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AP Literature and Composition Blog

A Thousand Splendid Suns: Part I (Primary and Secondary)

3/16/2018

 

In Part 1 of A Thousand Splendid Suns, Nana says the following to her daughter, Mariam: “Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have.” Select three distinct passages from Part 1 that show how this sentiment informs Mariam’s life and how it relates to the larger themes of the novel. 

Primary Blog Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the name that you were assigned in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by the end of Friday night! 

Secondary Blog Response Expectations (read everyone's primary responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing.
Please use the name that you were assigned in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by the start of class on Monday! 
 ​

Giti
3/16/2018 10:59:38 am

“She understood what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptable.”
“A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mariam. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed, it won't stretch to make room for you.”
“She believed Jalil’s version, that though he’d been away he’d arranged for Nana to be taken to a hospital in Heret where she had been tended to by a doctor. She had lain on a clean, proper bed in a well-lit room.”
The three above quotes, all relating to the novels larger theme of family, demonstrate Mariam’s struggle to feel at home in any aspects of her life. In the first quote, Mariam recalls the first time she truly realized how little claim to anything she has. She is without any kind of love or family and that absence in her life defines her character greatly. In the next two quotes, the rivalry of her mother and father are revealed. The relationship between them is so poor that Mariam isn’t even sure of the truth behind her own birth. Her mother continues to badmouth her father throughout her life and teach her that all men will treat her the same. But her father doesn’t do much but discredit Mariam’s mother. This uncertainty in her family creates a basis of uncertainty and distrust in her life as a whole.

Word Count: 251

Roshanak
3/19/2018 07:26:59 pm

It is sad how much Miriam ends up distrusting her family. Like you said, her mother and father constantly contradicted one another, but we also see that her father seems to be a master of lies. After her mother dies, her father’s wives very quickly marry her away, saying that she is at a great age to get married, yet none of their children (all of similar ages) are being married off as quickly. This also shows how distrustful she becomes because of how they lied to her. She also ended up distrustful of her mother though. Her mother was a constant in her life, spending all her time with her daughter. It seems that her mother was only able to hang on to life though because of Miriam, which is why she forbade her daughter to see a movie with her father. We see that this was actually a good and truthful warning as her father never showed up, but it also showed how much her mom was lying to herself, as she killed herself as soon as she was left alone.

WC: 183

Shahmir
3/19/2018 10:16:38 pm

I decided to respond to this blog post because I truly agreed to what was being talked about. I find intriguing on how you speak of Mariam’s inability to feel comfortable with either her mom or dad. Mariam’s mother constantly speaks on the absence of Mariam’s father, and Mariam’s father states that he’s always been there for Mariam. I find this whole concept of distrust within Mariam’s family as interesting because she should feel most comfortable in her household, and with her mother and father. However, although Mariam is so used to her mother, and lives with her, she still continues to value the presence of her father, and trusts his word.

word count: 112

Kiriana
3/20/2018 08:52:30 am


I agree with the idea of distrust among Nana and Jalil because Mariam has been too oblivious and naive to realize that her father is just filling up her head with hopes and great stories about his life while Nana talks down on him for letting them live in such bad conditions while he lives in a beautiful home with his 3 wives and 9 other children. Nana always talked down on Jalil because he never treated them the same way as his other three wives. She wanted to teach Mariam that women will never be on the same level or same power as men because in the end women will always be mistreated.
WC:114

Zarafshan
4/5/2018 09:48:11 pm

As sad as some of the obstacles of Mariam’s life are, I feel inclined to say that this response was very refreshing because it took a different route than sexism, focusing instead on the importance of Mariam’s lack of family or feelings of home in the novel. I really love how you drew this conclusion from the quotes most interpret only as gender roles and male domination over women.
Word count 71

Allysiah
3/16/2018 11:00:46 am

“Mariam kept thinking of his face in the upstairs window. He let her sleep on the street. On the street.” (Hosseini 35)
This was the first instance in the book where Mariam began to lose faith in Jalil and see his true colors. Before this scene, Mariam was completely infatuated with Jalil. He was her role model, the most prominent thought in her mind for all positive reasons. But after he just let her lay down in the street waiting for his impending arrival (not knowing he was already home) she started to realize that Jalil was not this image of perfection and purity she had in her mind. This was the first huge heartbreak Mariam felt in her life.

