A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

(Khaled Hosseini)

Background of the author

Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a

diplomat in the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and history at a

high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to

Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then their homeland had

witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet Army.

The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States, and

in September 1980 moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from high

school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor’s

degree in biology in 1988.

The following year he entered the University of California, San Diego, School of

Medicine, where he earned a medical degree in 1993. He completed his residency at

Cedars-Sinai medical center in Los Angeles and was a practicing internist between

1996 and 2004.

In March 2001, while practicing medicine, Hosseini began writing his first

novel, The Kite Runner. Published by Riverhead Books in 2003, that debut went on to

become an international bestseller and beloved classic, sold in at least seventy

countries and spending more than a hundred weeks on the New York Times bestseller

list.

In May 2007, his second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, debuted at #1 on

the New York Times bestseller list, remaining in that spot for fifteen weeks and nearly

an entire year on the bestseller list. Together, the two books have sold more than 10

million copies in the United States and more than 38 million copies worldwide.

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 The Kite Runner was adapted into a graphic novel of the same name in

2011. Hosseini’s much-awaited third novel, And the Mountains Echoed, was published

on May 21, 2013.

In 2006, Hosseini was named a Goodwill Envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations

Refugee Agency. Inspired by a trip he made to Afghanistan with the UNHCR, he later

established The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a non-profit organization, which provides

humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He lives in Northern California.

SUMMARY

Mariam lives in the small village of Gul Daman with her mother. She is the

illegitimate daughter of Jalil, a wealthy businessman who lives in the nearby city of

Herat. After her mother's suicide, she is sent to live with Jalil.

Jalil and his wives quickly marry Mariam off to a shoemaker named Rasheed, and

the newlyweds move to Kabul, where Mariam becomes pregnant. Sadly, Mariam

suffered miscarriage. Rasheed is furious and becomes abusive.

Across Kabul (and in a galaxy far, far away…) a girl named Laila is born on the

same night that the Soviets take control of Afghanistan. Her best friend (and love

interest) is Tariq, a neighborhood boy who lost a leg when he was a child.

With the war worsening, Tariq's family decides to leave for Pakistan, and he and

Laila consummate their relationship the night before he leaves. Laila's family decides to

leave soon after, but her parents are killed by a stray rocket as they're packing up the

car. Rasheed and Mariam care for Laila as she recovers.

A man comes by and tells Laila that he saw Tariq die in a hospital. Rasheed, being

the dirt ball that he is, uses this as an opportunity to ask Laila to marry him. Surprisingly,

she says yes. It turns out that she's pregnant with Tariq's child. Her plan is to convince

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Rasheed that the child is his, and then escape to Pakistan after she's saved enough

money.

Mariam resents Laila at first, but she eventually becomes close to Laila and her new

daughter, Aziza. Laila tells Mariam about her plan to escape, and Mariam decides to

join them. They eventually go through with the plan, but they're arrested before they can

leave and are sent home with Rasheed. He is so furious that he almost kills them. Laila

and Rasheed have a son named Zalmai.

After Rasheed's shop burns to the ground and the family goes broke, he forces

Laila to send Aziza to a nearby orphanage. One day, after visiting Aziza, Laila returns

home to find a very surprising guest: it's Tariq. It turns out the man who had come by all

those years ago was hired by Rasheed to trick Laila. Laila tells Tariq about Aziza, and

he promises that he will meet her the following day.

Rasheed starts to beat Laila that night when he finds out about Tariq. Mariam ends

up killing Rasheed to protect Laila. Mariam remains in Kabul to take the blame and is

executed by the Taliban.

Laila, Tariq, and the kids move to Tariq's home in Murree, where life is comfortable.

After the U.S. invasion, however, Laila decides to return to Kabul. Before returning

home, Laila stops in Herat, Mariam's hometown. She visits Mariam's childhood home,

and receives a box for the local Mullah's son that was meant for Mariam. It's from her

father Jalil.

