a thousand splendid suns ap lit essay

Themes and Analysis

A thousand splendid suns, by khaled hosseini.

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' digs deeply into issues of motherhood, sacrifice, and the strength of the human spirit in the face of unfathomable sorrow.

About the Book

Article written by Charles Asoluka

Degree in Computer Engineering. Passed TOEFL Exam. Seasoned literary critic.

‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ explores a variety of themes, such as the difficulties Afghan women experience in a patriarchal society and the harsh gender roles that are enforced on them. It shows how women are denied fundamental freedoms and rights and how the expectations of males influence their life. It also talks about the unwavering love and selflessness of its female protagonists, who are ready to endanger their lives for those they care about. It illustrates how love may promote optimism and resiliency despite extreme adversity.

Khaled Hosseini also explores the catastrophic effects of conflict on common people during a time of political unrest and war in Afghanistan. It shows how homes and towns are destroyed, lives are lost, and millions of people are displaced. ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ characters are a testament to the resilience and tenacity of the human spirit. The protagonists can withstand extreme tribulation and still maintain optimism in the face of difficulty. It shows how the human spirit can triumph in the face of the most trying situations.

Afghan History

The setting of ‘ A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ is Afghanistan, a nation whose tribal tribes have fought for hundreds of years between foreign invasions. The characters’ struggle for survival amid conflict clearly reflects the conflicting political forces and factions that vie for control of the nation and its citizens. The novel’s historical elements cover a sizable amount of time—30 years—to depict how the effects and pain of war are passed down through generations. Laila’s family experiences the impact of the Soviet occupation while Mariam navigates the first years of her marriage to Rasheed. The Soviets fire Laila’s father from his position as a teacher, and Ahmad and Noor, two of Laila’s brothers, are killed while battling the Soviets. Although Laila’s family is in trouble, Laila’s teacher supports the Soviets and maintains that the populace has overthrown the former government. Due to the loss of the boys—first to the army and then when they are killed—her mother experiences despair. Laila struggles to feel like she belongs in the family because her parents always quarrel. The ongoing conflict and political change cycle has shaped Laila’s entire young life.

For Laila’s family, the Soviets leaving seemed like a happy turn of events, but a tribal faction’s attempt to seize control leads to conflict between them. Tariq’s family departs Kabul for Pakistan due to the instability. Giti, Laila’s best friend, is destroyed by a rocket, and her parents are killed by shelling her home. Rasheed and Mariam are necessary for Laila’s life, but this circumstance quickly becomes unsustainable as well. Laila, Mariam, and Aziza have no chance at all of evading capture when the Mujahideen take over Kabul, and they are sentenced to home confinement, where they almost dehydrate to death. Then, the ongoing conflict between tribal tribes and the Taliban’s extensive territory turns into a full-scale campaign on women. Rasheed is pleased that a more conservative government is in place, but because of the Taliban’s severe regulations, Laila must deliver Zalmai via cesarean section without anesthetic. The cruelty of the Taliban is matched by the cruelty Rasheed exhibits at home. No aspect of life for any of the characters has not been touched by war.

Shame, Social Status, and Reputation in A Thousand Splendid Suns

Several of the characters make decisions based on how their actions will impact their reputation rather than their desires. This dissonance results in varied degrees of humiliation for numerous characters. Rasheed’s interactions demonstrate how reputation may be used as a weapon, while Nana’s treatment of Mariam demonstrates how reputation can be used as a tool to instill shame. The plot of the novel is set in motion by Jalil’s shame at having Mariam recognized as his daughter. Mariam would not have wed Rasheed if he had not worried about what other people would think of him. Throughout the book, Mariam is identified by her reputation as a harami. Laila, who consistently prioritizes her own goals over those of others, is one of the few characters who can struggle with throwing away her reputation. Mariam eventually succeeds in doing this as well, and it turns out to be the turning point in her story. A person’s reputation in Afghanistan matters not only personally but also politically. The Taliban’s Shari’a laws have serious consequences for women who do not experience sentiments of shame, like Laila.