“‘There is no shame in this, Mariam,’ he said, slurring a little. ‘It’s what married people do. It’s what the Prophet himself and his wives did. There is no shame.” (Hosseini 77)
Throughout her time married to and living with Rasheed, Mariam feared the moment that Rasheed would want to have sexual interaction. The first time that he tried Mariam was terrified and tried to plead with him. Once it was over, she felt a sense of shame, like her dignity as a woman was taken away from her without her permission. On top of this, once it really happened, to Mariam it made her life situation more real. Nana was really dead, Jalil actually forced her off with a man 4 times her age. She no longer had any control whatsoever.

“Mariam sat in the corner by herself, working on her heels with a pumice stone, insulated by a wall of steam and passing shapes. Then there was blood and she was screaming (...) Later that night Fariba told her husband that when she heard the cry and rushed over she’d found Rasheed’s wife shriveled into a corner, hugging her knees, a pool of blood at her feet.” (Hosseini 90)
This moment was the most heartbreaking moment in the book thus far, in my opinion. Mariam had finally found happiness and peace of mind in this pregnancy because she felt that she finally had a sense of control back. This baby was hers, she made it. When she had a miscarriage in the bath house, she felt that she had failed Rasheed. From this point forward Mariam had lost control again, and Rasheed had an underlying anger and bitterness towards her. She felt it was her fault, that she was a failure.

Roshanak
3/20/2018 05:37:33 am

It was very sad when her father did not show up for the movies. She had faith in her father and loved him, but he responded to that with dejection and cruelty, but still, it amazes me that even in a book, a man would let his daughter sleep and shiver in the cold, potentially in danger.

The sexual interaction with her husband does seem to taint Miriam. Before that, she was still a child. She might have had a husband, but he was really like a roommate before this. It is sad to realize that their is no going back, especially for someone so young.

It is so heartbreaking when she loses the baby. She was so happy that she was pregnant, it seemed to almost make her happy with her life, but then she lied to herself when she then lost her baby. This is a sign that her life will never be lucky and that she has been cursed with sadness.

WC: 164

Kiriana
3/20/2018 09:03:16 am


Miscarrying 7 times did take a toll on her and she blamed herself for something that often happens and sometimes cannot be helped. It is natural for situations like that to happen but she convinces herself that the things she ate made her miscarry and that she will never have a miracle in her life. She was forced to have sexual intercourse (let alone get married) at a young age made her have a sense that she does not and probably won’t ever have control of her life. These are some scarring moments that she has to live with for the rest of her life.

WC:105

Giti
3/28/2018 10:19:39 pm

I think these three quotes are very good indicators of the life and struggle that Miriam has lived. In her early life, she struggled to trust her own father and later, she found nothing but shame in her marriage. I also agree that her miscarriage was one of the most difficult scenes in the novel as she finally had some happiness and it was torn away from her that easily. I think that also shows how little actual happiness Miriam had in her life, as the simple idea of control (in the form of her child) gave her so much to look forward to.

Word Count: 104

Farahnoush
3/16/2018 01:27:41 pm

“Mariam kept thinking of his face in the upstairs window. He let her sleep on the street. On the street. Mariam cried lying down. She didn’t sit up, didn’t want to be seen. She imagined all of Herat knew this morning how she’d disgraced herself” (Hosseini 35).
In this scene of the novel Mariam finally began seeing her father the way that Nana had always described him. Here is when Mariam began losing faith in him and abandoning the “good man” image that she had worshipped. This moment was almost like a reality check for Mariam in which she realized how ashamed her father really felt.

“‘What are you, fifteen? That’s a good, solid, marrying age for a girl.’... It did not escape Mariam that no mention was made of he half sisters Saideh or Naheed, both her own age, both students in the Mehri School in Herat, both with plans to enroll in Kabul University. Fifteen, evidently, was not a good, solid marrying age for them” (Hosseini 49).
Here Mariam is realizing that her father and his wives are just trying to cast her out and find a way to get rid of her as soon as possible. Subconsciously she realizes again the shame her father feels over his mistake, and it seemed like he would agree to do anything in order to just get rid of Mariam.