It contains a long letter, as well as her share of his inheritance. Laila uses the

money to renovate the orphanage in Kabul, and at the end of the story, she is pregnant

with a new child.

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 FEMINISM APPROACH

Feminism is an interdisciplinary approach to issues of equality and equity based

on gender, gender expression, gender identity, sex and sexuality as understood through

social theories and political activism (Day, 2016).

It is the belief that women universally face some form of oppression or

exploitation. It involves a commitment to uncover and understand what causes and

sustain oppression and is directed towards ending all forms of oppression.

It seeks to raise the consciousness about the importance and unique nature of

women (Edrozo, 2015). Any type of stereotyping, objectification, infringement of human

rights or intersectional oppression is a feminist issue (Day, 2016). The injustices brought

upon women have been present throughout time.

Now, entering modern day time, the attitude towards women has drastically

within our society, although many people are still unaware of what feminism truly

means. A common misconception is that feminism is about making women hate men

and not wanting to have families with them.

Presently, we can confidently say that women are nearly equal to men. Women

play roles in our society that no other time period has ever allowed, though in most parts

of the world the equality of women ceases to exist.

A Thousand Splendid Suns depicts the plight of women behind the walls of

Afghanistan during several invasions in the country. The issue of feminism and gender

equity has been raised through the character of Mariam and Laila. The novel stresses

over the rights women were not given along with the restrictions to education, choices

and liberation that restrict their great potentials in the male dominated world. Male

dominance over the women in Afghanistan is a major concern that relates this novel to

feminist aspect. Mental, social, cultural and psychological level and torture was

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perpetrated towards the Afghan women are the issues that are concerned by the

feminists across the globe.

A Thousand Splendid Suns can be examined as a feminist novel because it

actively speaks out against the subjugation of women in Afghanistan and how they

prevail, in Afghanistan women. The discrimination they suffered ranged from home to

the society. No right to women to survive as their wish in this life.

Forceful marriage against their choice, to be limit behind wall, no freedom of

walking without the male companion and covering with burqas, these all are symbols of

representing feminist aspect. Male tortures after becoming wife of someone is also

major point to prove this novel as feminism. No choice for taking free decision and right

to marry more than one wife to male is also the cause of occurring domination over

women.

First is the situation of Nana, Mariam’s mother, who at the beginning of the story

treated poorly. She suffered from oppression, cruel and violent treatment from Jalil and

his family, on the one hand, and insult and expulsion of her father on the other, hand

because she gave birth to Mariam a‘harami’ ( an illegitimate child).

Jalil abandoned her and expelled her from his house, because she was working

as his housekeeper, so when she was pregnant, he repudiated his baby and fired Nana

to a small village. He felt embarrassed and ashamed to get a harami, a child out of

wedlock, so to cover up his mistake in front of his family, he sent her away.

Nana expressed all what she felt and all what she experienced because of men

by warning her daughter Mariam, that men always find a manner to blame women for

redeeming and rescuing themselves when she said:

“Like a compass needle that always points north, a man’s accusing finger always

finds a woman. Always, you remember that, Mariam… ‘and believe me’ Nana said ‘it

was a relief to your father having me out of sight’

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 Next of which is the arranged marriage. Arranged marriage is prevalent as

depicted in the story that women have no choice once a man, who is of power,

becomes interested with them which is the case of Mariam who suffered for 27 years

under Rasheed.

“Hardly a week after this traumatic experience, the fifteen-year-old Mariam is

hurried into an arranged marriage with a forty-five-year-old shoemaker and widower
from Kabul named Rasheed. He is smelly, “thick-bellied,” “broad-shouldered,” an
“heavy-footed,” with nails the color of “the inside of a rotting apple.”

"You have a suitor," Khadija said. Mariam's stomach fell. "A what?" she said through
suddenly numb lips. "Akhasiegar. A suitor. His name is Rasheed," Khadija went on. "He
is a friend of a business acquaintance of your father's. He's a Pashtun, from Kandahar
originally, but he lives in Kabul, in the Deh-Mazang district, in a two-story house that he
owns."

