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power - Coggle Diagram
power
father power over women
Tess
depended on by own family - women in society expected to provide for family - lack of female education - women only educated on becoming good housewives in Victorian England
"claim kin" (due to rural poverty) vs Alec's social superiority - "for such a pretty maid as tis, this is a fine chance!" - sexualisation of women
Tess's father sends her off with ease - depicted in sexual context - white gown symbolises purity - a quality soon to be lost due to Alec - connotations of red "red ribbon, strawberry, blood of horse" - associated with blood early on. "white muslin figure" "peony lips" "bouncing, handsome womanliness"
Suns
Mariam - contrast to Tess, sent away because disgrace vs Tess being sent away as a sign of hope. Chap 7 Jalil + wives marry her off due to illegitimacy
"she was being sent away because she was the walking, breathing embodiment of their shame" (illegitimacy unwanted in Afghan culture, burden) "harami" - reinforcing low self - esteem and place in the world as a burden.
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"actually, your father has already given Rasheed his answer. Rasheed is here, in herat"
husband power over women
Tess
Seduces her like serpent in tempts Eve in Eden - references to religion throughout the novel 1870 religion pervaded throughout society "let me put one little kiss on those holmberry lips Tess" - persistent, possessive persona of Alec
Rape scene reinforces POWER "where was Tess's guardian angel?" loss of virginity = loss of purity before marriage = exiled from society. Power he has over her is brutally depicted.
"beautiful feminine tissue" vs "coarse pattern it was doomed to receive". Alec's grip around her tightens by getting her pregnant she is tied to him now.
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social power - 'the convert' - wants to marry her, she rejects him but needs him because family are struggling - physical control vs societal control
Alec ruins her physically, angel ruins her emotionally
"she obeyed" "the blood ray in the spectrum of her young life" - Alec being the taint in her life "barbarism" - how Alec is portrayed.
suns
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§ Rasheed's violence 'What needed saying when you'd shoved the barrel of your gun into your wife's mouth?'
§ 'As a reminder of how women like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls on us' - relevant to both women + how little power they have over their own lives.
§ Chapter 36 shows brutality + power he has - beats both women as try and escape - not allowed due to new Taliban rule "you do realize, hamshira, it's a crime for running away"
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§ "Laila, my love, the only enemy an Afghan cannot defeat is himself." Reason its man is because it literal
§ 'She saw Zaman's thick, calloused hands close around Aziza's arms' similar to Rasheed taking Mariam on the bus