People say in high school you begin to discover who your true friends are. These friends support you through your best and worst moments. In middle school, I developed what I believed was this type of friendship, and that it would withstand the test of time. Sadly, our friendship grew apart as we discovered more of our identity in high school. Instead of using our differences as a tool to strengthen our friendship, it divided us into different worlds of high school. Despite the loss of that friendship, friendships of endurance are possible. In “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, written by Khaled Hosseini, Laila never gave up on the friendship she had with Mariam. Laila is young and outgoing, while Mariam is quiet and practical. These two very different …show more content…
With little freedom and stability in their trapped world of abuse, the girls use their friendship to bring hope. True friendships that are worth fighting for take hope, strength, and love to endure. Friendships require sacrifice in order to receive hope. When Mariam stands up for Laila by putting an end to Rasheed’s life, and taking the blame for it later on. This opens the door of hope for Laila by offering her a better life, away from “this unforgiving city” (Hosseini 253), and instead to a safer life with Tariq and her children. As Mariam calms Laila down after the death of Rasheed, she ensures her “not to worry, that everything will be fine.” (Hosseini 253) “For me, it ends here. There’s nothing more I want. Everything I’d ever wished for as a little girl you’ve already given me” (Hosseini 258). This selfless act of kindness shows Mariam has reflected on her life, and how she still sees hope for Laila and the children. However, part of Mariam is heartbroken with the thought of not saying goodbye to Aziza. “ ‘kiss Aziza for me,’ ” (Hosseini 359) Mariam said anxiously as some of her last words to Laila. When the two friends of looked back at each other one last time, this demonstrates Mariam’s sacrifice of staying behind, and taking the blame, in order to give hope to Laila. The hope of
Friendship is a necessity throughout life whether it is during elementary school or during adulthood. Some friendships may last a while and some may last for a year; it depends on the strength of the bond and trust between the two people. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters, Gene and Finny, did not have a pure friendship because it was driven by envy and jealousy, they did not feel the same way towards each other and they did not accurately understand each other.
Theme: Situations and surroundings can shatter the innocence of friendship, but more the identity of the individuals.
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
The three friends learn valuable lessons from the experience they went through; never judge a book by it’s cover, never underestimate their opponents and most importantly, there truly is a difference between a bad character and a bad character wanna-be.
The most supportive of friends are manifest during life’s toughest of obstacles. They are the ones that help us power through the storm. Karen Karbo claims, “Most of us would prefer to think that we love our friends because of who they are, not because of the ways in which they support who we are. It sounds vaguely narcissistic, and yet the studies bear it out.”(156) while Yvette and I stated off as simple associates, she was soon to be reviled as my most supportive friend. She was just another co-worker. However, after our bosses went through a divorce, our most dependable co-worker moved, and another reunited with her drug habit, Yvette was the only one I could depend on. Together we became an unbreakable team. We could run the front office without any flaws. Since our friendship was growing we became even more supportive of each other, if one was slacking the other would step up and make sure the task was completed. We would switch off on answering the phones and taking on a challenging customer. Occasionally we would go out for a drink to destress from work. We had just started taking our girls out on play dates, and hanging out on weekends. One night my mom called me to let me know she had made other plans for the following night and I needed to figure out another arrangement for my daughter. Most nights I depend on my mom to watch my daughter so I can go to class, and when she is unable my sister will step in. In
The true heroism of Mariam is evident in the novel, A thousand Splendid Suns,compared to Laila, by the hardships she experiences with her family in her early childhood. As a child Mariam experiences abandonment from her father when she needs him the most causing her a loss of innocence. Mariam goes to visit her father Jalil, to prove to her mother and herself that he loves her; however, when she arrives her father forces her to sleep on the road causing, “Tears of grief, of anger, of disillusionment. But mainly tears of deep, deep shame of how she had foolishly given herself over to Jalil” (page, ). Mariams constant denial of her mother's opinion about Jalil proves her loyalty towards him and she willingly leaves her mother to go visit him.
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.
Mariam endured the loss of her mom as a 15 year old and for the rest of her life Mariam would have to deal with the fact that she was the one who drove her mom to suicide. It affected her everywhere she went and in everything she did. After that, she had to endure the fact that her dad wanted her gone so badly that he married her off to a man, Rasheed, that was about 30 years old than her and who lived far away. Her new husband scared her for a while but she saw a good side when he found out that she was pregnant. Mariam was so happy to be having a child of her own; however, that happiness was cut short when she had a miscarriage. Mariam “believed that the baby had been an undeserved blessing, that she was being punished for what she had done to Nana”(93). Again, Mariam had to endure the loss of the child that was making this new life a little bit more bearable and her new husband a bit more pleasant. When they found out that Mariam could not have children, Rasheed had no use for her. The children that Mariam wanted stood for hope. She was hopeful that her life would be better and that she could escape that death of her mom, but each time the child is taken from her and so is her
Friendship is not something that has adapted over time. The desire to seek out and surround ourselves with other human beings, our friends, is in our nature. Philosophers such as Aristotle infer that friendship is a kind of virtue, or implies virtue, and is necessary for living. Nobody would ever choose to live without friends, even if we had all the other good things. The relationship between two very different young boys, Bruno and Shmuel’s in the film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is an example of the everlasting bond of a perfect friendship based upon the goodness of each other.
First,these three girls on behalf of newly things that wasn’t admitted by the society.The author spent a lot of words to depict how these girls
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.
Hosseini presents pregnancy and the birth of male child as a symbol of hope and sole path for a better future of Afghan women and developing their status in society throughout the novel. When Mariam is taken to her father house after her mother’s death, her father’s wives force him to let her marry Rasheed, a widowed shoemaker in Kabul. At first Rasheed treats Mariam decently, but after she suffers miscarriage after miscarriage, he abuses her both physically and verbally. It is clear that Rasheed’s only use for Mariam is her ability to replace the son he lost years ago. Mariam’s each pregnancy offers her an opportunity Mariam's to be hopeful for the future even with her dreary living situation. At first Rasheed is happy to have a young and attractive second wife in hopes of having a son with her. When Laila gives birth to a daughter, Aziza, Rasheed is displeased and suspicious. This results in him becoming violent towards
Friendship is one of many building blocks of life. It helps one realize how the absence of a friend helps one broaden its view on how important someone could be to another. It also causes a person to value others opinion to guide them towards a positive direction. Furthermore, it allows others to experience situations no one else could give them, which in return creates memories that would forever be held onto. Both the novel If I Ever Get of Here by Eric Gansworth and the song See You Again by Wiz Khalifa ft Charlie Puth center on the theme of friendship-showing how it influences personal growth. Both the novel and the song demonstrate that understanding life lessons can help one realize that small acts are the ones that make a true impact
Growing up in school you have your friends in 1st, then in Jr. High, and then when you get to high school you might not even know or see your friends from 1st grade anymore. For the few people who’s had a friend from 1st grade till college I think that someone they need to hold on to because if they stuck with you through all them year I know they’re there for the right reason and there not just there for a season. As Elizabeth Dunphy says, “It’s the little things that matter, that add up in the end, with the priceless thrilling magic found only in a friend.”
In life we come across many people. Some will hate us while others will adore us. The ones who hate us can be referred to as enemies and the ones who show us adoration are referred to as friends. There are three types of friends. They are the aquaintinces we make in school, the friends we loose as one grows, and best friends who may stray, but never too far away.