Loyalty In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Furthermore, femininity is shown to be idealised in these novels, through the description of the women as loyal. Tess is loyal to her family when she goes to Casterbridge late at night to deliver beehives, “I think I could go if Abraham could go with me to keep me company.” Tess’s quick response to her mother shows that she knows these beehives need to be delivered in order for the family to earn money, which proves her loyalty. Tess’ father Jack was supposed to do this, but after he gets drunk, his wife deems that “The poor man can’t go.” Despite having to wake up at 2 am, Tess is eager for the task, which shows her loyalty to her family. Similarly, Tess is loyal to her husband, Angel Clare. When Angel Clare states that they should separate

Furthermore in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ Mariam is loyal to her father Jalil. Every Thursday, as a child, she waited for him to visit ‘for an hour or two’. The 3rd person narrator reveals that ‘…when Jalil came to see her, all smiles and gifts and endearments, Mariam felt deserving of all the beauty and bounty that life had to give.’ Despite the short amount of time with her father, Mariam is shown to be loyal to her father, which is demonstrated through the use of alliteration ‘beauty’ and ‘bounty’ which has a pleasant sound and emphasises the loyalty of Mariam. Women in Islam are taught to be loyal through the example of Hazrat Khadija, who was loyal to her husband Mohammad. Hence, femininity is shown to be idealised in the

For instance, in ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ when people come to arrest Tess for her murder of Alec she states, “It is as it should be.” This short, direct statement has a confident tone, which confirms Tess’s acceptance of fate. Accepting of one’s fate is part of Christianity "For I know the plans I have for you,” as quoted from Jeremiah, and Britain was largely Christian in the 19th century, thus Tess may have got inspiration from her faith. Tess’s mother earlier ‘tried her fate in the Fortune-Teller’ and knows that Tess is fated to marry a nobleman. This shows the superstition of the 19th century and emphasises the irony of Tess meeting Alec, a forged nobleman who bought the D’Urberville name. Moreover, Hardy uses imagery such as the necklace ‘gave a sinister wink like a toad’s’ and the fire lighting the ashes ‘like a torrid waste’ to show how fate is warning Tess as she tells Angel Clare about her past with Alec, on their wedding night. Hardy, the author, was considered a fatalist, and his beliefs in fate are portrayed in Tess. Meanwhile in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, as Mariam walks to her death, the omniscient narrator reveals her thoughts: ‘…She was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back…No. It was not so bad, Mariam thought, that she should die this way.’ The use of ellipsis portrays how Mariam accepts her fate after she thinks about the