Genuine Love in A Thousand Splendid Suns

The concept of pure love contrasts and coexists with the terrible outcomes of arranged weddings. Mammy (Fariba) and Babi (Hakim), Laila’s parents, had a real love-type marriage. Despite their frequent arguments in Laila’s early years, they still spoke with affection about how they met and fell in love. They still like relating their courtship tales to Laila. Their relationship is stressed out by life’s occurrences rather than a lack of affection. The author implies through these two characters that true love does not involve violence but rather involves sticking together and making decisions as a couple. Mammy and Babi delay leaving Kabul until they are both on board, a choice that ultimately costs them their lives. Laila remembers them as having a loving relationship, even though she is subjected to horrific brutality in her arranged marriage. Laila finds the courage to confront Rasheed and the understanding that she does not deserve his violence from the memories of her parent’s love for one another.

True love is demonstrated through Laila’s narrative with Tariq, which demonstrates that it endures. Tariq, her high school sweetheart, ends up being her lover. Afterward, Laila is committed to protecting his child, even if it means wed to the hateful Rasheed. When she thinks Tariq is dead, Laila keeps his memory alive and rushes to him when he knocks on her door. Laila is aware that Tariq’s presence in the home will lead to issues, but she is unsure of how harsh Rasheed’s response will be. She is prepared to deal with the repercussions, though, to speak with Tariq. When Laila must flee, Tariq waits close by, and she follows him. In the novel’s conclusion, they are married, and despite the sadness that comes along with their happiness, their love is still strong.

Another illustration of genuine love in the book is Mariam’s devotion to Aziza, Laila, and later Zalmai. Mariam’s narrative emphasizes the virtue of being prepared to make sacrifices for loved ones. Because of her love for Zalmai, Mariam is unwilling to run to safety with Laila, even if she is willing to risk her life to save the latter. She doesn’t want Zalmai to have to deal with living with his father’s murderer. She loves Laila and Aziza too much to insist on their staying, though. She values their security more than her own life. Because she was able to love Laila and the kids, the family she always desired, Mariam claims she has had a fulfilling life. Despite her fear of dying, she is able to meet her death peacefully because of this understanding.

Pain and Resilience in A Thousand Splendid Suns

All of the characters in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ have experienced both physical and emotional agony. But this sorrow manifests itself in various ways. Losing a loved one causes its unique brand of acute pain, frequently in a way that doesn’t appear to offer any sort of solace. But, there are other forms of hardship that the characters voluntarily put up with to save others. ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ appears to be struggling with how to establish a hierarchy of suffering and loss. Is the death of Laila’s brothers—which occurred after Babi, or so Mammy alleges—allowed them to fight the Mujahideen somehow worse than the accidental rocket that took Giti’s life? Several techniques are used by the characters to deal with such hardship. After the passing of her sons, Mammy seeks solace in her gloomy bedroom but never fully appears to be able to get over her grief. Laila is more practical; she marries Rasheed as a result of her parents’ passing rather than despite it because she believes it to be her only alternative. This kind of tenacity seems to be encouraged in the book rather than the immobility that can result from suffering. Even though the characters’ pain may be irreversible, there is strength and value to be derived from their ability to survive.

This is particularly true when the characters voluntarily choose to endure. For instance, Laila voluntarily consents to be beaten by the Taliban for going alone as a woman to visit and spend time with her daughter Aziza who is being raised in an orphanage. Mariam naturally decides to kill Rasheed to give Laila a better chance at life, despite knowing full well that she will be found guilty and put to death by the Taliban as a result. It is suggested that women, in particular, excel at this capacity to willingly suffer for the benefit of others. From Mariam’s sacrifice to Laila’s very difficult childbirth, women suffer on their own.

