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A Thousand Splendid Suns (Final Thoughts (How come the laws were so strict…
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Chapter 1-10
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"And I want you to invite my brothers and sisters too. I want to meet them. I want us all to go, together. It's what I want." Chapter 5 page 26
Mariam wants to watch a movie at Jalil's theater with her siblings for her 15th birthday. This was huge because she has never met her siblings before and she wants to meet them but Jalil never came to get her.
"Eleven, if you count Mariam, of course" Chapter 4, Page 22
Nana asked Jalil how many children he had now and he said 10. After that he said 11 if you count Mariam. Its almost like at first he didn't consider Mariam one of his children.
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Chapter 11-20
"Then he was gone, leaving Mariam to spit out pebbles, blood, and the fragments of two broken molars."Chapter 15, Page 104
Rasheed is becoming abusive in their relationship over problems that can easily be fixed. He treats her so poorly now then compared to the beginning of their marriage. He literally made her chew on rocks because she under cooks rice.
"She sat beside Mammy and dutifully mourned Ahmad and Noor, but, in Laila's heart, her true brother was alive and well." Chapter 19, Page 140
This shows how she barely knew her brothers so she didn't really care too much about her brothers that way. She was just appreciative that Tariq is still alive and that is all she cared about. Tariq is the only "brother" she had ever had in her life.
"...Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed." Chapter 20, Page 144
This makes me sad because Laila is trying to help her mothers illness but nothing is working. The quote means that no matter how hard she tries to help her her mother will always become sad and depressed again. I just get confused because why doesn't her mom even try to be happier?
If Rasheed and Mariam's marriage is falling apart then why don't they divorce... or are they not allowed to divorce because of their culture?
As I read these two different characters stories I can't help but wonder if it is normal for females in Afghanistan to be treated poorly and not cared about. Is this true?
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Why is Rasheed being so mean and disrespectful to his own wife when all the problems they have can easily be fixed?
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Chapter 21-30
"In the morning, the bed was empty. I asked a nurse. She said he fought valiantly" (Hosseini 209)
Laila has literally lost everyone she knows at this point. Her parents, her brothers, her best friend, and the love of her life. Tariq died from a blast just like one Laila got hit by. She finally experienced how her mother felt when her brothers died.
"He can have it now," the girl said. "My answer is yes." (Hosseini 216)
Mairiam went to tell Laila that Rasheed wanted an answer if she wanted to marry him. She seemed to say yes very eagerly because at the time she was pregnant with Tariq's baby. She was eager to marry and have sex with him because if you have a child without marrying then they would kill her. If she would have waited longer then Rasheed would have became suspicious.
"Something hot and powerful slammed into her from behind. It knocked out her sandals. Lifted her up. And now she was flying, twisting and rotating in the air, seeing sky, then earth, then sky, then earth."(Hosseini 193-194)
Laila's house was hit by a rocket that killed her parents just as they were about to move to Pakistan. This in how Mariam and Laila's paths cross because the people who Laila woke to that were giving her "pink pills" were Mariam and Rasheed.
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If all these bad things and killings are happening during this war they why didn't each family move sooner and none of this would have happened?
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Chapter 31-40
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"And in this fleeting, wordless exchange with Mariam, Laila knew that they were enemies no longer." (Hosseini 250)
Mariam and Laila finally trusted each other and were friends with each other after years of hate. Every time they have had a conversation it has been awkward. Even the beginning of this conversation was awkward. Laila wants to learn how to fish and sew from Mariam because Mariam brought Laila some beautiful clothes she made. They had tea and food and talked after this.
"She didn't want to do it," she said. "I made her do it. She didn't want to go- " (Hosseini 268)
This was when Laila and Mariam tried to leave in the springtime with Aziza to escape Rasheed. They were tired of his abuse and made a decision to leave. It was Laila's idea at first and she asked Mariam if she wanted to go with them and she agreed. They were caught trying to leave and brought back home. Rasheed beat both of them and locked them in total darkness in separate places and didn't feed them.
"Laila watched the arch of her closed fist, slicing through the air, felt the crinkle of Rasheed's stubby, coarse skin under her knuckles" (Hosseini 299)
Laila punched Rasheed in the face for the first time because she was tired of the beatings from him. All this came about because Rasheed told Laila that they didn't have enough money to take care of the whole family and suggested putting Aziza in the streets. Laila would not let her child become a beggar and they started arguing and then Rasheed slapped her which lead to her punching him.
Chapter 41-51
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How come Zalmai disliked Tariq so much when all Tariq is trying to do is be his friend and father figure?
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"She turned it so the sharp edge was vertical, and, as she did, it occurred to her that this was the first time that she was deciding the course of her own life." (Hosseini 349)
She killed Rasheed with the sharp edge of the shovel and swung as hard as she could. She hit Rasheed in the head with the flat side at first to knock him off of Laila. She then killed him with the cut to the head.
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"One last time, Mariam did as she was told" (Hosseini 371)
Mariam was executed for killing Rasheed. This came about because Rasheed was strangling Laila and intended to kill her. Mariam went get a shovel and hit him with it.
Final Thoughts
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If Rasheed knew about Tariq then why didn't he tell Laila anything and why didn't he do anything to Tariq?
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"She turned it so the sharp edge was vertical, and, as she did, it occurred to her that this was the first time that she was deciding the course of her own life." (Hosseini 349)
"Laila watched the arch of her closed fist, slicing through the air, felt the crinkle of Rasheed's stubby, coarse skin under her knuckles" (Hosseini 299)
"Something hot and powerful slammed into her from behind. It knocked out her sandals. Lifted her up. And now she was flying, twisting and rotating in the air, seeing sky, then earth, then sky, then earth."(Hosseini 193-194)
I was able to find how women were treated in Afghanistan and I was able to better understand why they were treated this way. I also learned what events happened in the war and how strict laws were over there. I see how men think of women and that they only need women to reproduce, cook, and clean for them. Men on that country could be very abusive and the women can't so anything about it because they have little to no rights.