SUNS
THESIS
Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarjana Degree of English Department Faculty of Letters and Humanities
UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya
By:
Eka Wahyuni Reg. Number: A83211143
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND HUMANITIES
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY (UIN) SUNAN AMPEL
Wahyuni, Eka. 2016. The Main Female Characters’ Struggle Against Taliban Laws and Partriachal System to Get Happiness in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Thesis. English Department. Faculty of Letters and Humanities. State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya.
The Advisor : Itsna Syahadatud Dinnuriyah, M.A.
A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the story of two Afghan women named Mariam and Laila as main female characters. Although they have different life in the beginnings, however war that happened in Afghanistan and government managed by regime Taliban makes their life change to be worse. This thesis focuses on analyzing the main female characters and their struggle to against the women oppression because of men figure. The aims of the thesis are to
reveal how the oppression to women and how main female characters’ struggle to face the
oppression from men characters around them as depicted in the novel. Since studying on woman, this thesis basically uses Feminism theory which mainly focuses on woman. Beside, inside the analysis the thesis also tries to correlate some points with Islamic views.
Inside Title Page ……… ii
Declaration Page ……… iii
Approval Sheet ……… iv
Examiner Sheet ……… v
Motto ………..……….. vi Dedication Sheet ………. vii
Acknowledgements ………...……. viii
Table of Contents ……….…….. x
Abstract ……… xii Intisari ………...… xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1Background of the Study ……… 1
1.2Statement of the Problem ………..……… 4
1.3Objective of the Study ………..…… 4
1.4Scope and Limitation ……….… 4
1.5Significance of the Study ……….….… 5
1.6Method of the Study ……….. 5
1.7Definition of Key Terms ……….…….… 6
2.1.3 Character ……….……... 11
2.1.4 Characterization ………..…… 13
2.2 Review of Related Studies ………..… 15
CHAPTER III TALIBAN 3.1 Historical Background ………... 16
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS 3.1 Portrait of Main Characters as Victims ………..………… 20
3.1.1 Portrait of Mariam Jo’s Character ………...…. 20
3.1.2 Portrait of Laila’s Character ………...……… 26
3.1.3 How They are Victimized ………...……… 29
3.2 Women Struggle Against Women Discrimination in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns ……….……. 37
3.2.1 Mariam’s Struggle and How She is Getting Happiness ………..… 37
3.2.2 Laila’s Struggle and How She is Getting Happiness ………..………… 40
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ………..… 44
WORKS CITED ………. 48
APPENDIX SYNOPSIS ………. 50
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Literature is the particular kind of writing which is conceived with own
style and which aims to inspire an imagination and creative thought rather than
merely to convey information or express political or personal views (Goodman 7).
Through a literary work, an author shows a portrait of experience in human’s life
that can be understood and utilized by readers who get inspiration after reading it.
The authors has different way in writing literary works, he has his own style.
Sometimes the author writes based on the life experience that is faced by himself.
As like someone real stories or the historical problems that happened in a
country.
Literary works conceive many manifestations of ideology and imaginary
representation of actual historical existence (Claire 13).In a literary work some
authors convey the event and condition that happen based on the period
surrounding in composition of their literary work. So, every literary work has its
own historical background when it is produced (Gillespie 83). The authors draw
upon factual information in presenting scenes, events, and characters. They
attached an event that happen in real life to make readers more affectionate and
get profound knowledge about the historical event through it. Readers are easy to
Khaled Hosseini is an author who set against the background of
Afghanistan’s recent story. His first novel entitled Kite Runner and the second
novel is A Thousand Splendid Suns, his second novel story is adapted by details of
the two Afghan women whose lives are brought together through a series of tragic
events because of the patriarchal system, political issues and Islamic laws which
settled by Taliban that was applied in Afghanistan at that time. He attached the
political issues and war that was happened in 1960 to 2003 in Afghanistan
(http://wsws.org).
Afghanistan is a country with Muslim majority. Eighty- four percent of
Afghans practice the Sunni, fifteen percent are Shi’a and the rest are Hindus,
Jews, etc (Skaine 7). The fact that majority people in Afghanistan are Muslim, it
makes some factions have the desire to make rule of the country based on Islamic
laws. The law is considered as influential things in women’s life. There are many
laws which consider as the discrimination form to women figure. Women are not
allowed to go to school and work. They are also prohibited to leave the home
without being accompanied by male relatives, all of those laws are called Taliban
laws (www. asia.knoji.com). Instead of the Taliban laws, the discrimination form
to women is patriarchal society which applied there.
In patriarchal society, woman has considered as weak person (Tyson 83).
They do not have any power to struggle and solve any problem that appears in her
life. These views make women become weaker and sometime also form their
Through the novel entitled A Thousand Splendid Suns which is a
masterpiece of writer Khaled Hosseini an Afghan-United States, he writes the
result of his interview to two Afghan women about the history and issues happen
there. This novel was published on May 22, 2007 in the United States
(www.wikipedia.org/A Thousand Splendid Suns). This novel tells the story of two
Afghan women who lives under the Taliban laws, Mariam Jo and Laila. In the
beginning of story, it tells about the struggles of woman named Mariam. Mariam
is an illegitimate daughter or called harami of a rich man named Jalil. Mariam’s
mother is a former maid at the Jalil’s house but because the public does not
recognize the existence of harami children in a family, so Mariam and her mother
have to step aside and have a life of its own. The various miseries of Mariam
faced in her life, starting the fact that she is not recognized as a child by Jalil’s
family, her mother’s death, arranged marriage with Rasheed by Jalil’s wives, and
continued with repeated miscarriage because of Jalil’s cruel. In the midst of her
anguish, happiness appears in her life through the figure of a girl named Laila
who later will change Mariam’s life. Rasheed entraps Laila into marriage. That
becomes a big problem later is when Laila born a daughter not a son that like
Rasheed wants. Because of it, Rasheed is extremely aggressive.
The similarity between Mariam and Laila’s destiny makes their relationship
closer, then it also makes them finally find the happiness of their life. Mariam
needs someone to be loved and Laila needs a love. It inspires this research to
on the explanation above, this research is interested in analyzing the issues raise in
A Thousand Splendid Suns novel.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Based on the background of study above, the problem of the study are as
follows:
1. How are Mariam and Laila portrayed as victims in the novel AThousand
Splendid Sun?