Afsoon was nodding. "And he does speak Farsi, like us, like you. So you won't
have to learn Pashto." "Now heis a little older than you," Afsoon chimed in. "But he can't
be more than…forty. Forty-five at the most. Wouldn't you say,Nargis?" "Yes. But I've
seen nine-year-old girls given to men twenty years older than your suitor, Mariam. We
all have. What are you, fifteen? That's a good, solid marrying age for a girl."

Unwillingly Mariam married Rasheed because she felt that she has no place in

her father’s house especially that Jalil (Marriam’s father) approved of the marriage.

Another one is the wearing of the burqa (also known as chadri and is an enveloping

outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions to cover themselves in public,

which covers the body and the face) It is very evident when Rasheed has given Mariam

a burqa, and he's told her that she must wear it whenever she leaves the home. Mariam

has never worn one before.

"But I'm a different breed of man, Mariam. Where I come from, one wrong look, one
improper word, and blood is spilled. Where I come from, a woman's face is her
husband's business only. I want you to remember that. Do you understand?"

The wearing of a burqa is not discriminatory in itself but when it becomes

mandatory for women and they do not have a choice but to wear one, then that is the

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discrimination. Women in the story were not also allowed to go out without male

companions.

“You will stay inside your home at all times. . . If you go outside, you must be
accompanied by a mahram, a male relative. If you are caught alone on the street, you
will be beaten and sent home.’

In order to assert his power in the household, Rasheed physically abuses his

wives; further enforcing the idea of masculine dominance. Mariam oftentimes subjected

to punishment and to brute force eventhough she had done everything in her power to

please Rasheed`s demands.

“Rasheed’s “powerful hands clasp her jaw. He [shoves his] two fingers into her
mouth and pries it open, then forces the cold, hard pebbles into it. Mariam [struggles]
against him, but he keeps pushing the pebbles in…”

Mariam is degraded as her efforts to maintain equality are crushed by Rasheed.

He emphasizes masculine dominance within the household as he quickly regains

control through means of physical force.

In doing so Mariam begins to embody the role of women in a patriarchy, by

becoming weak and powerless. Different from the western code of ethics, domestic

violence is not enforced as a punishable act in Afghani culture as “There may or may

not be legal codes pertaining to domestic violence, child abuse, wife battering, or

spousal rape” (Moghadam ), allowing for gender inequality to take shape, and patriarchy

to continue through the culture.

Due to the a lack of convictions and concern regarding these topics, domestic

violence will simply drag on with an entirely patriarchal society as the end product. After

receiving constant abuse from Rasheed, Mariam accepts her role in the relationship

and becomes submissive, bringing more power to her husband.

By developing a sense of defeatism, combined with the idea that Rasheed is her

protector from the rest of the world, Mariam fuels Rasheed’s power by submitting

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herself to his physical abuse. Rasheed gains an even deeper control over his

relationship as he manipulates Mariam into feeling “lesser” than himself; Mariam has

become the “Other”.

Once Mariam convinces herself to submit to Rasheed’s will, the gender inequality

inside the household intensifies further. Patriarchy is not only seen in the elders of the

household but also with the youth. This is evident when Hosseini depicts Zalami as the

boy that is influenced by his father’s actions and emulates his father violent nature by

throwing tantrums in the absence of his father and becoming innocent like when his

father is around. Rasheed also shows to him that gender inequality is acceptable and

he is the man of the house has the supremacy over Laila and Mariam so when Zalami

first encountered such action, he says nothing and turn a blind eye and deaf ears.

“Laila saw hesitation and uncertainty in his eyes now, as if he had just realized
what he’d disclosed has turned out to be far bigger than he’d thought… Rasheed swung
the belt at Laila, she touched her fingers to her temple, looked at the blood then looked
at Rasheed in astonishment” .

Since abuse is commonly practiced in Rasheed’s household, it is not avoided in

the presence of Zalami. The ability to gain power through domestic abuse is seized by

men throughout the Afghanistan, power that they in turn apply to all facets of their lives.

