A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel written by Khaled Hosseini about political upheaval and the dreadful toll it takes on the citizens, as well as an examination of the limited role of women in Afghan society. The novel itself takes place in Kabul, which in the largest city and the capitol of Afghanistan. It is the target of territorial leaders; fighting in the streets is rampant and violent, and civilians are raped, tortured, and murdered, even in today’s society. As Americans, many of us perceive some the issues and people in the Middle East as unbelievable. In the United States, women are (almost) equal to men. In the Middle East, however, it is almost the complete opposite. Women are oppressed and treated like animals. They are raised with the belief that they are behind men in the social status. This is clearly shown in Hosseini’s novel through his portrayal of two main characters, Mariam and Rasheed.
Khaled Hosseini uses a strong conflict between the two main characters Mariam and Rasheed to present many important ideas within the novel. It follows Mariam’s struggle through her life with Rasheed, her abusive husband, which clearly leads to the idea of suppression of emotion. Through Rasheed's conflict with Mariam, we witness his total mistreatment of her and the idea of the oppression of women in Afghan society is established. He has complete control over her, and this is shown when he forces her to wear a burqa whenever she goes out in public. This portrays the burqa as an enclosure for Mariam where she is being kept in captivity by her abusive husband.
In 1996, the Taliban took over Afghanistan. This was the beginning of the societal oppression of women in the Middle East. I have a friend named Sabrina, who is from Pakistan, who went to my old school. We were always good friends, but when I moved schools, we lost touch. Two years ago, I remember hearing from my mom that her mother and father chose a man for her to marry- an arranged marriage, and she was to move to Pakistan to carry out her life with that man. She was 15 at the time. To me, this is beyond belief that this occurs, because it is such an unfamiliar occurrence in our society. Doing further research on this novel, I found out that Hosseini was inspired to write this novel while on a trip to Kabul in 2003. He describes in an interview the sights of women on the street crying and bleeding, and he felt that he needed to bring Americans to light of what is going on in other parts of the world. When I heard about my friend Sabrina, I was scared for her. After knowing what can happen to women in that part of the world, it is scary to think that it could even happen to her.
