Systematic Victimization Of Women By Patriarchal Societies
Under any circumstance a woman is seen as being at fault. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, many male societies systematically victimize women. Forcing women to be dependent on men causes them to be victims in households and society. For example Nana says to Mariam, “Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always” (Hosseini 7). The systematic victimization of women by patriarchal societies is a main theme in the novel, which is shown in the relationships between the men and women in the novel.
One way that this theme is shown in the book is in the relationship between Jalil and Nana. Jalil blames Nana for seducing him. While Nana was working for Jalil, he had an affair with Nana and told his other wives that she seduced him. It was not just Nana’s fault he had a choice of doing it but goes straight to blame it all on her. “You know what he told his wives by way of defense? That I forced myself on him. That it was my fault. Didi? You see? This is what it means to be a women in this world” (Hosseini 7). This quote explains how Jalil blamed Nana for seducing him, the action of conceiving Mariam. The action that Jalil
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The judge belittles Mariam by saying, “God has made us differently, you women and us men. Our brains are different. Your are not able to think like we can. Western doctors and their science have proven this. This is why we require only one male witness but two female ones” (Hosseini 365). This is the judge's way of blatantly saying that men are more superior than women. In the judge's eyes, women do not matter as much as men in society. “Women swear to all sorts of things all the time” (Hosseini 365). The judge is implying that women are liars, although not all women lie. This is victimizing women by saying that all women are not
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
Power is an influence that affects people every single day. Whether it is born into or gained, it can affect the individuals that have it in their lives positively or negatively. Usually, however, it affects the individuals negatively. When it does affect the individual negatively, it is usually referred to an idea known as “the paradox of power.” In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, the paradox of power is a recurring theme, and plays hand-in-hand with gender role in the novel. The men portrayed in the novel are taught to think that they are supposed to control women and their freedom, while the women are taught to be submissive to the men. Many of the men are conservative and believe
Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, tells the stories of women in Afghanistan in the late twentieth century. Hosseini shows the women’s strengths, weaknesses, tribulations and accomplishments through their own actions, and how they are treated by other characters in the book, particularly the male characters. Hosseini portrays men in A Thousand Splendid Suns to create themes of justice and injustice within the novel. The justice, or lack thereof, served to the male characters is a result of their treatment and attitudes toward the female characters in the book and towards women in general.
Women are beaten, and it is culturally acceptable. Like routine, women are beaten in Afghanistan almost every day. When a person purposely inflicts sufferings on others with no feelings of concern, like the women of Afghanistan, he is cruel. Cruelty can manifest from anger, irritation, or defeat and is driven by self-interest. An idea that is explored in many works of literature, cruelty also appears in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns in the relationship between a husband and wife. In their case, the husband uses cruelties in the form of aggression are to force his wife to submit. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini’s use of cruelty elucidates the values of both Rasheed and Mariam as well as essential ideas about the nature of
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
The male characters act as catalysts in implementing this change, as they alter the lives of others yet are not themselves changed. However, it cannot be said that men are entirely responsible for this degeneration- to a certain extent, the fate of the women rests in their own hands. A comparison between the two texts, considering both the male characters’ responsibility, and the women’s own responsibility for themselves, will be decisive in determining how and why the women degenerate and the consequences of this deterioration.
There are always those moments when we make decisions that affect the rest of our lives, turning left when we should have turned right. The difference is that most times we live to regret those decisions unlike Carla and her ill-fated jog to her death. There have been throughout time theories as to why offenders commit crime and what drives them to go against all social norms, but now the discussion in the last 50 years, or so, has been what and how much responsibility the victim has in what makes them an attractive target and how their daily routines can even make then more susceptible to crime. The three theories of victimization I found are the Victim Precipitation theory, the Deviant Place theory, and the Lifestyle theory. Each theory has
Because of gender, women are objectified, sexualized, and therefore blamed for the crimes committed against them by men. While men are lightly punished and sometimes even awarded for such an atrocity, the voices of women are drowned as they openly triumph. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Chaucer hoped to give voice to silent oppressed, stating that their one, true desire is that of “‘the self-same sovereignty / Over her husband as over her lover, / And master him; he must not be above her (Chaucer,
The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns explores the plight of women in Afghanistan; the focus is put on three women Nana, Mariam and Laila. Women in Afghanistan often face difficult and unfortunate situations. In this essay we will examine some of these unfortunate situations for women.
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
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.
The oppression of women in the Middle East and North Africa was commonplace, with women often beaten and deprived of fundamental rights. Entrapped by social constraints, there was little hope for opposition, as the patriarchal perspectives of society were enforced by everyone, even women themselves. One of the most prevalent ways was through the use of hypocrisy and double standards to cast an illusion of justice and equality, when in reality, women were disadvantaged in nearly every aspect. The hypocrisy of society is demonstrated in Nawal El Saadawi’s novel Woman at Point Zero, where women such as Firdaus are dominated by double standards. She finds both initial hope and consequent
The battle between what is right and wrong is a classic struggle that has existed from the beginning of time. The most honorable people face the crossroad of choosing either the angel’s path or the devil’s; one path leads to an honest yet difficult life while the other is an easy and selfish one. Throughout history, women have been portrayed as the reason of Man’s downfall. The male dominated world has created stereotypes to blame females for their defeats due to ignorance. Leo Tolstoy’s “The Devil” explores the dichotomy of the objectification of women as the angel and the devil.
...n woman, while the unfortunate woman can't do the same thing if they decide to marry foreign man. Moreover, the most powerful privilege that the man has is that he could sexually abuse his wife, and no one could stand in his way or punish him just because religion gives him the legal right to do so (paragraph two). I can see that females are worthless in Lebanon, and his main cause behind this issue is civil law being correlated with religion.
Understanding the theories of victimology is important to understand the victims, we need to understand the four main theories of victimization. These theories are the principals of victim assessment. It will give the officer the tools to understand the motive behind the victimization giving him different types of views to analyze the victim. The four main theories of victimization are: Victim Precipitation, Lifestyle, Deviant Place, and Routine Activity. These four theories according to victimology give us the idea of how the victim become to be a victim. The word Victimization meanings “an act that exploits or victimizes someone” and “adversity resulting from being made a victim” (Vocabulary.com. Dictionary Victimization (2017)). By understanding the victim and the influences of their social life is important so we can give the victim the treatment and