2. How do main characters struggle to reach their happiness depicted in the
novel?
1.3 Objective of Study
In accordance with the statement of the problems, this study has two
objectives that can be stated follows:
1. To explain the portrayal of Mariam and Laila as victims of patriarchal
society.
2. To reveal the main characters struggle to reach their happiness depicted in
the novel.
1.4 Scope and Limitation
This study will be limited to the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. The study
of gender that is caused Taliban laws and patriarchal system in Afghanistan as
depicted in the novel.
1.5 Significance of Study
The research is expected to be significant to the theoretical and practical
functions. Theoretically, this research will enrich the readers’ development of
knowledge in the literary theory especially theory which related to woman. While
practically, this research hopefully can give useful contribution for the readers in
understanding the content of A Thousand Splendid Suns concerning in the
feminist theory to help the reader in expressing the meaning of the feminist in the
A Thousand Splendid Suns. The research can be a helpful reference for other
researchers who are interested in the same theory and focus.
1.6 Method of Study
This research used library research and qualitative is applied. Instead of using
library, this research also uses online researches in the process of collecting data
for this study. In presenting the analysis, the research select the data in form of
narration and conversation from the novel related to the problem, its also takes
from books or articles from library or internet. The research follows the following
steps:
1. Reading the novel to get the complete and well understanding on the
whole story.
2. Selecting and collecting the data in form narration and conversation from
3. Analyzing the data that is appropriated with statement of problems, then
Exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust
manner, it can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing,
the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily
burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions
or people, and anxiety (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppression). Anyone who is harmed by another, a person who suffers any
other injury, loss, or damage as a result of a voluntary
undertaking (http://www.definitions.net/definition/victim).
Taliban’s meaning is seeker, religious student and in Persian, it
means seeker of truth, that is association of university students
and young man that brought up in war period at the evacuation
camps. This association that determined laws based on Shari’a,
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Theoretical Framework
This research tends to utilize some theories. The analysis focuses on the
main characters in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. This research tries to
reveal issues of women’s figures as victim of Taliban laws in Afghanistan and
their struggle to confront it, for this reason feminism theory is chosen. To support
the analysis, this study will use new criticism focusing on character and
characterization. Those theories are explained as follows:
1.1.1 Feminism
In analyzing a literary work, it is necessary to utilize a tool. The tool
needed in analyzing a literary work is a theory. Based on the history, women were
not only low in education and financial, but they also had to struggle in against a
male ideology condemning them to virtual silence and obedience (Habib 667).
Men are superior to women, they always get the first priority and it is because of a
reality that shows from the strength and power men more dominant than women.
Meanwhile, women are placed in second range. The role of women is just to help
and to support to men. Woman’s social status and economic depend on the man,
in most aspects of woman’s life depend on his good will (Gorsky 2). It means that
education is, nor how smart they are. In contrast, it depends on their husband’s
social status and how he treats women itself.
Some years ago, most women were not educated. As the consequence,
they were not well prepared for taking a job or a career because it was assumed
that their future lay in family lives (Gorham 24). Some women think that they
should be able to stay at home and raise their children only, they think that having
some education to get job or to be a women career are not their necessary, they
think that their life depends on their husband or family. The system like this is
known as patriarchal system. Patriarchal system is a system where men are in
authority over women in all aspects of society
(http://study.com/patriarchal-system). In a patriarchal system, men make all decisions in both society and in
their family unit, hold all positions of power and authority.
Patriarchal system is defined as a society that is organized and ran by men.
Men make the rules and dominate in business and government. Men will consider
their women as the accessories of the house that can be kept and who must work
to serve the day and night (Goldberg 37). The patriarchal system is traditional
thought of society and political issues happen there as causes of some oppression
to women.
Nowadays, the condition starts to change. Women are struggling for their
rights to get equal treatment in all fields. The women’s movement begins in the
early 1960s and 1970s in United States, it is recognized as the “second wave” of
including family, sexuality and work. While the first wave feminism of the 19th
and early 20th centuries focused on women’s legal right like right to vote
(www.britannica,com).Feminist movement does not agree that differences
appearance between men and women such as physical size, shape and body
chemistry are considered as the factor that can make men naturally superior to
women (Tyson 86). Feminist critics hold many different opinions on all of the
issues of discipline they examine. It has purpose to promote social change of
traditional thought of women that distinguishes between women and men in many
aspects of life, such as the equality to get education, get job, etc. As a
consequence of all the statement it is said that Feminism is one way to end the
oppression and exploitation on women.
Feminism in general position, not necessarily confined to woman, has to
do with the advocacy and encouragement for equal rights and opportunities for
woman politically, socially, psychologically, personally and aesthetically
(Holman 201). It means that feminism is a word that people usually associate with
the effort to change women’s life and to promote the equality of women and men
in all fields of their life. Women should have similar equality of power and status
with men. In the social aspect, feminism also attempts to be a new definition of
women’s sense of themselves to change their statues as second class to achieve
the equality, to desire recognition as independent people and to respect them
being as women. Hence, feminism puts women equally as men. Their status is not
want and men cannot restrict them with their power because women have their
right to do that.
In this case, victimization issues often happen to women as the easy prey
because they are supposed as the weak figure and cannot fight back. As one of the
examples is Taliban laws in Afghanistan. In A Thousand Splendid Suns novel,
women as the victim are exploiting them more and more. The existence of
patriarchal ideology and the Taliban laws as the foundation of victimization
toward women appears on this novel.
1.1.2 New Criticism
New criticism was a standard method of literary studies during 1940s until
1960s (Tyson 135). Tyson noted that, biographical historical criticism was
popular among literary critics (136). Prior to the emergence of new criticism,
people analyze a literary work based on the author’s background. In the other
words, people do not deal with the content of the literary text to get an
understanding. Instead, they learnt the author’s life and social background for they
believed that the literary text is the portrayal of the author’s life.
New criticism focuses its analysis on the literary text, instead of on the
author’s life and time (Tyson 136). Then readers’ in using new criticism to
criticize literary work personal life or background will affect their assumption
about the literary text when they have emotional bond with the text, the clear
New criticism is theory which emphasize more of analysis of text meaning
which supported by the evidence of language of the text itself, such as images,
symbols, metaphors, rhyme, meter, point of view, setting, characterization, plot,
etc (Tyson 137).It analysis that marked by concentration on the language,
imagery, and emotional or intellectual tensions in literary works, also the formal
elements such as rhyme, meter, characterization and plot are used to identify the
theme of the text.
