Character Analysis: A Thousand Splendid Suns

It was a beautiful spring weekend in May, and I was warming up for a weekend volleyball tournament. During the first day of the tournament I suffered a season ending ankle injury. I was immediately transferred to the emergency room for x-rays on my ankle as they thought it might be broken. During my long recovery I experienced both physical and emotional pain. It took hope, strength, love and support from my family and friends to stay positive during my long recovery. Many people lose hope and get discouraged easily when life becomes hard, however, like Mariam and Laila, I did not give up. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila experience physical and emotional pain. The women live in Kabul under the Taliban with no rights and little freedom. Additionally, they are married to an abusive husband named Rasheed. To endure a life with little freedom and stability requires hope, strength, and sacrifice through love and support.

For Mariam and Laila to
endure a life with little freedom and stability requires hope. Mariam’s life is traumatic. She endures: seeing the suicide of her mother, fighting for the love of her father, being sold against her will, and being abused by her husband Rasheed. However, Laila and Aziza give Mariam a purpose to live and hope for a better future. Hosseini writes, “The years had not been kind to Mariam. But perhaps, she thought, there were kinder years waiting still. A new life, a life in which she would find the blessings that Nana had said a harami like her would never see. Two new flowers had unexpectedly sprouted in her life” (Hosseini 256). Laila and Aziza are the two new flowers that have sprouted in Mariam’s life which represent love and hope. Laila says, “We’re leaving this spring, Aziza and I. Come with us, Mariam” (Hosseini 256). The Women run away from their abusive husband Rasheed. Mariam is hopeful for a better life in Peshawar with Laila and Aziza. However, the Women do not make it to Peshawar and are taken back to Rasheed’s house.

For Mariam and Laila to endure a life with little freedom and stability requires strength.
When Laila arrives at the hospital to have her baby the guards inform her that she must go to Rabia Balkhi a women-only hospital. The women-only hospital is overcrowded, dirty, and underfunded. The doctor tells Laila that she needs a Cesarean section, and “The hospital has no anesthetic” (Hosseini 291). Laila does not want to lose her baby. With Mariam by her side, Laila undergoes the procedure fully conscious. For Laila to undergo the procedure fully conscious takes an incredible amount of strength. The same strength is required by Mariam when she is abused by Rasheed. Rasheed makes Mariam chew pebbles as a punishment for preparing a bad meal. Rasheed says, “Now you know what you’ve given me in this marriage. Bad food, and nothing else” (Hosseini 104). Mariam has to endure both physical and emotional pain from Rasheed. Mariam never gives up on her life and remains both mentally and physically
strong.

For Mariam and Laila to endure a life with little freedom and stability requires sacrifice through love and support. Laila stands up for Mariam when Rasheed is about to beat her. Hosseini writes, “Rasheed raised the belt again and this time came at Mariam. Then an astonishing thing happened: The girl lunged at him. She grabbed his arm with both hands and tried to drag him down, but she could do no more than dangle from it. She did succeed in slowing Rasheed’s progress toward Mariam” (Hosseini 241). Laila stands up for Mariam and says, “Don’t do this. Please, Rasheed, no beating! Please don’t do this” (Hosseini 241). Laila’s love and support towards Mariam allows her to sacrifice her own future. Mariam kills Rasheed and turns herself in to the Taliban so that Laila and her family can run away to start a new life. Laila says, “I don’t want any of it without you” (Hosseini 357). Mariam replies, “For me it ends here. There’s nothing more I want. Everything I’d ever wished for as a little girl you’ve already given me. You and your children have made me so very happy. It’s all right, Laila Jo. This is all right. Don’t be sad” (Hosseini 358). Mariam loves Laila and her family, and she wants them to escape Kabul to start a new life. Mariam sacrifices her own life for the ones she loves.

To endure a life with little freedom and stability requires hope, strength, and sacrifice through love and support. Mariam and Laila experience a hard life throughout the novel; However, at the end of the novel Mariam decides to finally take control of her life and kill Rasheed. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel that teaches young readers to never give up and keep fighting during hard times. Regardless how small or big the struggle, challenge, or problem is: hope, strength, and sacrifice through love and support will lead to a better life.