Outside Reading, Week 4, Post B

I think the theme (and plot) in A Thousand Splendid Suns is finally starting to come full circle. The book started out with the story of Mariam's arranged marriage, which was a tragic but extremely common one in the Middle East. Her mother died and she was forced to marry a man thirty years older than her, subsequently forcing her to remain indoors all day and essentially become a slave for him. This story, and the subtle nuances in it, hinted at this theme of overall oppression of women in the time period of the book. However, just as things were getting started, gears shifted dramatically to the story Laila and her childhood sweetheart, Tariq. The two are deeply in love, but Tariq is forced to move. After several months debating whether or not to leave Kabul, Laila's family decides that it is time to leave Kabul as well, but right before they are about to leave, their house is hit with a rocket and Laila's mother and father are killed. We later find out that Tariq was killed leaving Kabul as well. However, this is where the story starts to connect.

Up until now, the only real connection between the stories has been the theme (the mistreatment of women), but now the plots directly overlap. Rasheed, Mariam's husband, saves Laila from the rubble and marries her. Now, Mariam and Laila, two abused and mistreated women share the same home. The two lived in general isolation from each other until Rasheed confronts Mariam and Laila pushes Rasheed over to save Mariam. Now, I think that the two will work together to both unite the theme (or reverse it) and overcome Rasheed.

In terms of symbols, Rasheed clearly represents the general will of Afghanistan at the time in terms of attitude towards women. Rasheed is intolerant of new ideas and insists that his wives wear burqas outside the house. In addition, he believes in the outdated role of women in a marriage: that they should only be used for reproduction and household chores, nothing more. However, I believe that Laila represents a new hope for women. She is extremely intelligent and driven and although she is stuck in this marriage, I believe that she possesses the potential to escape and make something of herself. However, Mariam does not. She is older than Laila, and her ideology shows this. Mariam is pessimistic and simply accepts the fact that she is lower than Rasheed and is doomed to be a housewife her entire life. This is, until Laila shows up. The author seems to be hinting that Laila will somehow impact Mariam in such a way that it will dramatically change her life. I guess I will have to keep reading...