Intergender Dynamics and Afghan Women

Hosseini can highlight particular facets of Afghan life and history that diverge from the mainstream historical narrative by recounting the tale of ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ from the perspectives of two Afghan women. In reality, the book makes use of the restrictions placed on Afghan women to examine how women have dealt with, overcome, and defied these restraints. Throughout the book, gender relations vary according to the occupying troops and the regulations that go along with them. For instance, under communist control, girls are allowed to go to school and work outside the family. Babi pushes Laila to capitalize on this status and praises it. Yet, before being married, girls are advised not to spend too much time with people of the other sex. Gender relations can also be influenced by particular cultural or traditional customs; Mariam, for example, has been forced to wear a burqa by her husband for a long time before it was made legal. The ones who go off to fight are the males, like Laila’s brothers, while the women stay at home and frequently have to deal with the effects of war.

The Mujahideen and, later, the Taliban arrive, significantly altering the comparatively progressive gender norms of communism. The limitations on Laila’s freedom of expression and travel have the effect of removing Kabul, the city she always believed to be hers. Nonetheless, the protagonists manage to buck these expectations. Laila slips to the orphanage across town, and Mariam plots an escape from Rasheed with her. Although Rasheed’s brutal beatings may have been lawful under the Taliban, Hosseini is unmistakably on the side of more rights for women, and the reader is intended to support Laila and Mariam as they fight against these injustices.

What is the main theme in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ?’

The persecution of women in a patriarchal society is one of the main themes in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns. ‘ The book is set in Afghanistan, a nation where women are required to act by gender norms and are denied fundamental freedoms like the right to an education and the freedom to travel around as they like.

What lessons can be gleaned from ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ?’

One of the lessons in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ is the value of human fortitude and the capacity to bear unfathomable agony. Throughout the upheaval of war, Mariam and Laila, two women who struggle in a patriarchal culture, forge an unshakable relationship. Their experience is told in the novel. The tale also teaches readers the value of female unity. Mariam and Laila develop a strong friendship despite coming from different origins.

What genre is “A Thousand Splendid Suns” ?

Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ is a work of fiction that falls within the literary and historical fiction categories. A subgenre of literature, known as historical fiction, uses historical persons or events as the backdrop for fictional stories that are set in the past. The novel ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns ‘ is set in Afghanistan in the 1980s, during the Soviet occupation, and in the 1990s, during the Taliban administration.

Why did Mariam stay with Rasheed in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns?’

Mariam’s decision to endure the violence and stay with Rasheed can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, societal and cultural pressures played a significant role. Growing up in a society where women were expected to be obedient and submissive, Mariam internalized these expectations and felt trapped in her marriage. Additionally, Mariam felt a sense of duty and responsibility towards her role as a wife and mother, despite the mistreatment she endured.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns Analysis Essay

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel written by Khaled Hosseini. The story follows the lives of two women, Mariam and Laila, who are born in Afghanistan in different centuries but share a similar fate. Despite their differences, the two women develop a strong bond and support each other through the many trials and tribulations they face. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a powerful tale of love, loss, and hope in the face of adversity.

Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-American author who was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1965. He moved to the United States in 1980 and became a doctor. Hosseini is best known for his novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both books are set in Afghanistan and explore the themes of war, exile, and family. A Thousand Splendid Suns was published in 2007 and was a New York Times bestseller. The novel was also nominated for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is an emotionally powerful novel that tells the story of two women who are forced to confront the many challenges of life in Afghanistan. Mariam and Laila share a strong bond that helps them survive the many trials they face. The book is a testament to the power of friendship and love in the face of adversity.

A veil of silence descended on the room. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel by Khaled Hosseini that tells the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, who are forced to marry a man they do not love. The novel follows their lives as they are subjected to abuse and violence at the hands of their husband.

Despite the horrors they experience, Mariam and Laila find moments of happiness and friendship. The novel explores themes of love, courage, and resilience in the face of adversity. A Thousand Splendid Suns was published in 2007 and was adapted into a Broadway play in 2013. The novel has been translated into over forty languages.

Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-American author who has written two other novels, The Kite Runner and And the Mountains Echoed. Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. He moved to the United States in 1980 and became a citizen in 1992. A Thousand Splendid Suns was highly acclaimed by critics and won several awards, including the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Novel and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.

When A Thousand Splendid Suns was published, it became an instant bestseller. The book tells the story of two women who are forced to marry a man they do not love. Mariam is from an upper-class family, while Laila is from a lower-class family. Rasheed is a warlord who has killed many people. Mariam and Laila are both subjected to abuse and violence at the hands of their husband.

Despite the horrors they experience, Mariam and Laila find moments of happiness and friendship. The novel explores themes of love, courage, and resilience in the face of adversity. A Thousand Splendid Suns was highly acclaimed by critics and won several awards, including the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Novel and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the focus is on women’s rights, particularly in the Taliban era. Mariam and Laila live through regimes that are not horrible. Despite her father’s family forcing her to marry Rasheed, Mariam has the final say as to whether she will accept his proposal.

Laila’s family is much more traditional, but her mother does not lose her identity after marriage. Both women must deal with Rasheed’s increasing control and violence as the Taliban takes over Afghanistan.

Despite the challenges they face, Mariam and Laila are both strong women. They find ways to help each other and to resist Rasheed’s abuse. In the end, they are able to escape his grasp and create a better life for themselves and their children. A Thousand Splendid Suns is an important reminder that women have always been strong and capable, even in the most difficult circumstances.

It is also a testament to the power of friendship and love between women. Khaled Hosseini has written a beautiful and moving story that will stay with readers for a long time. A Thousand Splendid Suns is an excellent novel and deserves all the accolades it has received.

The women in this group were—what was Rasheed’s term? —”modern.” Yes, modern Afghan women married to modern Afghan men who did not mind that their wives walked among strangers with makeup on their faces and no head coverings.

They had attended universities in America and Europe. They worked as doctors and lawyers and wore pantsuits to the office. A thousand splendid suns Mariam born illegitimate in a small village in rural Afghanistan, Mariam has spent her entire life as a virtual prisoner of her conservative father.

When she is not under lock and key, she is busy laboring in the family fields. So when an opportunity arises for her to escape—to go live with her mother’s sister in Kabul—she takes it, even though she must leave behind her beloved young son.

When Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns was published in 2007, it became an instant bestseller, spending over two years on the New York Times Best Seller list. A rich and complex story set against the backdrop of Afghan history, A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the tale of two women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives are forever changed by the Taliban’s rise to power in the 1990s.

The story begins in the late 1970s, with Mariam living as a virtual prisoner of her father. A product of an illegitimate union, she has always been treated poorly by her father and other members of her village. So when she is offered an opportunity to escape to Kabul and live with her mother’s sister, she takes it, even though she must leave her young son behind.

Laila is born into a more fortunate family in Kabul, but the rug is pulled out from under her when the Soviets invade and occupy Afghanistan. Her father is executed, her brother disappears, and her mother flees to Pakistan, leaving Laila behind to fend for herself.

The two women eventually cross paths in Kabul, where they are both living as refugees during the Taliban’s rule. Mariam has been working as a servant for a man named Rasheed, while Laila has been selling flowers on the street to support herself and her young daughter. The two women become unlikely friends, despite the many differences in their backgrounds.

However, the Taliban’s rule is a difficult time for women, and both Mariam and Laila must face increasing restrictions and dangers. Mariam is forced to marry Rasheed, an abusive man who takes pleasure in controlling and humiliating her. Laila is nearly raped by a member of the Taliban, but is saved by her former fiancé, Karim.

