How Is Mariam Portrayed In A Thousand Splendid Suns

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Recommended: The role of women in the Middle East

Aubrey Mumashe Magodlyo
Professor Stauffer
LA 201
Paper #2 A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini wrote A Thousand Splendid Suns which is an account of life in Afghanistan during a time when there was a lot of violence in the country. Unfortunately, this violence was often carried into the houses of many families with women being the greatest victims. In the novel, Hosseini seeks to portray that although there are a lot of negative things going on in Afghanistan, not all Afghani people are defeated; some individuals manage to thrive and live life to the fullest. One of the most remarkable people who proves to be one in a thousand splendid suns is Mariam who is a child born out of wedlock. Her dad, Jalil sends Mariam’s mother, Nana away …show more content…

Being called a harami probably made Mariam feel unwanted. Just as Nana’s low expectations help Mariam, so does her mother’s degradation of her; being called a bastard prepared Mariam for the encounter with Rasheed when she was instructed to wear a burqa. Although the burqa was uncomfortable, Mariam’s low self-esteem made her view wearing a burqa as an opportunity to cover herself and become invisible from the world. This frees her from being bothered about being illegitimate. By using prior experiences which had lowered her self-esteem and expectations, Mariam proves to be one of the thousand splendid suns by turning lessons acquired from bad experiences into positive outlooks on …show more content…

Faizullah loves and cares for Mariam because he gives her a picture of God, a loving and caring being. He shares with Mariam that she could always get comfort from the scriptures written in the Koran. He says according to the Koran, “God’s words will never betray you” (17). After her first miscarriage, Mariam is sad and angry and she prays to God. When Mariam is down, her religious faith helps her go through life’s sad moments. Due to the plethora of suffering which Mariam is exposed too, she could have killed herself but somehow she holds on to some faith that God will help her like Faizullah had hinted from his teachings. Clinging to her faith regardless of hard times seems to give Mariam strength to carry on with life. Additionally, before she was killed, Mariam says a prayer; this gesture suggests she valued prayer as the go to activity in difficult times. Praying gave her hope that God was always there for her and he was forgiving. Mariam was able to be one in a thousand splendid suns of Kabul in that she always motivated herself and found the strength to keep living regardless of the problems she was facing. All her life Mariam wanted someone to love her and to show her that she belonged and Faizullah was able to do this for

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