A Thousand Splendid Suns Feminist Analysis

The walls of a library enclose on thousands of novels that contain fictional and non-fictional stories, which depict the world outside the walls in some way shape or form. Each and every novel has a unique set of characters, themes, symbols and conflicts that are carefully intertwined together by an author attempting to give his audience a source of entertainment and an insight to the human condition. It is on the reader’s shoulders to correctly interpret the author’s message by analyzing it through a literary approach that best suits the novel. One of the novels in this vast library is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. In the novel, Hosseini uses the feminist approach to touch upon the relationships between men and women through
a predominately female sensibility set against the backdrop of a war-ridden Afghanistan. The reader can use the feminist approach to understand that Hosseini wants to make the invisible pains of Afghani women, visible.
One aspect of the feminist approach is determining the relations between men and women, how they are presented and the consequences they lead to.
In the novel, Hosseini uses this to his advantage by creating two prominent relation types between men and women. Hosseini uses a prevalent theme of true love versus forced marriage to display the differences between a negative and a positive relationship. In the novel, Rasheed’s marriage with Mariam and Laila represents the negative side, as Rasheed never takes his wives to be his equals, which is evident through his mannerisms and actions. When Mariam is a newly wed wife of Rasheed’s, Rasheed begins to lecture her on how “ It embarrasses me, frankly, to see a man who’s lost control of his wife” (63). Here, Rasheed has warned Mariam how there relationship will be, with him in control. Later on, Rasheed tells Mariam, “A woman’s face is her husbands businesses only. I want you to
remember that.
Do you understand?”(63). As he forces Mariam into wearing a burqa, which Mariam had no choice but to accept as “ This mans will felt to Mariam as imposing and immovable as the Safid-koh mountains looming over Gul Daman” (64). Later on in the novel, when Rasheed marries his second wife Laila, Rasheed begins the same process of establishing authority and command over Laila as he had done with Mariam. Rasheed tells Laila that “ I am your husband now, and it falls on me to guard not only your honor but ours, yes, our nang and namos. This is the husband’s burden.” (200) While Mariam watches the whole scene unfold as “ Rasheed’s demands and judgements rained down on them like the rockets on Kabul” (201). Rasheed’s relationship with his wives becomes a thing of violence and oppression causing Mariam to kill her own husband. This marriage is the direct opposition to the ideal marriage from a feminist stand point where both men and women would have equal say. In sharp contrast to Rasheed’s relationship, is Tariq’s love, which later on turns into marriage with Laila. This relation represents the positive side. Tariq was caring, loving and the complete opposite of Rasheed in every way possible. This is shown when Laila asks Tariq if they can move back to Kabul and
Tariq replies by saying “Me? I’ll follow you to the end of the world, Laila” (346). Tariq respects Laila enough to fulfill her wishes while not forgetting his own. Both of them embody what a husband and wife should be as they split they’re responsibilities as “Laila vacuums, makes the bed, and dusts. Tariq washes the bathroom sink and tub…” (335). This was never the case with the marriage between Rasheed and his two wives, were the wives did all the work just to please Rasheed and when it was not to his liking they were both beaten. The consequences of the negative relationship were devastating as the marriage was full of violence and ended in death. While the positive relationship ended with both the man and wife being happy and content with they’re lives. Through these two marriages and there respective outcomes, it is safe to conclude that Hosseini wants the readers to understand that it is beneficial for everyone if men treat women with egalitarianism in mind.