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A Thousand Splendid Suns ; Themes (Love (Family (Laila & her parent…

- - - - Laila's relationship with her parents was always filled with love. Even though sometimes she felt her mother cared more about her brother's than she did about Laila, she still loved her mother dearly and took care of her on her bad days. Laila was closer to her father, he always taught her things and encouraged her to do something amazing with her life. Laila loves her parents and never kept them too far in her heart after they passed on.
    - - Although Mariam's relationship with her parents wasn't the greatest, as a child, Mariam always tried to reason that whatever her parents did was either her fault (with Nana) or that something important came up (with Jalil). Even when she thought she hated them in the end she still loved them.
    - - When Tariq first found out about his daughter Aziza and met, they immediately connected and it was as though they were never apart. However, Rasheed's son wasn't as easy. At first, he hated Tariq but would later grow to slowly love him and accept him as his new father figure.
    - - When Laila learns that she is pregnant yet again and this time with Rasheed's baby, she almost aborts him in fear of not being able to love him like she loves Aziza due to him being the offspring of a monster like Rasheed. But she can't go through with it and ends up loving him just as much as she loves Aziza.
    - - Rasheed put his son on a pedestal and treated him better than anyone else in their home. Constantly buying him gifts, feeding him bigger portions than everyone, giving only him food, Zalmai would never get punished even when he did something extremely wrong. And in Zalmai's eyes he could never see any wrong from Rasheed, he looked up to his father and loved him very much.
    - - Mammy was often depressed in bed due to both her sons off fighting in the war and cover the walls with photos of them. She neglected Laila because she was too busy focusing on her sons. Even when they died all she did was think of them and refused to leave the country because then her boys would've died for nothing. Even though it was dangerous and ultimately resulted in her and her husband's death, she insisted on staying in Kabul.
  - - - Mariam and Laila at first started as strangers, neighbours living completely different lives down the street from each other, until the war pushed their lives together. Their friendship at first starts off rocky when Mariam is convinced that Laila is trying to steal her husband (Rasheed) but later their friendship blossoms into a Mother-Daughter type of friendship.
    - - Mullah Faizullah was Mariam's Quran teacher and her only real friend as a child. Even when they got separated she often referred back to him and everything he taught her with everything she went through.
    - - Laila and Tariq were childhood friends and later fell in love until Tariq had to leave Kabul due to his father's health problems. They later were reunited and got married just like they always wanted.
- - - - No eyecontact with men
      - Laughing in public results in a beating
      - Will not speak unless spoken to
      - Painted nails results in losing a finger
      - Cosmetics and jewlery are banned
      - Girls are forbidden from getting an education
      - Women are forbidden from working
      - Guilty of adultery results in being stoned to death
      - Must be covered head to toe (burqa), if even their ankles show they get beat
      - women are not allowed out their home unless accompanied with a man. (brother, husband, father, or male relative)
    - - The women Mariam meets in jail who got 5 years because the man she thought she loved tried to run away together but lied and said she put a spell on him and seduced him and he got away free while she spends 5 years in prison
      - Mariam automatically found guilty for killing Rasheed even though it was self defence
  - - - Laila;
        
        Laila was encouaged to get an education and it was her main priority. Even when the wars got worse and she was no longer able to go to real school, her father still insisted on teaching her in their home.
      - Mariam;
        
        Mariam was not even allowed to think about getting an education, her mother insisting that it is a waste of time for women like 'them'. The only 'education' she got was religion and only really knew what she was told by people around her.
    - - Laila;
        
        Laila was never pressured into an arranged marriage or to get married at a young age
      - Mariam;
        
        Mariam was pressured into a marriage with an older man she didn't know at a very young
    - - Laila;
        
        Laila was never pressured to wear anything when she was living with her parents
      - Mariam;
        
        Mariam started off wearing a hijab when she lived with Nana in the kolba
  - - - Manipulated Laila into marrying him
      - Didn't think of Aziza as a daughter simply because she was a girl and not the boy he wanted
      - Talked about how shameful the women who came to his shoe shop were just for showing some skin and not being forced to cover up
      - Not allowed the women to socialize
      - Made the girls cover themselves head to toe when in public
      - Set rules that the women in his home must follow or else
      - Justified forcing sex on Mariam with religion
      - +++
- - - - -Babi and Mammy were married and lived in a home but fought a lot.
        -Mammy neglected Laila a lot due to her being depressed about her two sons off at war but still had days where she expressed her love for Laila and that was enough for her (Laila)
        -Babi loved Laila just as much as he loved her brother and never neglected her.
        -Laila loved both her parent and her mind to wander to them a lot after their death.
    - - -Nana and Jalil weren't together.
        -Jalil always made Mariam feel loved as a child
        -Nana did the opposite and made Mariam feel like a burden and mistake.
        -Mariam's and Jalil's relationship fell apart for a while when he let wouldn't let her into his home and married her off to a stranger after her mother's suicide.
        -Even though Jalil never allowed Mariam into his life and Nana made her feel awful she still loved them both in the end despite what happened
  - - - -Forced the women to wear burqas in public
        -Beat the women for simple things like speaking their thoughts
        -Starved Aziza and Mariam and Laila for days and almost killed
        -Almost beat them to death multiple times
        -Mentally abused them into obedience
        -Didn't let them be their own person
      - -With Mariam, Rasheed started off nice, trying to woo her and treated her somewhat decent but when she was unable to give him a child (more importantly, a son) he slowly got sick of her and began abusing her both mentally and physically
        -With Laila, Rasheed started the same as before, trying to woo her into a marriage after finding out Tariq is "dead", but when she gave birth to a girl (Aziza) he started to see her and the daughter as a burden.
        -Laila and Mariam (and sometimes Aziza) would have to go through years of abuse (mentally and physically) until Laila gave Rasheed the son he wanted from her.
        -After his son was born, Laila, Mariam and Aziza's lives only got worse. The abuse continuing until Rasheed got killed by Mariam
    - - -Tariq and Laila had been in love before he had to leave the war and were probably going to eventually marry each other if it hadn't been for the war that tore them apart.
        -After finding out he's not actually dead like Rasheed made her believe and after Rasheed's death, Laila and the kids leave with Tariq and become a family.
        -Tariq
        -Rasheed's son had a rough time adjusting to Tariq but eventually did. Aziza and Tariq acted like they had never been apart from each other.
      - -Always apologies
        -Let Laila do things on her (go out alone without his supervision)
        -Supported all her decisions
        -Didn't force Laila or Aziza to cover up when in public
        -Treated Aziza and Zalmai equally
        -Never physically or mentally hurt Laila
        -Let Laila be her own person
- - - - He lied about Tariq being dead but he was also lied to about Aziza being his daughter.
      - Rasheed attempts to kill Laila but instead gets killed himself at the hands of Mariam
    - - Jalila ignored and left Mariam outside after she begged for him to let him come into his home then years later, he comes to her home and begs for forgiveness and she ignores and leaves him outside