1.1.3 Character
Character is important thing that should be included in a story. A character
is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story. Character is the fictional
people that become a part of the action of a literary work (Judith 39). Character is
the important intrinsic element of fiction which takes most part in the story. In
order to interest, characters need to be as real as possible. The author creates some
kinds of characters with different personalities and name, it is to distinguish a
character and the other character in a story. Through character's presence, the
whole story can be easily understood by the readers.
A successful author recreates the actual life throughout that particular
character itself which is enables the reader to see presentation, it is through the
dialogue, action and interaction between each character in the story (Jacob
134-135). A character cannot stand on its own without presence of the other
characters. A life story will show through some interactions of each character in
so readers can identify and judge the personalities of each character from their
interaction implied in a dialogue, instead of, readers can know how the situation
that happen in the story from conversation each character in a literary work.
Interpreting character’s moral qualities can be performed through
analyzing the characters’ speaking, doing, and thinking. By exploring the
characters, readers can get some moral lessons implemented in real life since
character exactly possesses a strategic position to deliver messages, values and all
things that author wants to give to the readers (Nurgiyantoro 167). Characters
become the objects of the readers’ curiosity and fascination, affection and dislike,
also admiration and condemnation. They are real enough to live in memories of
readers until the story end. Through characters an author conveys a moral value in
a story. So, character represent a person becomes interested in a story.
Characters in fiction can be conveniently classified as major and minor,
static and dynamic. A major character is an important figure at the center of the
story’s action and theme. Major character also dominated the story, the character
appears in the whole of a story, although main character not appears in all the plot
in a story but indirectly it is related to or possibly related with the main character.
Main character impressed as the dominate figure in a story. While minor
characters are supporting major character, minor character appears only in some
parts of a story and only to strengthen major character or when correlation with
major character has (Diyanni 54). It means that, main characters of a story are the
human personalities that become familiar to the reader and the minor characters as
The function of character is divided in two, protagonist and antagonist.
The major character is sometimes called a protagonist whose conflict with an
antagonist may spark the story’s conflict (54). In most of the literary works, the
author placed major character as the protagonist. The protagonists always get
sympathies of readers, while antagonist is the character which force or against the
protagonist struggles. Character becomes a prominent thing in this research since
it focuses on the female main characters named Mariam Jo and Laila. By
analyzing their characters, the deeper knowledge of both of main characters will
be achieved.
1.1.4 Characterization
Instead character, the other elements of literary work is characterization
which cannot separate each others. Both of them have the relations that complete
each other. From the different name, each character in a literary work is created
by an author with different behavior and personalities to make readers easy to
remember and understand the whole story.
Characterization is the presentation of the nature of people in a story.
Action and dialogue are the main points in characterization just as it is only by
means of their actions and words than one can observe the characters of other
people in real life (Peikoff 7). Like in the daily life of human being, there are
some stories that the plots are composed as real as the human being life. So that,
the same problems and condition as same as in the story. Readers can gets moral
value after read it.
The author uses two ways in characterizing the characters, they are direct
and indirect characterization. Using direct manner means that the author describes
directly about the character, author show the characterization directly with gives
description of a character after said the character’s name or their role in a story,
also the author attributes the qualities characters in direct description. Otherwise,
in indirect manner of characterization the author does not merely tell the
characters but shows them to the readers through how the character looks, what
the character does, what the character says, what character thinks and how the
character affects other characters (Baldick 37). Some authors have different style
to show the characterization, there are some authors that show the characterization
as the description in the beginning of introduction of a character. Instead of, there
are some authors that make implication of the character through how they did and
spoken in the story. Sometimes, through the act or the dialogue in the story,
readers can find out what the characterization each character is. So, if the reader
want to make character analysis must be observe through dialogue in it.
So, instead of analyzing character, this research also analyze the
characterization of two women as main characters who get oppressed by men
figure and laws of Taliban that placed women in second range, it is through their
speaking, their doing and their thought to shows their struggle confront of the
1.2 Review of Related Study
There are a lot of studies that also concern about several significant issue
or themes in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Those studies concern about themes or
other aspects that Khaled Hossein creates in his novel. The first thesis entitles
Middle Eastern Women’s issues an analysis ofA Thousand Splendid Sunsand The
New York Times” has been written by student of University of Florida named
Lindsay B. Shapiro. Her thesis focuses on the change main characters’ life style
and deals with Eastern Women’s issues. In her analysis, she uses theory of
psychology.
The second thesisis written by Fajar Nur Indriyany the student of UIN
Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, entitle “Mariam’s search for Meaning Life in
Khaled HosseinA Thousand Splendid Suns” this research analyzed on the Mariam
efforts find the meaning of her life. The study is identify the description Mariam
character who tries to find her truth meaning life.
The difference of this research and the previous ones is this research
analyzes about women an issue that is affected by patriarchal system and Taliban
laws in Afghanistan. Moreover, this research analyze main characters struggle to
confront the oppression and some kinds of discrimination. Because of the research
analyze of women figure, thus it intends to use Feminism theory in this analysis.
CHAPTER III
TALIBAN
1.1Historical Background
The name of Taliban is from Arabic word “tholibaan” it means “students”.
Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. While,
Taliban laws are laws that arranged by Taliban regime
(www.wikipedia.org/Taliban). The Taliban formed in 1994 leaded by Mullah
Mohammed Omar. Omar named his regime the Taliban (the students) and the
country found him self governing with name the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
(www. asia.knoji.com). In 1994 the Taliban, under the leadership of Mullah
Mohammed Omar, begans its territorial conquest with the seizure of the Afghan
subsequent takeover of the city in Kandahar. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from
1996 until 2001. They came to power during Afghanistan’s long civil war. The
Taliban emerged as resistance movement aiming to eject the Soviet troops from
Afghanistan.
