The Afghan and Muslim community take the idea of honour very seriously. They honour their family name and reputation very dearly. If someone within their family were to act or behave in such a way that the family’s honour is put into question the head, typically the father or the eldest male will act in a barbaric way that could potentially be deadly. This extreme sense of honour is prevalent throughout the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and the documentary “Honour Killing”. If a female were to act in a way that dishonors their reputation the husband or male relative believes they are allowed to punish those who brought the shame to their family without being held accountable for their actions. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Rasheed …show more content…
wanted total control over what Mariam and Laila did. Rasheed wanted to control every aspect of their lives, from who they talk to what they wear and how they behave in public.
Rasheed cared for his honour and reputation so much that he did not take into consideration the action that Mariam and Laila did, if it was something he believed would bring shame to his reputation he would often physically punish them. Shortly after Mariam marries Rasheed, he says, “Where I come from, one wrong look, one improper word, and blood is spilled. Where I come from, a woman’s face is her husband’s business only. I want you to remember that. Do you understand?” (Hosseini 63). Rasheed begins to foreshadow his urge to control. Rasheed tells Mariam to start wearing a burqa from now on because he believes if she does not that is culturally wrong. Rasheed shows how honour is more important than anything. Similarly, in the documentary “Honour Killing” Shafia wanted to have complete control over his daughter's interactions. When Shafia was unable to control his daughter’s and realized that they are acting in a way that is dishonoring him he murders them. Shafia cared so much for his honor that he failed to realize that what his daughters did was socially acceptable in Canadian culture as said by their uncle. In both stories, the men saw control as a
way of upholding their honor. When they did not have the control they desired they turned to extreme measures thus, proving that honor is more powerful than family ties. In the novel, Jalil does not keep his promise to Mariam when she tells him how she wishes to go to town with him. Jalil values his honour/reputation so much that he makes his child sleep outside the whole night only because he did not want others to speak badly of him. Similarly, Shafia’s reasoning behind the honor killings was that his daughters were too interested in boys, too immodest, and too westernized. Just like Jalil Shafia values his honour to such an extent that he believes killing his own offspring is the only way his only will be upheld. Ironically, both men act in ways that are ethically wrong. They attempt to protect their names in order to meet their own interpretation of social expectations set by themselves, they neglect or even abuse their offspring and wives, sacrificing the welfare of those around them in order to save face. Both men claim ownership of their daughters or wives and tie in their honour with their respective others. Rasheed tells Laila that it is his responsibility to guard Laila honours. By doing so Laila becomes subject to whatever cruelty she suffers as Rasheed can claim this as guarding her honour i.e. Tariq coming over to the house or when they planned to escape and got caught. Likewise, Shafia feels obligated to stop his daughters from being associated with what he deems is bad. Instead of intervening and using communication tactics Shafia plans a heinous murder without any repercussions. Both men took the actions because they felt that it was the best solution to deal with their situations. Further proving the point that honour in an Afghan community is very prevalent to this day.
Rumors spread to Najmah that “woman wearing henna on their fingertips had their fingers chopped off”(Staples 12). When Najmah heard the clink of bangles under a woman’s burqa and the click of her heels on the pavement, the sound created an unsettling sensation within her. Suddenly, Najmah recalled how the “Taliban would whip women whose shoes made a sound on paving stones (Staples 180).” She wanted to warn the woman, for her mother had told her that “women risk their lives by hiding their jewelry” (Staples 180). As for Nusrat, notwithstanding the fact that she just moved to Pakistan not long ago, she was extremely vigilant and prudent when the Taliban was around. One time, a servant of Nusrat’s disappeared. Nusrat sent someone to search for her and discovered that “she had been badly beaten and was held without charges” (Staples 99). From this incident, the unfair treatment towards women helped Nusrat to learn more about the Taliban’s rules in Pakistan. Given the facts above, it is very apparent that Taliban’s cruelty toward women is depicted precisely and vividly through the different stories of two
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
Honor, or reputation, is something that humans have been worried about throughout history, albeit some people more than others. Although bringing dishonor on someone’s name or family seemed to have more repercussions back in the older day, it is still something that people try to avoid doing. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (the author is unknown but referred to as the Pearl Poet) honor was an important factor as well. The story tells of a knight named Sir Gawain who has been challenged to a beheading game by a mysterious green knight. In this day and age, most people would just blow of the green knight as crazy and not even care about their honor as long as they could keep their lives. However, the knight is honor bound and takes the challenge;
This book by A. Widney Brown and LeShawn R.Jefferson reflects on the negative impacts of different Talib decrees on the overall development Afghan women.
