The middle East. It has always been interesting to us Americans. We here only bad things about the Middle East- such as terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. When the Taliban came to the Middle East and took over, life changed drastically for the people living among the countries in the Middle East. This is seen in A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Taliban used excessive force to take over the Middle East. You were killed if you were caught committing a crime. When Mariam and Laila are caught trying to escape to Pakistan, the Taliban catches them and brings them home to where they are beaten almost to death by their abusive husband, Rasheed. Eventually, the Taliban executes Mariam for killing Rasheed. The men in the novel represent the real society under Taliban rule, in which the men have complete rule over the women in society. The idea that really amazed me was how the women are treated under the Taliban rule. Every woman must wear a burqa veil no matter where she is going, which is seen in the novel. If a woman is found outside of her house with out her veil on she can be whipped or even stoned to death publicly. Afghan women have been pushed to the lowest form of living there is. The Taliban men have completely banned any education for women starting from kindergarten to graduate school. Also employment for women has been banned in their country. The poor women under the Taliban rule can’t wear make-up, nail polish, cut their hair short, wear colorful or stylish clothes, white socks and shoes, and can’t even walk or talk loudly. In fact the government believes women shouldn’t even leave their homes at all. If woman do choose to leave her home it must be for an essential, government purpose and she must wear the full burqa outfit. Even then these suppressed women risk their lives. Women born into this horrible lifestyle are born already dead.
