender Sociology and politics year 2. Introduction: My work placement with Marie Casserly has been a transformative journey, offering me invaluable insights into the intricate workings of local politics and community engagement. In this reflective essay, I will delve into my personal experiences, challenges, and growth throughout this placement. I chose Marie Casserly for my work experience because I thought if I wanted to be in the political world after university I wanted an accurate depiction of what that would be and I would only get that deep insight and understanding from a woman in politics like Marie.