The Taliban are one of the Mujahideen, the groups that formed during the
war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. After withdrawal of Soviet
forces, the Mujahideen set up a new government. However, the various factions
were unable to cooperate and fell each other, instead of victimization of women
happened often. The appearance of Taliban begins to fighting of rival Mujahideen
authorization that arbitrarily. Taliban then went on to take the city of Kandahar,
and ended with their capture of Kabul in September 1996. When Taliban took
(www.infoplease.com/taliban). The Taliban immediately introduced Shari’a law
as well as a few more rules and regultion of them own. The rules that have
discriminate about human right of men and women.
Under the Taliban regime, women are not allowed to hold jobs or receive
education. They can only appear in public if they are accompanied by male
relatives and clothed in burqa (full-length coverings that drape the entire body
including their face), women cannot laugh, talk out loud in public or make noise
when they walk. If they wear makeup or show their ankles they are subject to
being whipped (Hadibroto 88).
These are the Taliban laws:
a. Laws for men
- All citizens must pray five times a day. If it is prayer time and you are
caught doing something other, you will be beaten
- All men will grow beards. The correct length is at least one clenched
fist beneath the chin. If you do not abide by this, you will be beaten
- All boys will wear turbans. Boys in grade one through six will wear
black turbans, higher grades will wear white
- All boys will wear Islamic clothes. Shirt collars will be buttoned
- Singing is forbidden
- Dancing is forbidden
- Playing cards, playing chess, gambling, and kite flying are forbidden
- Writing books, watching films, and painting pictures are forbidden
- If you steal, your hand will be cut off at the wrist. If you steal again,
your foot will be cut off
- If you are not Muslim, do not worship where you can be seen by
Muslims. If you do, you will be beaten and imprisoned. If you are
caught trying to convert a Muslim to your faith, you will be executed.
Instead the men, there are some laws that must be obeyed by women in
Afghanistan.
b. Laws for women
- 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.
- You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You
will cover with burqa when outside. If you do not, you will be
severely beaten
- Cosmetics are forbidden
- Jewelry is forbidden
- You will not wear charming clothes
If women are oing outside with charming clothes to show
themslves, they will be cursed by the Islamic laws and should nver
epect to go to heaven.
- You will not make eye contact with men
- You will not laugh in public.. if you do, you will lose a finger
- Girls are forbidden to attending school. All schools for girls will close
immediately
- Women are forbidden to work
- If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death
(Hosseini 278).
Islam as a rescuing religion has determined specific dignity for women,
Islam has valuable instructionss for women. Women should not create such
opportunity to attract the attention of people.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
1.1 The Portrait of Main Characters as Victims
This chapter analyzes the depiction of women struggle as seen through
both of main characters in this novel, they are Mariam Jo as the illegitimate child
of rich man named Jalil and Nana (a former housekeeper in Jalil’s house) and
Laila as the second main character, a young girl and smart a daughter of Fariba
and Hakim. Moreover this analysis also digs up the reason why main characters
being victims throughout several oppression that they accept from their childhood
until they grow up become adult. By firstly examining on their characters, it will
gain profound knowledge about the character and characterization of both main
characters clearly. After having fundamental background of them, then studying
their characterization more intensely to reveal their way of struggle. Inside this
analysis process, it uses feminism theory to support the analysis in order to expose
the motive that leads main characters in getting oppression and as the victim of
gender discrimination, also the Taliban laws affective as the main impact.
1.1.1 Portrait of Mariam Jo’s Character
A Thousand Splendid Suns is the novel that depicting of two Afghan women as
main character, Mariam Jo and Laila. This part will explain about the first main
character, Mariam Jo. She is one of female characters who tells to the reader about
she does, speaks and thinks from her childhood instead Laila. For instance, other
becomes the main character because she appears and dominate on the whole story
(Nurgiyantoro 176).
Furthermore Mariam depicted as main character, she also becomes the
protagonist. Mariam becomes the central person that must command involvement
on the part of the reader and readers give empathy totally to her. She also becomes
a dynamic character, it is a person who changes over time, usually as a result of
resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis (http://learn.lexicon.net). Most
dynamic characters tend to be central rather than peripheral characters, because
resolving the conflict is the major role of central characters. Therefore, Mariam
also belongs to protagonist character that readers can really feel her hard struggle
to getting happiness in her life.
Mariam is one of two a female characters. Mariam was born in 1959, she
grows up Kolba outside Herat, a small city in Afghanistan. Her appearance starts
in the beginning story as the little Mariam.
Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word
harami (Hosseini 5).
This story tells of first main character’s life from her childhood, exactly on age
five years old. Mariam has been a victim since birth, since she is an illegitimate
child, she also is out casted by everyone including her father Jalil. She grows up
by her mother, Nana. Nana is chased away by Jalil’s family when she is pregnant
of Mariam because Jalil refuses to acknowledge Mariam as his real daughter.
Nana also frequently refers to Mariam as a harami, when Mariam gets wrong and
does mistakes, it is uttered by her mother when Mariam still five years old. She
You are a clumsy little harami. This is my reward for everything
I’ve endured an heirloom, clumsy little harami
At the time, Mariam did not understand. She did not know what
this word harami—bastard meant Nor was she old enough to
appreciate the injustice, to see that it is the creators of the harami who are culpable, not the harami, whose only sin is being born (5).
This means that Mariam does not know what the meaning of word harami
is. It is because she stills a kid little that does not understand the meaning of
harami. Mariam spends her childhood in ignorance, nobody pays attention to her.
Later when Mariam grows older, finally she knows what the meaning of harami
is. In the case that Mariam status as an illegitimate child leaves her without a true
family who would be isolated and would never have illegitimate claim to the
things other people had, such as family, love and acceptance by the other people.
Mariam would listen dutifully to this. She never dared say to Nana how much she dislike her talking this way about Jalil. The truth was that around Jalil. Mariam did not feel at all like a harami. For an hour or two every Thursday, when Jalil came to see her, all smiles and gifts and endearments. Mariam felt deserving of all the bounty that life had to give. And, for this, Mariam loves Jalil (6)
From the quotation it shows Mariam is always obey to her mother,
although sometimes she has not deals if her mother said about badness of her
father. Her father, Jalil heads for wipe out what he does to Mariam and Nana, to
assuage his conscience he builds a small shack to them. He also visits Mariam
once in a week, Mariam like him. He always gives her some stories that make her
imagines how nice her father is. She never feels as a harami when she hears all of
stories from her father and feels that her mother does not love her as much as Jalil
Mariam about the pretentious love that Jalil Khan showers upon her, about how
she was accused by Jalil himself when others in his family get to know of their
illicit relationship.
Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass
needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger alwaysfinds a
woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam (7).
It means that the role of women and how they are often undermined and
abused by men in Afghani culture. That is Nana tries to tell Mariam, to be careful.
Nana gives Mariam some of her firsthand experience on her life, because she
afraid Mariam will confront as same as Nana’s bitter experience in the past. It is
also shows of radical feminism thought, while radical feminism is belief that male
supremacy is the root or model for all other oppressions (http://amptoons.com).
Once Mariam expresses her desire for attaining a formal education to
Mullah Faizullah (her Quran teacher) she wants to go to school like the other
Jalil's children.
One day, as they were walking. Mariam told him that she wished she would be allowed to go to school.
I mean a real school akhund sahib. Like in a classroom. Like my
father’s other kids (13).
It shows how she wants to do as same as the other children. it shows how
stubborn she is to get her right to be educated. Mariam does not simply accept that
she must be isolated and cannot do things like the other do. She hopes that she can
get the education like the other kid get. It is also a kind of rebellion action that
showed by Mariam who always isolated from her childhood and cannot do
anything like the other children who she knows in their daily. Mariam insists to
formal education would not only be impossible for her, but also that such an
education would be wasted on her. The larger point as a woman's responsibility is
her home and her family because Nana does not see the need for a woman to be
educated. It shows how Mariam’s life is isolated from her childhood because she
is illegitimate. Nana intervenes it and says that a child like Mariam needs only one
skill to live, and it is not taught in school.
Only one skill. And it’s this: tahamul. Endure. It’s our lot in life,
Mariam.
Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have. Do you understand? Besides,
they’ll laugh at you in school. They will. They’ll call you harami. They’ll saythe most terrible things about you. I won’t have it.
(18)
What the most important to know about Mariam is her own realization that
her life is hard and yet she endures all. This shows that the social system suggests
women to learn endurance since their childhood.
After that, when she decides to visits Jalil, she must accept the sad reality
that she is not treated like his real daughter. Jalil ignores her arrival in his house,
moreover lets her sleep on the road. She spends the night outside of the house.
All during the ride, as she bounced in the backseat, she cried. they were tears of grief, of anger, of disillusionment. But mainly tears of a deep, deep shame at how foolishly she had given herself over to Jalil, how she had fretted over what dress to wear, over the mismatching hijab, walking all the way here, refusing to leave, sleeping on the street like a stray dog (25)
It shows how Mariam ashamed about what she does, she prepare well
when she goes to Jalil’s house. She feels how stubborn she is, she ignores her
mother’s advice not to go there. She just demands to meet Jalil, but she must
quote that shows her feeling, “Mariam kept thinking of his face in the upstairs
window. He lets her sleep on the street. On the street Mariam cried lying down.
She does not want to be seen. She imagines all of Herat know this morning how
she is disgrace herself. She wishes Mullah Faizullah were here so she could put
her head on his lap and let him comfort her (25).
Then, she must accept of her mother suicide when she arrives in her house.
After her mother’ssuicide Mariam lived with Jalil’s family. Life gives a hard
knock and her love for her father is strangled when Jalil Khan disowns her, gets
rid of her by marrying her off to Rasheed, a widowed of shoemaker. She cherishes
her marriage initially, Rasheed’s over-protective nature, he talks about pride and
honour.
He fished a sky blue burqa from the bag. The yards of pleated cloth
spilled over his knees when he lifted it. He rolled up the burqa, looked at Mariam...'It embarrasses me, frankly, to see a man who's lost control of his wife...But I'm a different breed of man, Mariam. Where I come from, one wrong look, one improper word, and blood is spilled. Where I come from, a woman's face is her husband's business only'" (70).
In this dialogue Rasheed introduces in use of burqa as a new rule for
Mariam. He said about some women in Kabul that are freer only because of the
mentality of their husband. He gives her the burqa before they leave the house
together. It shows how women are oppressed by men in Afghanistan. Men can
wear whatever they want, instead women must wear burqa.
Mariam’s shame at being illegitimate is one big reason that makes her
unable to stand up for herself. She is plagued by guilt that controls her for much
exercise would always be heretic for a woman. Rasheed’s protection for Mariam
does not last long; eventually their relationship becomes bitter as her presence was
meant only to bear a son for Rasheed. Mariam's inability to have children turns
her into a resentful, bitter, and fearful woman. She also at first resents the arrival
of Laila in their lives, but soon comes to exercise a strong bond with her. She
finally finds an opportunity to love and be loved by Laila and her children, Aziza
and Zalmai. She is a character who becomes a role model for the reader because
of her devotion to the people whom she comes to love. This helps her understand
her own mother better.
4.1.2 Portrait of Laila’s Character
Laila is the youngest and the only daughter of Hakim and Fariba. She is
also the second main female character. She is depicted as protagonist because she
appears in whole of story and helps first female character to resolve the main
conflict that happened around them that make reader get empathy of their
character. She is depicted as a flat character, flat character is the opposite of a
round character. This literary personality is notable for one kind personality trait
or characteristic. Because starts her appearance in the beginning in the story, she
depicts as a girl who has strong desire to change people around her to have
positive thought. She is depicted as a pretty and smart girl.
They were marveling at the baby’s light hair, at her pink cheeks
From Laila’s appearances, she is physically described as a beautiful girl
with green eyes, blonde curly hair and high cheekbones. She was born from
educate and liberal parents. She is dedicated as “Revolutionary Girl”. This name
happens to have deeper meaning regarding Laila’s personality. Laila represents
the new modern face of Afghanistan.
I know you’re still young, but I want you to understand and
learn this now, he said. Marriage can wait, education cannot
you’re a very, very bright girl. Truly, you are. You can be anything you want, Laila I know this about you. And I also know that when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men, maybe even more. Because a society has no chance of success if its women uneducated (72).
Laila father (Hakim) is person who well educated teacher that holds
progressive views about politics and women’s rights. He thinks education is
always to be a priority in encouragement. From the quotation, Laila’s father, he
has progressive attitudes about women and believes strongly to Laila. Her father
educated Laila that Afghan women have an equally important role to play in their
country. Rather than attempt to marry her off young age, Hakim hopes his
daughter will pursue an education and contribute to the rebuilding of Afghanistan
after the war. Growing up with mother careless seems to have forced Laila to
become more independent girl.
