Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns

I earnestly believe that this novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, should be read by everyone. It gives the reader a great insight into the status of women in Afghan society during the late 1950s. Hosseini’s vivid and graphic depiction of the harsh life of the women in the patriarchal society of Afghanistan, accompanied by the embodiment of bonds between the persecuted female characters forms the major foundation of this novel. It portrays a world where suffering and persecution of girls begin at their birth and continues throughout their life in a male-dominated society, where they are objectified and denied the opportunity to be self-dependent. Their lives are governed in entirety by close male relatives and they have no say in deciding their life paths, making one appreciate the free and just world that we live in. As F. Scott Fitzgerald

Mariam an illegitimate child was forced to live in seclusion with her mother as per the existing social norms when Nana, her mother, committed suicide out of extreme insecurity triggered by the mistaken thought of being deserted by her. This left Mariam at the mercy of her father Jalil who never acknowledged her as his child due to fear of being ostracized by his family and society. She was married off to Rasheed, a man thrice her age, in a quick act of riddance. Though for a brief period immediately after marriage he was cordial to her, soon this façade collapsed, and his brutality ensued. Rasheed thought of her as an object who would unconditionally obey him, suffer silently and bear him children at his will. When this did not materialize after seven miscarriages his bestial treatment to her increased exponentially. She became a tool that has outlived its usefulness hence she was regularly assaulted mercilessly by him for no obvious