Such a dispute of powers stresses the lack influence women have on their culture.

The pressure to have a son is also depicted in the story. The people around them

were expecting that Mariam’s first born should be a boy

“"Boy is better, Mariam jan, they carry the family name-"

Rasheed make it very clear that he wants a boy, newborn clothes fitted for a boy

and planning a future for a boy. When Mariam suffered miscarriage, Rasheed affection

for Mariam diminished and when Mariam bore him no children after seven miscarriage,

he considered her as a burden and hurt her more brutally than before, lowering her

lesser status in the household. Rasheed refusal to the born baby Aziza represents the

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patriarchal strong want for a boy to hold the name of ancestors. In many instances in

the novel Rasheed despise of a daughter birth is repeatedly claimed which intensify the

tension between him and both Mariam and Laila:

“Sometimes, I swear, sometimes I want to put that thing in a box and let her float
down Kabul River. Like Baby Moses. Mariam never heard him call his daughter by the
name the girl had given her. Aziza, the Cherished One. It was always the baby, or,
when he was really exasperated, that thing”.

Only when Laila, who became another wife of Rasheed, bore him a son that he

was appeased, however, the love was limited to the son and is not extended to the

wives and the daughter. Rasheed showers Zalmai with affection making him see his

father as god and his mother as a lesser thing. One night, he brings home a TV and

VCR that he bought at the black market specifically for Zalmai. Rasheed does this even

though money is tighter than ever.

Things have gotten so bad during the war, that Rasheed suggests sending Aziza to

the streets to beg for extra money and sending her to the orphanage because she is

just another mouth to feed. These lines show a clear manifestation of how males were

given the best treatment in the Afghan society and the women are treated as an

accessory.

The story also depicted the different educational experiences of women, which

emphasizes education of women is not encouraged and the education that they had is

on being subservient to their husbands. Laila was borne in a liberal family, her father a

professor and her mother who is unbounded by the custom and traditions of the

Afghans, thus she was gifted with education which was cut short due to the war. On the

other hand, Mariam was denied with education as her mother see it as not fit for a

`harami`, an illegitimate child and she is destined to become a someone`s wife or rather

slave .

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 Another prominent theme in this novel is the inner strength of women. The story

portrayed how women despite being subjected to various abuses had persevered, had

endured and had survived the situation they were thrown into. It had shown that women

go through a lot of hardships but they remain strong especially for the children.

Marriam and Laila were portrayed differently; physically, socially and

psychologically. Socially, Mariam is from the rural lower class; Laila, the urban middle

class. Psychologically, Mariam is accustomed to humiliation and to belittling as her

mother has constantly reminded all throughout her formation years, that she as an

illegitimate child is borne with nothing and deserve nothing. While, Laila is habituated in

expressing her thought and thinking that there is an equality.

Physically, Mariam’s features are “unshapely,” “flat,” “unmemorable,” “coarse,”

while Laila is a green-eyed blond beauty. Their common fate is to become co-wives of

the same misogynistic, brutal man. At first the two women had an animosity towards

each other when Rasheed decided to marry Laila.

Mariam was angry because she has given her youth and life for Rasheed. At the

same time Laila was not also happy with the situation, but feels that she has no

alternative solution, given that her parents have been killed and she is bearing the child

of Tarik. Mariam and Laila showed their strength as women when they shared a bond

to rebel against their husband. Although at first Mariam was submissive compared to

Laila, Laila possesses a more developed selfhood then Mariam.

She dares to talk back to her husband when she disagrees. She even tries to

resist when her husband wants to beat her and she even sometimes become violent

and punch or slap her husband. Mariam who was a weak, silent and obedient

personality which is the result of her weak self-recognition and self-awareness, while

Laila as an educated and civilized woman owns a more developed sense of selfhood.

Mariam and Laila, however suffererd the hardships of life as two different

individuals but both of them shares the same life and same fate. Their life is closely

10
entangled and inseparable. Compared to Mariam, Laila has a life more in ease in

Rasheed’s house, which is never because of her education or intelligence but the result

of Mariam’s devotedly hard and troublesome life.