“With each disappointment Rasheed had grown more remote and resentful. Now nothing she did pleased him. She cleaned the house, made sure he always had a supply of clean shirts, cooked his favorite dishes...There was always something, some minor thing that would infuriate him, because no matter what she did to please him, no matter how thoroughly she submitted to his wants and demands, it wasn’t enough” (Hosseini 99).
Mariam used to cherish Rasheed, loved him even, but after the miscarriage he began treating her like garbage. Rasheed made her live in fear, and I believe this scene is related to Nana’s words of wisdom because Mariam is living a life where she has to allow Rasheed to do whatever he wants to her because he has the power to do so, and she doesn’t have power to stop him.

word count: 369

Darsameen
3/22/2018 12:56:26 am

It's really sad when Mariam finally understands Nana's perspective of Jalil. In my opinion, a daughter views her father as her shelter and protection, but Jalil never provided that for Mariam. Jalil's presence made Mariam extremely happy, but after she truly discovered who he was, all her love turned to hate. Once again, Mariam is being rejected but this time, by her husband. After a few miscarriages, which are clearly hard to deal with, Rasheed simply rejects her instead of supporting her like a good husband. Mariam has been rejected from those who she thought truly cared about her, but hopefully, she becomes mentally strong.

WC= 105

Allysiah
4/2/2018 05:52:21 pm

This scene with Jalil did change Mariam, because it opened her eyes to the truth. Even though the truth was not as nice as the fictional amazing father figure she had conjured up in her head, it was not until Jalil allowed Mariam to sleep on the street rather than opening his door that Mariam saw Jalil's true colors.

Mariam had always felt inferior to her little siblings in her father and his wives' eyes. This scene is the first time that Jalil and the wives make no attempt to sugarcoat the fact that Mariam means little to nothing to them and Jalil and that she is more of a chore than a blessing. This doesn't change Mariam as much as the last scene you discussed did, rather it gave her confirmation that her suspicions that they did not love her were true.

This scene angered me as a reader because it really gave us a lens through the eyes of traditional Afghan men in this time period. Rasheed was getting mad at Mariam for something that scientifically she had absolutely no way of controlling. This changed Mariam by causing her to start to blame herself and feel guilt for things that were in no way her fault. Mariam has always been self-conscious and has had a bit of self-resentment, but this only dug the ditch further for her.

Shahmir
3/16/2018 09:00:51 pm

“Learn this now and learn this well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman” (Hosseini 7).

“A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mariam. It isn’t like a mother’s womb. It won’t bleed, it won’t stretch to make room for you” (Hosseini 27).

She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world […] As a reminder of how women like us suffer, she’d said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us” (Hosseini 91).

In the first quote, it describes this idea of the power of a man. It is saying how no matter the situation, a man will always find a way to blame a woman, and when he does, it’ll always fall in his favor. Mariam’s mother continues to talk to her with these kinds of words in part 1, and it is only a platform so that she learns to keep this idea in mind for the future. As a child, Jalil shifts all his problems and the burden of Mariam onto Nana, and we begin to see that Rasheed shifts all his problems and failures onto Mariam. In the second quote, we see the difference between a man and women in this novel. The men presented thus far are unapologetic and rigid, especially when it comes to the women introduced. However, the women introduced are strong, and they “endure” everything they’re put through. This shows the “wretched” feelingless heart of men, and then nurturing ways of the women. Finally, in the last quote, we get insight on what Nana really means about enduring. Unlike Nana, Mariam has been enduring a lot thus far from her father, and now new husband, and she still hasn’t turned mean or cruel. Even though Rasheed has just started to treat her wrong, we don’t see Mariam lash out against him. The larger theme of this novel seems to be this idea that men put women through “hell”, yet the strong women just seem to buckle up and accept it. All the women do is endure this pain they’re put through, we seems to make them a lot stronger than the men presented.

