Mariam's Taboos

Secondly, in Mariam’s further life, she was subjected to control by yet another man, causing her life to again be controlled by someone else. When her mother died, Mariam was not allowed to decide where she wanted to live or where she wanted to go. She was forced into a marriage, and again, the path of her life was pre-chosen for her. “‘I don’t want to,’ Mariam said. She looked at Jalil. ‘I don’t want this. Don’t make me’” (Hosseini, 2007, pg.47). Despite Mariam’s wishes, Jalil gave her no choice but to marry Rasheed. She accepted her life of being a wife, accepted her life of having sex with a man significantly older than her, and accepted Rasheed’s choice of trying to have children. Mariam became Rasheed’s pawn, under the control of his home and his rules.
“He shoved two fingers into her mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it” (Hosseini, 2007, pg.104). Yet, despite the tragic environment Mariam was in, never once did she think of choosing to get out of her situation. Never once, did Mariam believe, on her own, that she had the ultimate power to choose the course of her own life. One could attest that fact to the inability of Mariam to be independent as a child or to the limited control she had over her own life because of her father. Yet as well, one could attest that her inability to believe she had control over her own life came from the Afghan culture she lived in, and the oppression that women faced due to cultural norms and government control. “A culture prohibiting women to appear in public combined with a widespread lack of education...women are confined to housework” (“Life as an Afghan woman,” n.d.). Regardless, Mariam was denied the ability to choose the course of her own life, because outside sources were making the decisions for