The two women live their life everyday despite the pains and the struggles that

they go through. They ended up becoming friends because they felt that they only have

each other. Their planning of escaping is one indicator that they wanted to have a new

life away from Rasheed. The two women experienced abuses from the hands of the

supposed to be their protector. But these abuses made them stronger.

For Mariam, this strength was depicted as she faced the unacceptance of the

father, the abuses by the husband, and sacrificing her future by helping Laila. Laila’s

strengths was tested through the death of her parents, assuming that Tariq died,

abuses of Rasheed and living for her children’s sake. Mariam’s strength and courage

played great role to Laila’s life. Mariam makes the ultimate sacrifice for Laila and the

children, as she is willing to take the blame, and ultimately suffer the ultimate

punishment for Rasheed’s death. Her comment concerning her death as a legitimate

end to illegitimate beginnings is an interesting one, because we can may consider this

execution to be the epitome of illegitimacy of power, authority and control.

However, Mariam knows that her actions against Rasheed were completely

justified, and her execution is therefore a legitimate manner of death. Laila, on the other

hand, faced life with Tariq.

PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

Psychological approach reveals the influence of psychology on literature which

employs three approaches: an investigation of the creative process of the artist,

psychological study of a particular artist, and analysis of fictional characters. The

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investigation of the creative process looks into the nature of the literary genius and its

relationship to normal mental functions.

The psychological study of a particular artist usually notes how an author’s

biographical circumstances affect or influence their motivations and/or behavior. The

analysis of fictional characters uses the language and methods of psychology.

This approach is directed towards significant augmentation of the meaningfulness of

the literary piece. It involves studying the authors’ imagination and that each work is

based on some kind of experience.

Hosseni’s novel is posited to have been inspired by his observations of the people of

Afghanistan considering that his childhood years were spent there. The plight of the

women may have been etched in the writer’s memory that he would like the whole world

to know, through his novels, the uncertainties, strengths and pains especially of the

people in that country, especially that of the women.

The wearing of burqa has a psychological effect to both women. For Mariam, it is

for comfort. It allows her to observe others freely without fear that she will be exposed to

the scrutinizing eyes of strangers. Since others cannot see her face, Mariam imagines

that the shameful secrets of her past will not be known by others, being a harami or

illegitimate child.

Laila, on the other hand, at first resisted on wearing the burqa being young and

beautiful. She feels that it will deprived her from being free. But in the end, the burqa

became an instrument in hiding Laila’s fear and grief towards her daughter Aziza. So,

for both Mariam and Laila, wearing of burqa is an instrument and symbol of oppression

as well as it hides emotions such as fear, anger, loneliness and distrust.

One of the psychological themes that the novel had raised is the reality of marriage

and love. This was depicted when Mariam, who initially though that the arranged

marriage will eventually become love towards the end.

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 On the other side, love was depicted through Laila and Tariq, with their love of their

children and the sacrifice that Mariam did at the end. It shows to the readers that when

marriage is concerned, it is not always equated with love. In Afghanistan where

arranged marriage is still prevalent, it is equated with security, social expectations, and

traditional roles. But, Mariam despite being constantly abuse by the husband, she

endured the pain, she embraced it as part of her life and she did nothing to change her

situation tracing such masochistic tendencies to the way she was raised.

Another noteworthy theme of the novel is the forging of a strong bond between

women. Initially, Laila was seen as a competitor by Mariam but the commonality in their

experience, the physical and psychological pain they have to endure from the hands of

Rasheed, formed and strengthened that bond between them.

They became each other’s support system and they have gained strength from each

other. Mariam learned to become stronger because of this bond that she had with Laila.

Realistically speaking, even at the most desperate times in our lives, we find people

who eventually became closest to us because we share something in common and it

results to understanding and ties.

