Character Analysis: A Thousand Splendid Suns

It was a beautiful spring weekend in May, and I was warming up for a weekend volleyball tournament. During the first day of the tournament I suffered a season ending ankle injury. I was immediately transferred to the emergency room for x-rays on my ankle as they thought it might be broken. During my long recovery I experienced both physical and emotional pain. It took hope, strength, love and support from my family and friends to stay positive during my long recovery. Many people lose hope and get discouraged easily when life becomes hard, however, like Mariam and Laila, I did not give up. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila experience physical and emotional pain. The women live in Kabul under the Taliban with no rights and little freedom. Additionally, they are married to an abusive husband named Rasheed. To endure a life with little freedom and stability requires hope, strength, and sacrifice through love and support.

For Mariam and Laila to
When Laila arrives at the hospital to have her baby the guards inform her that she must go to Rabia Balkhi a women-only hospital. The women-only hospital is overcrowded, dirty, and underfunded. The doctor tells Laila that she needs a Cesarean section, and “The hospital has no anesthetic” (Hosseini 291). Laila does not want to lose her baby. With Mariam by her side, Laila undergoes the procedure fully conscious. For Laila to undergo the procedure fully conscious takes an incredible amount of strength. The same strength is required by Mariam when she is abused by Rasheed. Rasheed makes Mariam chew pebbles as a punishment for preparing a bad meal. Rasheed says, “Now you know what you’ve given me in this marriage. Bad food, and nothing else” (Hosseini 104). Mariam has to endure both physical and emotional pain from Rasheed. Mariam never gives up on her life and remains both mentally and physically