word count: 278

Mahsheed
3/22/2018 10:44:02 pm

I love the quotes you chose, and the way you spoke about them, highlighting the strength Mariam holds throughout part one. By comparing the quote that focuses on women and men, you're addressing the bigger theme of the book of how roles are placed upon each sex. I think you have a great point when you speak about Mariam enduring "hell", yet never becoming a cruel version of herself. No matter how she was harmed by the men in her life, she stayed through it all, showing her strength and subtle determination to get through everyday. I believe we don't give Mariam enough credit for the strength she posses within the first part, and how much she continues to wrack up.
(Word Count: 121)

Zarafshan
4/5/2018 09:37:49 pm

I like your concentration on Nana’s words against the male gender; I agree that as a women who has done nothing by endure, she can teach her child only the same to expect in her future. However, I disagree that the theme of this novel is the hidden but true female power present in the characters of this novel; instead, I feel that their power is hidden by blankets weaves of years of male dominance and the oppression of women's rights to equality. Overall your take on the truthfulness to Nana’s words was accurate, leaving it very clear that women in Afghanistan during the time of Mariam’sl life were granted only with the strength to endure.
Word Count 119

Mahsheed
3/17/2018 09:53:12 pm

Throughout Part 1, Mariam has continued to prove to the audience that she is a strong woman, through and through. As her mother said, they have to endure, because their endurance is all they have--it is all they can rely on. Even as a child growing up, Mariam has had to endure the venomous words of her mother. Nana was constantly reminding her of her place in their society, and how “to Jalil and his wives…[Nana] was a pokeroot. A mugwort. [Mariam] too. And [she] wasn’t even born yet” (Hosseini 8). This illuminates how she’s been constantly exposed to the harsh opinions of the world around her, casting pain onto her especially since the words came from her own mother. Her childhood depicts how much she is able to endure from the world, and still stand firm. It shows that she has learned early on in life that she must keep  pushing on, no matter what is happening around her.

A big change for Marian comes in when she witnesses the betrayal of her father Jalil, and directly after, she finds her mother has committed suicide. “All she could hear was Nana saying I’ll die if you go. I’ll just die. All she could do was cry and cry…” (Hosseini 38). To Mariam, she had just lost both her parents within the same hour. Her mother had died, knowing that in the end, Mariam chose Jalil. And Jalil himself, knew that his daughter was finally exposed to the lies he had been telling her. Mariam’s world has been turned upside down, and though she does grieve heavily, once again, she has to endure. There is nothing else she can do but realize that life is trying to break her, but she could still push through.

Throughout the time skips, we are given the information that “In the four years since the day at the bathhouse, there had been six more cycles of hopes then dashed, each loss, each collapse, each trip to the doctor more crushing to Mariam than the last” (Hosseini 99). She has been forced to endure and suffer through seven miscarriages throughout her life. Each child, she has been forced to grieve before she has even held them in her arms. Because of this “failure” of hers, she has also been forced to suffer abuse at the hands of her husband. And yet, she stays strong and makes the most of her life, the best she can. Mariam has never in her life tried to quit, and these events must have been what her mother was foreshadowing for her to endure.
(Word Count: 435)

Parvana
3/19/2018 08:52:45 am

“Later, when she was older, Mariam did understand. It was the way Nana uttered the word—not so much saying it as spitting it at her—that made Mariam feel the full sting of it. She understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance”(Hosseini 4).

“‘What’s the sense in schooling a girl like you? It’s like shining a spittoon. And you’ll learn nothing of value in those schools. There is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me need in life, and they don’t teach it in school. Look at me.’”(Hosseini 18).

“Some days, she believed that the baby had been an undeserved blessing, that she was being punished for what she had done to Nana. Wasn’t it true that she might as well have slipped the noose around her mother’s neck herself? Treacherous daughters did not deserve to be mothers, and this was just punishment. She had fitful dreams, of Nan’s jinn sneaking into her room at night, burrowing its claws into her womb, and stealing her baby. In these dreams, Nana cackled with delight and vindication” (Hosseini 93).