The book In Search of Honor follows a young boy named Jacques Chenier through the brutal and bloody French Revolution. Jacques' father is maliciously murdered at the beginning of the story by the son of a very wealthy and powerful man. This sparks his hatred toward the Dukes, Duchess, Lords, and Ladies of France. Jacques and his mother were sent into poverty, and his father's killer got the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. As Jacques grows he follows his father's footsteps as an artesian, and he starts selling his works to keep him and his mother off the streets. A mysterious stranger named Danton has Jacques make models and lifelike statues to gain power and trust of the revolting people in France. Jacques gets thrown into the Bastille for breaking into the house of a very wealthy man to steal silver. While in the Bastille he meets an old, frail, battered, and wise man. Jacques gains the trust of the old man who is named Pierre-Joseph. After Jacques escapes with the help of some inmates Pierre helps Jacques
...a visit with Aziza, Laila saw a middle-aged woman, with her burqa pushed back…Laila recognized the sharp face… Laila remembered this woman once forbidding the female students from covering, saying women and men were equal, that there was no reason for women should cover if men didn’t” (322). To see a woman who was as close to a feminist as a woman in Afghanistan could get, to see her fall to level that the government wanted her at was crucial point in the novel that allowed us to really see the affect that the government had on the women in controlling every aspect of their lives.
Later on in the book the Taliban have control over Kabul and have enlisted a lot of rules upon all citizens but mostly the women and the way they can act, talk, look like, be treated, and more. Rasheed is almost pleased with the new rules especially since they go hand in hand with exactly what he believes in. Although his younger wife Laila is not so keen on the new rules “ ‘They can’t make half the population stay home and do nothing,’ Laila said. ‘Why not?’ Rasheed said. For once, Mariam agreed with him. He’d done the same to her and Laila, in effect, had he not?.... ‘This isn’t some village. This is Kabul. Women here used to practice medicine; they held office in the government-’ Rasheed grinned. ‘Spoken like the arrogant daughter of a poetry-reading university man that you are. How urbane, how Tajik, of you.” (Hosseini 279). He not only talks down about her beliefs but her culture and family that she was raised in.
Islam has influenced many cultures around the world. For centuries, Islam has had an immense influence on the Afghan culture. According to this religion, women have no rights. The men took advantage of this system by translating only what they wanted from the Koran; to enslave the women in our culture for their own desires. From the beginning, the women on no account had any civil rights or have power over their own lives, and most were uneducated and had accepted what their teachers taught in schools and mosques. My family moved to the US when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. I thank god to be one of the lucky women who did not have to live in Afghanistan and for giving me a better place to live in America. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the majority of the Afghan women. Under the cruel Taliban government the women were banned to work, and were not allowed outside their homes without being escorted by a man. The film Osama, inspired by a true story, is about Osama, a young girl who did lived in Kabul while the Taliban regime. Through Osama's story, I had a chance to see what it was like to live in Afghanistan as a woman. This is a story of a girl whose faith was in the hands of many different people: her family, the Taliban soldiers, and the city judge. Osama and I have different lives on different continents; however, we both could have had more rights and better life if we were born men.
In his novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, Khaled Hosseini skillfully illustrates many aspects of Afghan culture to the reader. The novel explores the struggles that have plagued Afghanistan, and how they have affected the lives of its people. Through the story’s two narrators, Mariam and Laila, the reader is presented with examples of how the nation’s culture has changed over time. Through “A Thousand Splendid Suns” Khaled Hosseini emphasizes the struggle in the area between traditional beliefs and progressive changes, specifically as they relate to women’s rights. Throughout history it has been shown these that progressive reforms are unable to coincide with strict Islamic beliefs.
Culture of Honor: The Psychology of Violence in the South, written by Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen discuss and explain violence found in the South. For decades, the American South has been viewed as more violent than the North. According to Nisbett and Cohen (1996):
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.
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel titled “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, the concept of man’s inhumanity to man describes the ways that war has a ripple effect, such that any inhumanity carried out has consequences for many more people than are involved in that act. One can clearly see that war leads to destruction during different regimes in Afghanistan. The destructive effects of war can be seen in the death of so many people. It leads to the suffering of the younger generation and it demolishes the infrastructure of the country.
The religion of Islam has obtained the reputation of violence and misogyny in recent decades due to radical sects in the international spotlight. Although violence has been limited to radical groups, many people outside of the religion view Islam’s law, Shari’ah law, to define the status of women below men. However, from the original holy text, the Qur’an, and the Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah, a framework of equality and mutual respect across sexes is evident. Although the Qur’an is the unadulterated Word of God, it is interpreted by Muslims in many different ways. It has been through these patriarchal interpretations of the five schools of Islamic law that the status of women has been impinged upon (Barlas, 2002). The Qur’an itself contains versus which demonstrate the equality of men and women, but also seemingly contradicts itself by undermining the status of women. These contradictory phrases have recently been interpreted by female scholars differently than the original schools to support the equality of sex. Muhammad’s life also displays his affection and respect for his wives as opposed to a lifestyle of misogyny. In the end, the status of women in Islam has been largely degraded by human interpretation of the text to create a power dynamic between a husband and his wife, or wives. Although a woman’s status has been lowered in the eyes of many Muslims, recent civil rights movements and women activists are challenging these emboldened concepts to achieve social and political leadership.
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.
In Pakistan the honor of a man rely on the behavior of her woman Women are always expected to behave modestly.