The theme on the capability of a person to do evil is also emphasized in the story. It

depicted how men can be consumed by the idea of power and does things at the

expense of others. It presented how important personal gains are and deny people of

their rights. These are depicted through the various abuses that they do to women

because they know they are weaker and because they know that the law will rule in

their favor.

CULTURAL APPROACH

A cultural approach considers literature as one of the principal manifestations and

vehicles of a nation’s or a race’s culture and tradition. It includes the entire complex of

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what goes under “culture”, the technological, artistic, the sociological, the ideological

aspects, and consider the literary piece in the total culture milieau in which it was born.

This approach is one of the richest ways to arrive at the culture of the people. It

goes by dictum “culture teaching through literature”.

In the novel, it depicted the strong ties that people have in their country especially

that they have grown there. The drive of the characters to stay in and return to

Afghanistan is rooted in their psyche that it is their home, their `watan`. Their identities

are rooted in the place where they grew and they would like to help in any way they can.

Such value is shown by Laila and Tariq and even that of Fariba. The Afghans cling

to the hope that violence will stop. This speaks of their culture of being strong-willed

and their strength to stand by their homeland no matter what is its circumstances. They

have been exposed too long to violence but they cling to the hope of deliverance from

these struggles. They express hope for every ruler, and with every failed dream, they

stay and keep on hoping still.

Another culturally worthy depiction in the novel is on how people value their

reputations and would like not to be shamed despite the fact that, at times, they are the

cause of it.

Take for instance, Jalil did this with Nana, sending her out after bearing their

illegitimate child. He did not even want that Mariam be seen with him and so he married

her off to Rasheed. In the case of Rasheed, he pretends that they are wealthy and

spends beyond his means. Marriage for the Afghans also is based on how the man

wants it to be.

In the beginning of the novel, mariam’s childhood spend in kolba or field outside the

city away from her father because she was an illegitimate child who would never have

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legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, and

acceptance. She was a harami. Or a child born out of wedlock which is unacceptable in

the Islamic culture.

In the novel, Mariam was helpless when Rasheed decided to marry Laila because

she believed that she was enough for her husband but since it was accepted in their

culture to have more than one wife, Rasheed did not heed the pleadings of Mariam

“Don't be so dramatic. It's a common thing and you know it. I have friends who have
two, three, four wives. Your own father had three. Besides,what I'm doing now most
men I know would have done long ago.You know it's true."

Pregnancy and childbirth are also depicted as culturally important in Afghanistan

especially for women. The women’s value is dependent on her ability to get pregnant,

give birth and especially in bearing a son.

Lastly, the novel tells us that in Afghanistan, education is not for women. When

Mariam expressed her desire to enroll, her mother told her

.” There is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me needs in life, and they
don’t teach it in school . . . Only one skill. And it’s this: tahamul. Endure . . . It’s our lot in
life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have. Do you understand? Besides,
they’ll laugh at you in school. They will. They’ll call you harami. They’ll say the most
terrible things about you. I won’t have it. . . There is nothing out there for her. Nothing
but rejection and heartache. I know, akhund sahib. I know.”

This right is being deprived of them because they are not encouraged to advance

their causes through studying. Their education is limited to being subservient to their

husband and to follow religiously the traditions. There are, however, those who

encouraged their children like Hakim, but not everybody do this. It is not one of the

basic rights of women in that country.

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 Conclusion

The novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” especially related to gender inequalities, the

condemning life under Taliban laws, rape, separation, discrimination, war, and women

visualized as the epitome of inferiority. . Men power over women is strikingly a feminist

perspective of gender inequality in the novel. Tnovel reflects the portrait of women in

Afghan society, the order and the hierarchy of classes from high to low among poor and

rich people; and cultural plus religious clashes are reviewed with intensity from the

author via the reader and from the latter via the former. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a

good teaching about the Afghan society, a deep introduction to its people, a reflection of

cultural and religious values, a correction of many prejudices and stereotypes that

Khaled Hosseini strives powerfully to do. The feelings and emotions of the characters in

the novel shaped how the story runs. And lastly, the culture played great role in shaping

the plot of the story as well.

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