The quote when her father talks to Laila about being a woman in
Afghanistan is significance, also that there is high hope or more people should
have more hopes for women and their rights of equality throughout Laila’s
character. From her father, Laila imbibes the modern thoughts and believes in
building the society through education.
The absence of both of Laila's older brothers, who have gone to war makes her
life uncared for, but also fills it with a sense of purpose. She has a strong desire to
use her intelligence and education to improve the world around her.
The war gets so bad that her father decides to homeschooled Laila and that
makes her lose some of her freedom. At age fifteen years old, Laila fall in love
with her best friend since childhood, named Tariq, but war forces Tariq and his
parents to flee to Pakistan and after that, the unfortunate come to Laila’s life.
During the wars of the 1980s and 1990s, a rocket destroyed Laila's home with her
parents in it and kills Laila’s parents also wounds her. Rasheed help her and asks
Mariam to nurse her back to helath. This tragedy and unexpected pregnancy
forces Laila to become Rasheed's second wife. He said to Laila that Tariq was
dead caused war.
I'm so sorry," Rasheed said to the girl, taking his bowl of mastawa and meatballs from Mariam without looking at her. 'I know you were very close...friends...the two of you'" (211).
Rasheed said this in a sarcastic tone, telling Laila how sorry he is that
Tariq is dead. He sounds very happy, because he sees the chance to marry Laila,
as she has no other chance. He also said that many young men die this way. But
from Tariq, before they married. Instead of, the endlessly motivated by the desire
to replace his dead son, Rasheed entraps Laila into marriage.
That becomes a big problem later is when Laila born a daughter not a son
that like Rasheed wants. Because of it, Rasheed is extremely aggressive. Rasheed
savagely beats Laila, as Afghan women in general are stifled and forced to suffer
the consequences of being born the inferior gender.
3.1.3 How They are Victimized
Mariam and Laila are forced into life situations which challenge their
strength and ability to endure. In the beginning of the novel, Nana was perhaps apt
trying to teach Mariam the most important skill that every woman should have is
endurance. In this part will analysis about kinds of depiction the main female
characters as the victim in the novel.
a) Portrait of Mariam Jo as Victim
Firstly the depiction of Mariam Jo as victim, there are some depictions
systematic that Mariam as victim from her childhood.
-Refusal Kid
Mariam, the illegitimate child results from Jalil’s sexual liaison with his
housekeeper, Nana. She is chased away by Jalil’s family when Nana in
pregnant Mariam. Jalil refuses to accept Mariam as her real daughter because
the relation between Nana and Jalil is forbidden relation also Nana just a
up Mariam by herself in outside Herat, Afghanistan. As a young girl Mariam
was treated like harami leading her to grow up to be very hard on the outside
and able to take a lot of injustice. The depiction of Mariam as an illegitimate
daughter that isolated and cannot accept kinds of family and acceptance of her
government are the forms how she is victimized. Also that she must live with
her temperament mother thatfrequently refers to her as a harami. Mariam’s
rough childhood prepared her for the life she would be living in the future.
Become uneducated girl and isolated because her status that never gets
acceptance from the society.
-Education
The women in A Thousand Splendid Suns have very different educational
experiences, between Mariam and Laila. Both of the female characters have
difference in get education. Mariam is tutored by Mullah Faizullah, he is
Mariam’s Qur’an tutor. Mariam learns how to read and write. Yet, when she
asks her mother to going to school, her mother insist Mariam’s wish and say to
Mariam only lesson that Mariam needs to learn is “endure.”
-Fixed Marriage
After her mother suicide, she is also victim of fixed marriage is arranged
by her father’s wife. Jalil Khan, her father marrying her off to a forty year old
widower without giving her a chance to have an option. When we refer to the
Holy Scripture in Islam, according to Surah Nisa 4:19, marriage is considered a
sacred agreement and it is mandatory that both the man and woman agree to
She forced to married with widowed named Rasheed, it is surely has
contradiction with Qur’an that marriage must be the agreement of both of
woman and man to be bridegroom. Mariam starts become Rasheed puppet that
must be obey what he said like when he asks Mariam wear burqa (kinds of
cloth to covered all of the woman body in Afghanistan). Burqa is not
comfortable for the woman, this dressed is really hot and also is really hard to
see what is in front when they are using it.
Eventually burqa is a sign of oppression and male domination. Mariam is
getting abusive from her husband because of the several miscarriages that
happened to her. He changes become a cruel, abusive man and because her
several miscarriage, he thinks that Mariam cannot caring their child when she
pregnant. The suffering of Mariam can be accounted to the belief system that
Rasheed, a Pashtun practices in the face of his ethnic group ideology. It is
always seen that the man has taken all the decisions of her life.
Depicted in one of hadiths said that the primary duty of a wife is thus to
obey her husband in all that is lawful. However, if he invites to what is
unlawful and displeasing to Allah, she should not obey him. The Prophet said,
“There is no submission in matters involving disobeying or displeasing Allah.
Submission to the husband is obligatory only in what is good and reasonable. A
woman should not obey her husband if he orders her to do something sinful
(Fatima, 198). It means command to obey husband in everything except in
what is unlawful and displeasing to Allah. Therefore, if a husband invites his
of Mariam is continued by Jalil’s cruel. One day he forced Mariam to chew
pebbles in his impatience and disgust over her inability to reproduce.
Put it in you mouth…
His powerful hands clasped her jaw. He shoved two fingers into her
mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold hard pebbles into it…
Through the mouthful of grit and pebbles Mariam mumbled a plea. Tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes (94).
From the quotation, the first female character, Mariam Jo who is by the
time getting oppression and victimized in her life, it started from her childhood
until she becomes adult.
b)Portrait of Laila as Victim
While the second female character, but she more luck because she grew up
by educated parents. In contrast, Laila has a father that emphasizes the importance
of her education. Her father, Hakim is a teacher who diligently works with Laila
on her homework and provides her with extra work in order to expand her
education. He emphasizes that Laila’s education is important as that of any boy.
After the streets of Kabul become too dangerous during the war, he insists on
tutoring Laila himself.
He comments about the importance of women attending universities.
