Oppression Of Conflict In A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Hosseini

The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a significant narrative which brings to fore the predicament of Afghan women who have lived under the debilitating shadows of patriarchal oppression and war. This paper attempts to argue, in the light of Hosseini’s novel, how the patriarchy and persistent conditions of conflict have multiplied the oppression on women in Afghanistan. However, in the beginning of this paper, one needs to make it clear that the aim of this paper is not to homogenize Afghanistan or its women by any means. It is a fallacy which has become a recurrence when it comes to any academic or non-academic discussion about Afghanistan. Afghan women are not a homogenous category in any way. There are various intersections
The prolonged conditions of the conflict in Afghanistan have taken heavy toll on human life and brought enormous suffering and devastation for the country. In any conflict children and women, in any case, are always the worst sufferers because of their vulnerable positions in the society. As Chandra Talpade Mohanty argues, “women have never been secure within (or without) the nation state-they are always disproportionately affected by war, forced migration, famine, and other forms of social, political, and economic turmoil” (514). In a society like Afghanistan where, in some instances, patriarchal customs come into view as hard and as rigid as its landscape, one is only left to wonder about the conditions of women when these customs are further entrenched by a prolonged conflict. It appears from the narrative of Hosseini’s novel that women in Afghanistan have been victims both of patriarchy and the brutal situation of conflict that has now ravaged Afghanistan for the duration of almost a half of century. In the novel, this is reflected in the words of Babi who despondently observes, “Women have always had it hard in this country”
As Cynthia Cockburn examines, “The power imbalance of gender relations in most (if not all) societies generates cultures of masculinity prone to violence. These gender relations are like a linking thread, a kind of fuse, along which violence runs” (44). In the novel, Mariam cannot withstand her defiance. She has to bow down before the rigid customs of her society as she is reluctantly dragged into marrying with Rasheed. At the nikka (Islamic occasion of wedding) ceremony, the Mullah, without acknowledging Mariam’s consent, remarks, “All that remains now is the signing of the contract” (53). Rasheed is apprehensive about the undercurrent sexual predation in the society which ironically prescribes moral codes for its women. Notwithstanding the seemingly ‘sophisticated’ culture of Kabul, of which he often brags about, he tells Mariam in strict terms to wear burqa and avoid strangers, even their family friends and guests. Mariam is not used to wearing burqa and finds it very suffocating. But she has to yield in before Rasheed’s authority who tells her, “you ‘ll get used to it” (71). Later on, he gives similar dictates to his second wife Laila. In giving strict dictates to his wives, Rasheed falsely pretends of protecting their “honour” and “integrity” while indulging in limitless cruelty of abusing and beating them regularly. After