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Understand the lesson-the thousand splendid suns-by Khaled Hosseini
Women in Afghanistan in the 2000s
Research on women in Afghanistan
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Afghanistan has always been the center of culture, tradition, and religion in the Middle East however, in Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini shows the reader just how rough it can be for women in Afghanistan. Throughout the novel we see the duanting reality of how women are treated. We see the two main characters Mariam and Laila fight through being treated as property, micromanaged by the government, and playing no role in Afghanistan’s society, but through it all they are able to overcome these obstacles. Through these characters, Hosseini shows the reader the importance of women's rights and equality for all.
In the beginning the women in Afghanistan had some basic rights, but as the book progressed things changed for the worst. Kabul was being overrun by the Taliban, the streets were flooded with trucks and armed men, they were preaching the Voice of Shari’a.“You will stay inside your homes at all times. It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the streets. If you go outside, you must be accompanied by a mahram, a male relative. If you are caught alone on the street, you will be beaten and sent home” (Hosseini
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He was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down icily on the crowd gathered in front of the hospital” (Hosseini 255). When the Taliban took over most hospitals would no treat women only men, they wouldn’t even help a pregnant women who was in desperate need of medical attention. Lalia was forced to go to a hospital that did treat women, It was in very poor condition they had no clean water, and the doctors refused to use gloves due to low supplies, and was forced to wait tell night until she was even seen. Laila went through all that pain and suffering just because hospitals would not treat women, this really shows the hardships Laila and Mariam went
Secondly, Latifa had to deal with the way women were treated in the Afghan society. Women weren’t allowed to go outside of their homes without the company of their father or brother. Latifa managed to deal with this by staying inside. She knew she wouldn’t have to deal with the Taliban if she avoided them. Latifa also couldn’t stand the fact that women couldn’t hold jobs. She opened up a school for the children of her apartment complex knowing there would be harsh consequences if caught. She also had to deal with knowing her mother and sister had to give their jobs up. Women were also required to dress in certain clothing. Latifa claimed
The Taliban regime was infamous for its treatment of women. Windows had to be painted black so men could not look into the windows of houses and see the women inside. Women were unable to work. Under Taliban rule, women were not allowed to be educated, unable to go to school or university. 9 out of 10 Afghan women are illiterate. Unfortunately, Meena was unwillingly cast into the role of teacher to young girls who wanted to learn how to read. Because she had been to university, girls flocked to...
Social injustice is revealed throughout the novel and Hosseini really goes in depth and indulges the reader by portraying every aspect of the life of women in Afghanistan at the time period. He also reveals most of the social injustice women still have to deal with today. This novel is based on two young women and the social injustices they face because of their gender. Gender inequality was very common in Afghanistan
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
He knew that if he took her in she could have his son. Rasheed then became violent with Laila just like he did with Mariam. If Laila ever talked back to him he would slap her, if she said something more intelligent than him or proved him wrong he would call her stupid say that she was uneducated. When she became pregnant with his son he couldn't wait to teach his son how to act like him. Rasheed made sure Laila was having boy because if he had a girls she wouldn't be dominant in life, she would be considered a harami. Mariam did not like Laila because she saw her as a threat but she also felt bad for Laila because Mariam knew how it felt to not be wanted and to be a victim. Later in the story they became close and Mariam looked at Laila and her kids as if they were her children. Mariam cared for Laila and her safety that they decided they would try to escape and start over. But that did not work out. The police brought them right back home and Rasheed tortured them but throwing Laila and Aziza into a room and looking the door and boarding the windows and threw Mariam in a shed outside. He kept them there for days without food or water. He saw this as a punishment for them disobeying his rules. The violence that Mariam and Laila endure is through this patriarchal society where the man is the dominant individual and can do anything he wants to his wives, even his
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.
Women in Afghanistan don’t have as much freedom or no rights compared to the men in their country. Men are seen as strong ,controlling and Powerful. They often say that women are treated worse than the animals. Women are not treated really well in Afghanistan Men and Women should be treated the same.Hopefully one day we will see the rights and responsibilities change and women are valued as much as men
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
From the 1950’s until around 1985 the Soviet Union had Afghanistan under its control. This Soviet involvement in Afghanistan caused the ideologies of communism to spread into the Afghanistan culture. One of the communistic ideas that were assimilated into was the thought that every person is equal. This idea made life a lot easier for the women of Afghanistan. One of the freedoms they were given under Soviet control was the allowance of woman being educated, “The government had sponsored literacy classes for all women. Almost two-thirds of the students at Kabul University were women now… women who were studying law, medicine, engineering” (135) Hosseini expresses this through the character Laila. Laila’s father, Babi, was a professor and strongly urged the necessity for Laila to get an education. He was so dedicated that he would help out Laila with her homework every night. Hosseini expressed this when Laila claimed “Babi thought that the one thing that communists had done right- or at least intended to- ironically, was in the filed of education… More specifically the education of women.” (135). To Babi there was nothing more impertinent than the education of woman in Afghanistan. He knew that when half the population is illiterate the country cannot properly aspire to new and better things. Along with the new right to learn, women’s requirement to cover their skin was relaxed all throughout Afghanistan. ...
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.
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.
Khaled Hosseini, author of A Thousand Splendid Suns, is indisputably a master narrator. His refreshingly distinctive style is rampant throughout the work, as he integrates diverse character perspectives as well as verb tenses to form a temperament of storytelling that is quite inimitably his own. In his novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, he explores the intertwining lives of two drastically different Afghani women, Lailia and Mariam, who come together in a surprising twist of fate during the Soviet takeover and Taliban rule. After returning to his native Afghanistan to observe the nation’s current state amidst decades of mayhem, Hosseini wrote the novel with a specific fiery emotion to communicate a chilling, yet historically accurate account of why his family was forced to flee the country years ago.
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.
The discussion of Muslim dress in relation to modesty is globally controversial and reiterated in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini in 2007. The three main types of modest Muslim dress are the burqa, hijab, and niqab. These accoutrements can emotionally and physically affect women in positive and negative ways. Some women feel that the burqa protects them from the world and increases their body positivity, while others argue the burqa is dangerous for health and leaves women prisoner to cloth. These garments are symbolic for the oppression of women globally, but others argue that the usage of the burqa is taken out of context to justify foreign actions in the Middle East. The burqa effects women negatively and positively,
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.