When we consider Laila, she is born in a privileged world and is quiet lucky to
have a father whose views are modern and contribute in the making of a woman
who pursues against all odds and claims her stance in the society. Unlike Mariam,
she strongly believes that she deserves a life where she is valued and loved. These
-Ignorance Maternal (Cultural Belief)
Laila is also as the victim how she has careless mother. Contemplating,
Laila’s childhood, it can be said that she experiences that obscure love from
her mother, as most of the times she is thoughtful about her sons’ coming
back proclaiming peace in Afghanistan. As a result, Laila misses out on all
the life experiences that she as a youngster and daughter should have got.
Her mother spends much of Laila’s childhood grieving for her lost sons,
Laila endures her mother’s setbacks with love and as much understanding as
she can give. Laila shoulders more of the household chores. She would also
persuade her mother to out of bed for baths and meals. Laila would struggle
or rather get choked listening to these words again and again. Laila lay there
and listened, wishing her mother would notice that Laila had not become a
shaheed. In fact that she was alive that she had hopes and a future.
That’s the kind of brave young men your brothers were, Laila, that Commander Massoud himself, the Lion of
Panjshir, God bless him, would over-see their burial. (140)
Her mother represents all those at the domestic front to disrupt the social
living of the women Laila being the actual victim.
-Fixed Marriage
At that time when war started, Tariq’s turn to flee to keep his parents
in a safe place and leaving his love (Laila) here amidst the chaos. After that,
when war getting worse a rocket kills Laila's parents and wounds her. Laila’s
life getting worse and simplicity started when their parents killed and forced
started getting abusive from Rasheed when she uttered a daughter not a son
like Rasheed wants.
Rasheed and Mariam nurse her back to health. Laila is devastated and
her idealism and independence are challenged when she decides to marry
Rasheed in order to give her unborn child by Tariq a father. Soon, she also
becomes a victim to Rasheed’s violent ways and is willing to accept the
limitations she once would have openly mocked. She extends her love to
Mariam and takes comfort in having a friend and a mother figure.
However, she is astute enough to make attempts to free herself and
Mariam from the clutches of Rasheed. She also begins to understand the
sacrifices that are necessary to be a good mother by following Mariam's
example.
But somehow, over these last months, Laila and Aziza--a harami like herself, as it turned out--had become extensions of her, and now, without them, the life Mariam had tolerated for so long suddenly seemed intolerable (256).
Rasheed said this to Mariam and Laila when the morning of
September 27 the Taliban goes to Kabul shooting and whistling and
they pass in front of Rasheed’s house and then they start to talk about
the Taliban. The meaning of this quote is that Rasheed shows that he is
agree with the Taliban because they are not corrupted by soviets and he
thinks that they are going to bring peace to Afghanistan. The
significance is that Rasheed is agree with the Taliban because he is a
traditional men of Afghanistan, he believes in all the thinks that the
right and this caused inequality between man and woman. After
Taliban have control of Kabul, they directly announced some of rule
that must be obeyed by society and as laws that used in Afghanistan.
These are the Taliban laws:
All citizens must pray five times a day. If it is prayer time and you are caught doing something other, you will be beaten.
All men will grow beards. The correct length is at least one clenched fist beneath the chin. If you do not abide by this, you will be beaten.
All boys will wear turbans. Boys in grade one through six will wear black turbans, higher grades will wear white.
All boys will wear Islamic clothes. Shirt collars will be buttoned. Singing is forbidden.
Dancing is forbidden.
Playing cards, playing chess, gambling, and kite flying are forbidden.
Writing books, watching films, and painting pictures are forbidden.
If you keep parakeets, you will be beaten. Your birds will be killed.
If you steal, your hand will be cut off at the wrist. If you steal again, your foot will be cut off.
If you are not Muslim, do not worship where you can be seen by
Muslims. If you do, you will be beaten and imprisoned. If you are caught trying to convert a Muslim to your faith, you will be executed.
Attention women:
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.
You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You will cover with burqa when outside. If you do not, you will be severely beaten.
Cosmetics are forbidden. Jewelry is forbidden.
You will not laugh in public.. if you do, you will lose a finger. Girls are forbidden from attending school. All schools for girls will close immediately.
Women are forbidden from working.
If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death.
Listen. Listen well. Obey. Allah-u-akbar (278).
When we compare the policies of men as against the women, it is seen that
the men do not have major restrictions. Adherence to the dress code and
forbidding all acts of pleasures is all that they have to abide by. For women the
policies seem to be highly stringent and acting as a deterrent for the nation’s
growth. Abandoning them from education and employment would rather take
civilization back to pre-Islamic days. It is agreed that women’s responsibilities
include gaining profound knowledge in one’s religion and also abiding by its
demands praying, fasting, performing good deeds etc. It is also that a woman
can be dutiful to her family and society only if she has gained knowledge about
her religion. Further it is essential for her to gain some worldly knowledge in
sciences so that she can fulfill her duties as a wife, mother, sister, daughter and
a responsible human being representing the other half of the society and
actively contributing to the prosperity of the nation.
Under the Taliban, women and girls were discriminated against in many
ways, for the crime of being born a girl. The Taliban enforced their version of
Islamic Sharia law. Under their rule, violence against women and rape were
endemic. They are flagged just because they were born females. Moreover,
women in the novel were raised aware of their duty as wives and mothers. This
is what they are born for, to conceive. They are a mere object of production
1.2 Women Struggle Against Women Discrimination in Khaled Hosseini’s A
Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns is set in Afghanistan from the early 1960s to the
early 2000s. Women in Afghanistan have been going through gender equity in its
severe form since ages. Khaled Hosseini’s depicts of Afghan women whose live
during several invasions in the Afghanistan. In this novel tells about two female as
main character that getting oppression and become victimized cause of patraichal
society and Taliban laws that used in Afghanistan. The issues of feminism and
gender equity have been raised through the character of Mariam and Laila. The
novel stresses over the rights women were not given along with restrictions to
education, choices, and liberation.
1.2.1 Mariam’s Struggle and How She is Getting Happiness
Harami or an illegitimate child, this word has a lasting impact on Mariam,
defining her status in Afghanistan and establishing a lifelong struggle with
self-worth. Raised by sacrificing but bitter mother neglecting father, Mariam is taught
from a young age that she would never have a legitimate claim to the things other
people had. Her mother attempts to steel her to hardship in preparation for a future
of injustice and abuse by men, assuming Mariam’s future will same as her own
past.