As the years go by and the Taliban’s grip on Afghanistan Tightens, Mariam and Laila are increasingly desperate and frustrated. Finally, they find an opportunity to escape—but it comes at a high price.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

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Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Chapters 26-30

Chapters 31-35

Chapters 36-40

Chapters 41-45

Chapters 46-51

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Discussion Questions

What is the role of childhood in the novel? To what extent are Laila and Mariam’s adulthood experiences shaped by their childhoods?

To what extent do the changes in Afghanistan’s political regimes affect Mariam and Laila?

“‘Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman,’” Nana tells Mariam in her girlhood (7). How do Mariam and Laila encounter misogyny, and how successful are they in confronting it?

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AP Literature FRQ 3 Literary Argument Prompt Practice A Thousand Splendid Suns

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For each book that we read in my AP Literature class, I have students complete an FRQ 3 assignment so that they are continually practicing the skills for that essay. I have found that breaking apart the prompts helps them practice answering all parts thoroughly. This AP Literature practice provides students with three FRQ 3 literary argument prompts specifically chosen for Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns and questions that help "break down" the prompts so students learn to answer all parts of their FRQs. This activity would also work as a great activity or assessment for non-AP students who have read the book in class (I often use FRQ 3 prompts for my non-AP students myself). Enjoy!

This Google Doc resource includes:

• Completely editable template (I have my students use and submit the template, but you could also print it)
• A prompt to create a theme statement (I have my students create a theme statement for every text so that they are continually thinking about the “meaning of the work as a whole”)
• An example theme statement
• One close reading question
• Three FRQ 3 prompts specifically chosen for Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns along with tasks for each that help students “break down” what each question is asking
• A final question asking students to choose one of the three prompts they feel most prepared to answer using A Thousand Splendid Suns as their text

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Literary Analysis: a Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns is an outstanding novel published in 2007, written by Khalid Hosseini, who is known as a three-bestselling author. The subjects of this novel reflect on and have similarities in conflict like his previous book, The Kite Runner written in 2003. Khalid narrates the different aspects of afghan woman before and during the soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban.

The time span of the novel from when published, goes back approximately thirty-seven years. Hosseini tells the story of the obedience in the common fate to become co-wives of the same misogynistic, brutal man. He explains the one-sided story of the real-life characters that were brought up in the upheavals of the last forty years. It is a manifestation of the struggle under harsh sociopolitical and economic circumstances which highlights the labeling and diverse issues the afghan woman was once born into. The importance of endurance is not to remain suppressed, instead to stand up against oppressors under harsh conditions.

The book begins with an unhappy little girl named Mariam who is considered a harami, or to American’s, what we would call a bastard child. She was an ethnic Tajik born in Heart in 1959. This little harami lives in an outside hut built by her father Jalil who rejects her in many ways. A few ways would be how he keeps her away from her nine brothers and sisters and only visits her once a week. Her mother Nana was a servant in the household of Jalil. He was a rich and powerful man who took advantage of her and wanted nothing more. Mariam was loved in a very crucial way. Her mother made it known she was the symbol of their shame. Mariam knew she did not have the acceptance of her family and that she never would. Through gritted teeth her mother once told her, “You are a clumsy little harami. This is my reward for everything I endured, an heirloom-breaking, clumsy little harami.” All this because she broke a treasured heirloom once and her mother never forgave her for it.

After her mother’s death Mariam is married off at the age of fifteen to a shoemaker named Rasheed, who was an ethnic Pashtun. Rasheed was a very stern and aggressive man and he emotionally, mentally, and physically abused Mariam. Some days he seemed to have love and endured her, but only if she did as she was told. She could do nothing but take this treatment, though she feared him in every way. Strangely, she felt some connection to him since he was the only person she had, there was no other choice then to love him as her husband. Her mother always told her, “It’s our lot in life, woman like us, we endure and it’s all we have.” The warnings of her mother were the validity of every afghan woman’s life. Soon the story takes a sad turn and the suicide of Nana, Mariam’s mother, is a depiction of the way women are positioned in the afghan society. Women in these times were being blamed for everything with no way out, surviving only on their great strength to endure the inequalities and injustice-ness of their lives.

