Discussion Topic C

J. Henry, 2nd period

Experiences shape a person’s personality, behavior, and values throughout their life. In Khaled Hosseini’s touching novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam’s past negatively affects her future.

                In her early life, Nana made Mariam feel unwanted. Mariam realized from a young age that “she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, and acceptance.” Mariam had it in her head that she didn’t deserve love and other things that every person is entitled to. Mariam’s only ray of hope was her father’s visits. With him, her problems faded away. She felt as if she belonged. Once she found out that he too would not accept her, she began to feel worthless. Every person in her life that she trusted had disappointed her or failed her in some way. Her husband Rasheed was no different. Nothing she did would please him. This increased her self-doubt. Was something wrong with her? The constant breaking of Mariam’s heart caused it to barricade itself and be put under lock and key. She realized that “the past only held this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake and its’ accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion.” Mariam would not have her heart broken again. She would not set herself up for failure by having hope.

                This explains her unfriendly behavior towards Laila upon her arrival into Mariam’s life. She felt Laila was stealing her husband which was perhaps the only thing Mariam felt she could lay claim to. She could not open her heart up to Laila, and later Aziza, because she could not afford anymore heartache. As time progresses, Mariam takes the lock off of her heart and begins to accept, even love, Laila and Aziza. She takes risks for them and tries to protect them. In the end, Mariam made the illegitimate sacrifice for them. Shortly before her death, Mariam thinks, “of her entry into this world… a regrettable accident. And yet she was leaving as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother.” These were all things she never expected to become. Things that she was told she would never be. She figured out that she was worth something. She was needed. She was loved. Most of all, she did have a purpose.

                Mariam’s past severely affected how she saw the world and reacted to situations later in life. She had always been someone that the world wrote off. However, she discovered that she was important and she mattered. This novel shows that one’s past does not dictate their future. Past hurts and disappointments can be forgotten and they can look forward to a bright future ahead.

Discussion Topic A

J. Henry, 2nd period

In Khaled Hosseini's powerful novel, A Thousand Splendid suns, he portrays Afghanistan’s turmoil through the eyes of two women, Laila and Mariam. Hosseini uses characterization and point of view in order to give a firsthand account of the inequality of women in the Afghan society.

                Mariam had been abused all her life. From her mother calling her a harami, bastard, to her father denying to see her and betraying her trust. The author uses characterization to portray the amount of physical abuse bestowed upon her by husband Rasheed. Upon Mariam’s arrival at his house, Rasheed told her, “Where I come from, one wrong look, one improper word, and blood is spilled… do you understand?” This was Mariam's first glimpse at how intimidating Rasheed was. He was making sure that she understood that she was to obey him without question. Once he found out that Mariam was unable to bear children, he rejected and practically ignored her. Throughout the years of their marriage, Rasheed continuously abused Mariam for any reason that he could find. It was as if a feudal system existed where Rasheed was the king and Mariam was the serf, doomed to work the land. Hosseini characterizes Rasheed as having a violent personality. The smallest thing could make him snap. Once, when Mariam's rice was not cooled to his liking, he “forced cold hard pebbles” into her mouth and yelled at her to chew them. This shows Rasheed as a cold hearted person with no regard for his wife’s well being. He physically abused Mariam and, later on, Laila, because he felt superior. In fact, according to Afghan culture, he actually was superior and he took full advantage of this.
                Hosseini tells the story from two women’s point of view to allow the reader to experience a perspective that they would rarely come by. This view will most likely not be found in history books. Laila and Mariam do not get along well at first but come to realize that they have a common enemy, Rasheed. In some of Rasheed's abusive rampages, the two become some sort of tag team. In one instance, Mariam “saw fingers clawing at Rasheed’s face… the fingers were hers. He let go of Laila and turned on her… She watched Laila's hand rise overhead then come swooping down against the side of his face.” This quote shows them women working together. Hosseini chose to write this particular situation from Mariam’s point of view so that the reader would be able to see Mariam’s motherly instinct begin to come out and her growth from the beginning of the book up until this point. She just couldn’t watch Rasheed attack Laila. She could not allow him to take away the only thing she had left.
                Hosseini uses characterization and point of view to depict the issue of domestic violence in a different light, from that of those with firsthand experience. The two women constantly get abused but eventually unite and rise up against their abuser and, in essence, try to take control of their lives. This shows that one should not just follow the status quo; they should fight for a change.