Like a compass needle that always points north, a man’s
accusing finger
These are words of advice given to Mariam by her mother, Nana. Nana is
a bitter woman who prepares her daughter to expect nothing but abuse from men,
rejected by her fiance, impregnated by Jalil, and abandoned by her father however
women must endure from much injustice in patriarchal system. It is can be
pointed that, in Afghanistan have different ways that a few years ago, if a man
makes a mistake he can easily put of the blame on the woman. That is what Nana
was trying to tell Mariam, to be careful. There is nothing women can do to escape
this, if a man does something wrong, it is automatically the women’s fault, and
there is nothing that she can do about it. As events derail her optimism, Mariam
soon begins to believe her mother was right when she said her only potential is to
endure. Burdened grief and guilt after her mother’s suicide, Mariam is betrayed by
her father, who marries her off to a widowed and older man in order to conceal his
own shame.
Mariam’s story of resilience as she seeks to endure her difficult life and
the abuse from her controlling husband, in the process, she struggles with concept
such as justice, worth and the role of women. Before she can overcome obstacles,
she must confront her lifelong fear and guilt. Fifteen years later when she is
succumbing to despair and resentment, she finds hope and a second chance in an
unlikely person, her husband’s second wife Laila. Mariam on the other hand, has
an inner strength that’s as hard and unyielding as a block of limestone. The
combination of the two is something fierce. Mariam has not been confident in
final straw may have come when Jalil rejected her. After that, she seemed to cut
herself off from the people around her as a defense mechanism.
But Laila plants something inside her. Laila’s inspiration helps Mariam
take control of her own destiny. Rasheed has been an awful, abusive husband to
her, but up until this point, she is never defended herself. but when she sees Laila
being strangled to death, she finally understand the need to fight back Rasheed. It
is evident that Mariam finds the courage she needed when she saves Laila when
Rasheed choking her by swinging a shovel to Rasheed’s head, she killed Rasheed
and leaving him dead. To pay what she did, Mariam executed by Taliban.
Mariam wished for so much in those final moments. 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 child 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. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother, a person of consequence at last. No. It was not so bad, Mariam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate belongings" (329).
This quote was thought by Mariam giving the message of living with
Rasheed for so long that now she finally has friends and people she love and who
also love her back. The meaning would be how Mariam says how she could not
live without Laila and Aziza because they are now a part of Mariam’s life now
and that she wouldn’t be able to handle it if they were not around her anymore.
Mariam makes a connection with Aziza because they are both harami and in a
way Mariam is like a mother to Aziza and takes care of her like if she was her
both harami but they both share sadness of losing their most loved ones. Through
her love for Laila and Laila's children, Mariam is able to fulfill her wish to be a
mother and to finally give and receive love.
From this accident Mariam bravery was appears and it is because of she
wants to protect the ones who she loves, Laila that she consider as her daughter.
Also Mariam is able to become what she thought a harami like her could never be
a mother, a friend and a hero. Mariam, for her part, is simply grateful for
opportunity to know Laila and her children for as long as she could. Through her
love for Laila and Laila's child, Mariam is able to fulfill her wish to be a mother
and to finally give and receive love. Mariam reevaluates her life and reassesses
herself worth. She must finally prove or dispel her mother’s fateful words. Her
personal development and renewed faith lead to a pivotal moment that will force
her to choose between the safety of enduring and the risk of determing her own
fate. She felt not a problem that beginning she was an illegitimate but in the end
she is a legitimate in her life.
This was a legitimate end to alive of illegitimate beginnings (370).
1.2.2 Laila’s Struggle and How She is Getting Happiness
Laila is raised with a strong sense of self by her father is not willing
to submit to her circumstance to be uneducated women. Her father wishes
that Laila will be able to change of Afghanistan. It is Afghanistan, she born
as smart girl who grows up by educated family. Laila is someone who has
lost her love and raising his daughter. She had not anything to do other than
marrying Rasheed. Both of Mariam and Laila had to marry him eventhough
they did not want to. The discrepancy appear in the two Mariam and Laila
marriage to Rasheed. Rasheed becomes abuse too Laila, when she was
uttered a daughter named Aziza. Birth of Aziza make Mariam and Laila be
friendship, different with Mariam who endured the pain and hardship, Laila
escape route when she knew her life is going to be hell when she decided to
marry Rasheed. Laila brings her headstrong nature to the table, giving
Mariam the confidence that she so desperately needs. Mariam might not
know what it is that’s growing inside her, Laila who has the power to spread
her positive nature to everyone around her. The two women start off at odds
with each other but come to realize the only way they will be able to remain
sane in their unstable lives is if they can come together, creating a deep
friendship tied to their shared pain.
This is significant because Mariam has deep meaning for Laila and would
do anything for her as she saved her life and the judge is thinking women cannot
have the same rights as men and that she doesn’t deserve to be not guilty. Mariam
emerges as the true hero of the novel, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for
her loved ones and her beliefs. Although the Taliban execute her, Mariam leaves
the world on her own terms, proud of the person she has become.
is in Laila's own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand splendid suns (366).
Conditions in Kabul improve because of the U.S invasion and Laila insists
that her family move back home so they can help rebuild their city. Laila visits
Mariam's old home and is able to relate to Mariam’s talk about her Kolba, she
comes to terms with her grief over Mariam's execution. This quote comes at the
very end of the novel and reveals how much Mariam has affected Laila's life and
how even though she is gone, Laila will never forget her. She and Tariq where
talking about what to name their child and Laila already has a name for the child
if it’s a girl will give her name Mariam. She means that she wants to continue
Mariams memory on and on for a long time so she is never forgotten. This is
significant because Laila got so close to Mariam that she cannot let her go and has
to remember her. Laila fulfills her father’s hope for her at the end of the novel,
when she leads a project to rebuild an orphanage in Kabul. She chooses to
dedicate her life to help the forgotten children of Afghanistan, the young girls and
boys who never received the same encouragement and love that she did when she
was their age. Laila has become a teacher, like her father and she will spread her
determination and intelligence to the people who need it the most. Laila and Tariq
build a new life in Kabul. Laila becomes a school teacher, a respectable woman in
Afghanistan as her father dreams, during her childhood days. She works in the
orphanage where Aziza once lived. And when Laila becomes pregnant, she