Mariam and Rasheed lived the life of a semi-normal married couple. They went on walks, he showed her the town, and bought her gifts from time to time. Mariam soon became pregnant and they shared the joy together. Mariam finally felt like she had a purpose and she told herself that her unborn child was the reason she was brought into this world. Not to long into her pregnancy Mariam lost the baby. Once this happened, her and Rasheed disconnected and shut down. They did not speak often, nor did they connect in the little ways they had before. Their home became an unhappy home and Mariam no longer found purpose in her life. For now, she was empty and alone once again.

Over the years Rasheed’s hatred against Mariam grew, no matter what she did to please him it was never enough. Mariam awoke every day to do her wifely duties and made sure she did nothing to upset Rasheed, but he no longer looked at her as his wife. She could not give him what he truly wanted which was children, he viewed her as a failure. She had failed him seven times. After four years of marriage, Mariam was now just a burden and he constantly yelled and ridiculed Mariam. He even made her chew on pebbles until she drew blood and her molars broke because she couldn’t cook rice his way. This was his way of describing how he felt about her cooking. He had no mercy for her and she was nothing but a harami once again.

In these chapters, Hossieni describes the position of a woman in the afghan society as the one’s to reproduce and take care of their husband with very little say. The domestic abuse is not due to lack of abiding by woman to the informal laws and traditions; rather it is the men’s privilege to blame woman for anything irrespective of woman’s fault. At one point in the beginning of the novel, Nana explains to Mariam the future code of conduct, “Learn this now, and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.” I believe Hossieni wrote this to illustrate the way woman are being blamed and treated despite their pure innocence. The society has laws and customs that prohibits woman from arguing with men, let alone the right to end unequal treatment.

Through out the book Hosseini also told the story of another young girl named Laila, an ethnic Pashtun who was born in 1978. Her upbringings weren’t quite the same as Mariam. Laila’s father was university educated and was a teacher. Her faher was very fond of her and they had a close relationship with her, unlike Mariam and her father. Laila and her mother’s relationship was not the best. Her mother did not mistreat her, however she just did not connect very well with her. Through out the chapter’s of Laila’s life, a close relationship blooms between her and her best friend Tariq, an ethnic Pashtun born in 1976. Laila was in love with Tariq, but even though she wanted him to be her husband one day, her family refused because he had a fake leg and they looked poorly at him for being handicap.

Laila’s life was lived through the war and one day during the war her town was wiped out. When this happened most of her family and friends were assumed dead, this including the life of her beloved Tariq. Soon after this, Mariam and Laila’s lives became worse when Rasheed takes Laila as his second wife. Even though Laila and Mariam were unhappy about the marriage they both knew neither of them had a say. Later on Laila shared secrets with Mariam about her pregnancy with her beloved Tariq who was assumed dead. Even though the girls were unpleased about the sharing of the household they soon softened once the baby was born. Since Rasheed was uncomfortable that the baby was not a boy, Mariam and Laila raised the baby with no help from Rasheed. This behavior from a husband was normal in the life for an afghan mother that could not birth a son.

Over the years Mariam and Laila live their lives as Rasheed’s wives, multiple times they try to escape their miserable life. In the afghan society when a woman is seen traveling alone it is a red flag. It is not allowed and they in most parts can be risking their lives. When the women were caught the first time, it was very scary for them as it would be for any afghan woman. Rasheed was not happy and punished both of them harshly for their misbehavior.

A little later Tariq, who Laila thought was dead showed up and in that moment changes everything for Laila. Rasheed found out the child was not his and makes Laila give her up. Laila already hated her life and wanted to escape, now this just gave her more will to leave. Once again Laila and Mariam risk their lives trying to escape with Tariq’s help and try to get Laila and Tariq’s child back. During this, they are caught once again and Mariam risks her own life for the others to escape and is given a public execution. Mariam believed she finally had a purpose once again and this was to help her new friends, known now as family, to live the life that they deserved and always wanted. She wanted no more suffering for neither her or them.

Mariam’s sacrifice was not just for her sake nor her friends, it was to represent the strength for every afghan woman in this society. Hosseini identifies the inequalities within the society and narrates the story of the two young woman who are positioned unequally and treated very poorly. These women live in a country that is ruined by war and religious-political oppression. Women in Afghan society are deprived of many rights and freedoms, especially in the after math of the Mujahideen movement. At one point Hosseini writes, “In a few years, this little girl will be a woman…turbulence that washed over her” (Hosseini 355). The story of Laila and Mariam has proved the endurance of woman. The subsequent public execution of Mariam is reflective of the way woman in most suppressed societies of the world struggle to achieve individual and collective freedom.

The story “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, is not only a narration based on true life situations, instead provides a deeper understanding of the struggle of an afghan woman. In this novel, both religious and political dimensions of the afghan society is depicted. Hosseini greatly emphasizes the role of women providing women with strength to endure and to make it through life with the lack of their fundamental rights as human beings. Though the efforts are not always significant, the endurance of Mariam and Laila, along with the supportive relationship they received from one another gives us hope. Coupled with progressive thinking and women holding up women in strife, there is light at the end of the tunnel for women in these societies.

Works Cited

• Hosseini, Khalid. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Riverhead Books, May 22, 2007.
• Wikipedia contributors. ‘Khaled Hosseini.’ Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 Sep. 2018. Web. 25 Sep. 2018.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled hosseini, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns , love may not conquer all, but it is a stronger tie than many other social bonds, from social class to ethnic status. Love makes the novel’s characters act in sometimes irrational ways, and their erratic behavior can often be explained by the strong loyalty that stems from love. Mariam’s love for her father Jalil remains constant despite hints that he is ashamed of her harami— she ultimately turns her back on him only out of love for her own mother. The poignant scene at the end of the novel when Laila receives a letter from Jalil meant for Mariam makes clear that his love for her was never entirely stamped out.

Laila, in turn, believes that by marrying Rasheed and thus saving her and Tariq’s baby, she is remaining loyal to Tariq, even after his death. Laila’s love for Tariq also transcends ethnic boundaries—often a source of tension and violence in Afghanistan—as she is Tajik and he Pashtun.

Though love can cross social boundaries in the novel, it is also a way to create a territory of belonging. Tariq and Laila band together in love against the destruction and suffering around them, while Mariam initially believes to find in her marriage to Rasheed a place where she can finally belong. Mariam’s final dramatic act of killing Rasheed is, paradoxically, based on her close relationship with Laila. The novel portrays such an act, though morally complex, as a powerful statement of love.

Love, Loyalty, and Belonging ThemeTracker

Love, Loyalty, and Belonging Quotes in A Thousand Splendid Suns

She understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing: 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, acceptance.

For the first time, Mariam could hear [Jalil] with Nana’s ears. She could hear so clearly now the insincerity that had always lurked beneath, the hollow, false assurances.

“ One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,

Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”

It wasn’t easy tolerating him talking this way to her, to bear his scorn, his ridicule, his insults, his walking past her like she was nothing but a house cat. But after four years of marriage, Mariam saw clearly how much a woman could tolerate when she was afraid.

It was hard to feel, really feel, Mammy’s loss. Hard to summon sorrow, to grieve the deaths of people Laila had never really thought of as alive in the first place. Ahmad and Noor had always been like lore to her. Like characters in a fable. Kings in a history book.

It was Tariq who was real, flesh and blood.

There would come a day, in fact, years later, when Laila would no longer bewail his loss. Or not as relentlessly; not nearly. There would come a day when the details of his face would begin to slip from memory’s grip, when overhearing a mother on the street call after her child by Tariq’s name would no longer cut her adrift. She would not miss him as she did now, when the ache of his absence was her unremitting companion—like the phantom pain of an amputee.

She was remembering the day the man from Panjshir had come to deliver the news of Ahmad’s and Noor’s deaths. She remembered Babi, white-faced, slumping on the couch, and Mammy, her hand flying to her mouth when she heard. Laila had watched Mammy come undone that day and it had scared her, but she hadn’t felt any true sorrow. She hadn’t understood the awfulness of her mother’s loss. Now another stranger bringing news of another death. Now she was the one sitting on the chair. Was this her penalty, then, her punishment for being aloof to her own mother’s suffering?

But, miraculously, something of her former life remained, her last link to the person that she had been before she had become so utterly alone. A part of Tariq still alive inside her, sprouting tiny arms, growing translucent hands. How could she jeopardize the only thing she had left of him, of her old life?

“Why have you pinned your heart to an old, ugly hag like me?” Mariam would murmur into Aziza’s hair. “Huh? I am nobody, don’t you see? A dehati. What have I got to give you?”

But Aziza only muttered contentedly and dug her face in deeper. And when she did that, Mariam swooned. Her eyes watered. Her heart took flight. And she marveled at how, after all these years of rattling loose, she had found in this little creature the first true connection in her life of false, failed connections.

[Mariam] had passed these years in a distant corner of her mind. A dry, barren field, out beyond dream and disillusionment. There, the future did not matter. And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion.

Mariam regretted her foolish, youthful pride now. She wished now that she had let him in. what would have been the harm to let him in, sit with him, let him say what he’d come to say? He was her father. He’d not been a good father, it was true, but how ordinary his faults seemed now how forgivable, when compared to Rasheed’s malice, or to the brutality and violence that she had seen men inflict on one another.

Though there had been moments of beauty in it. Mariam knew that life for the most part had been unkind to her. But as she walked the final twenty paces, she could not help but wish for more of it. […] Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into this world, the harami daughter of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back.

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a thousand splendid suns essay

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This study examines the status of women in the Islamic world, particularly Afghanistan with reference to Khalid Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ through application of feminist literary criticism. Through close reading analysis method, the qualitative study intends to unfold different forms of gender discrimination and the response of women to such oppression. The study uncovers the fact that though Islam has assured the rights of women, but still Islamic world is juggling in gender politics. The findings of the study reveal that women, within the aforementioned novel, are represented as performing stereotypical traditional roles such as caretakers and mothers. They are subjected to different forms of gender subjugation as physical and psychological violence, sexual abuse, forceful marriages, preference to have sons, ill healthcare facilities, marginalization from education and limited mobility. The novel also shows women’s responses to such inequalities; acceptance and resista...

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This paper aims to highlight the conditions of Afghan women in Khaled Hosseini's two novels, A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed in which women are seen inferior in a male dominated society. The socio-religious and socio-political conditions of Afghan women led them totally illiterate, poor, inferior, marginalized, and oppressed in post-Soviet era. It also aims to depict the status of Afghan women and their struggles towards the gender discrimination and violence through Hosseini's two selected novels. Previous studies and author's novels were read for data collection and thematic analysis technique was applied in this study to achieve the goals. As a result, in the former novel, Mariam, Laila, and Nana under the male-dominated system suffered some tragic events such as abusive behavior of husband; patriarchy; and loss of freedom. Similarly, in the later novel, Parwana, Pari, and Nila both physically and mentally suffered, viz., women's earlier marriage; selling women for dowry; and women's poor economy.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

A thousand splendind suns.

QPA: Sentence 1: Question/or statement introducing the literary device being examined. Sentence 2: Set up and presentation of the textual evidence exhibiting that device. Sentence 3: What is the author specifically saying in the evidence presented? (paraphrase) Sentence 4: How is the literary device working and to what effect? Sentence 5: What larger messages/purpose is the literary device pointing to or serving?

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