The first two quotes above provide the reader with insight on what Mariam’s life is like by emphasizing that she is an illegitimate child, and as a result of this, she goes through more than the average girl should have to. Despite the fact that the circumstance in which she was born is something that is beyond her control, Nana typically treats Mariam as she is a burden in her life, and even though there are instances where Jalil encourages Mariam not to take Nana’s perspective on things, the third quote reflects how Mariam seems to have absorbed some of Nana’s negativity regarding her role in life. The third quote takes place after Mariam has experienced her first miscarriage, which happens sometime after Nana commits suicide when Mariam chooses to spend time with Jalil over her. Evidently, Mariam feels as if she was to blame for the incident, which is shown in the way she continues to internalize her miscarriage, blaming herself and convincing herself that it had happened as revenge. It can be inferred that all three of these quotes relate to the novel’s theme of shelter as a whole, suggesting that because Mariam really has no genuine claim to anything in the world, she will have to find a “home” in the people and places around her.

Word count: 433 words

Mahsheed
3/22/2018 10:34:34 pm

I really like the quotes that you chose to answer this prompt. They're amazing and I feel as if they reflect Mariam's journey. I find it interesting how you spoke about Mariam mirroring her mother in the way that she can view the world a little negatively. Although, I don't think she had gained too much because she still has a naïve perspective on the life around her.
(Word Count: 132)
I never thought about the perspective of shelter in the fact that Mariam has no real claim to it. Because she is an illegitimate child, her path in the world has already been paved, and that might be why things go so poorly for her. But I do believe she has been doing her best with what she has, and refuses to give up.

Kiriana
3/19/2018 09:04:24 am


“Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always You remember that, Mariam.”-(Hosseini 7)


“Mariam caught a glimpse of what was beneath the tree: the straight-backed chair, overturned. The rope dropping from a high branch. Nan dangling at the end of it.”-(Hosseini 36)


“Now you know what your rice tastes like. Now you know what you’ve given me in this marriage. Bad food, and nothing else.”-(Hosseini 104)


The scenes are significant to impacting Mariam’s life because each quote shows that in an area where Mariam are from, Women can never win in any situation. In the first quote, the scene is when Nana speaks to her daughter, Mariam about her inconsiderate father and how he blamed Nana for the negative things that happened in their life. Nana was claiming that men point to women at fault in difficult situations. In the second quote, this scene shows when Mariam comes back home expecting for Nana to scold her for leaving her for her no good father, only to realize that Nana left Mariam too. It is obvious that Nana was struggling with herself both mentally and physically and Mariam blames herself for her mother’s death. In the third quote, shortly after Nana’s death, Jalil takes in Mariam. Mariam is too busy grieving to have any interest in her half siblings. The family sees her as a burden and get her in an arranged marriage. This changes her perspective of her beloved father as her takes his 3 wives side and not hers. From this moment on her grows hated towards him. These are all important (and mainly negative) scenes that show why Mariam is the way she is. She has been mistreated and neglected for her entire life and continues into the marriage. When her husband is upset that she cannot conceive, he starts to abuse her. This shows that Women don’t have the same power as men do.


WC:337

Darsameen
3/22/2018 12:45:41 am

I agree with your response since Mariam seems to have endured many things at such a young age, from her mother's death to her arranged marriage. Basically, Mariam doesn't seem to be capable of living a normal life because the death of her mom continues to torment her and she continuously blames herself for it. I think Mariam will continue to allow her husband to physically abuse her because she doesn't know how much she is truly worth, since those who truly loved her are basically gone. Hopefully, she eventually realizes that she shouldn't blame herself for Nana's death and that she deserves happiness.

WC= 107

Giti
3/28/2018 10:44:16 pm

This idea is very interesting because this shows us that not only is Miriam's life unfair, but it's also doomed from the beginning. She is personally born into an unfair situation that brings her a lot of emotional turmoil in childhood and adulthood. But even more tragically she is a woman. And in her society, this fact creates the biggest problem of all. We see this especially, such as you stated, in her marriage. When her personal problem of not being able to conceive affects her, the fact that she is a woman makes it worse, in that her husband then abuses her because of this. These situations highlight the idea in this novel that underlying societal issues can sometimes be almost impossible to overcome.

Darsameen
3/22/2018 12:33:41 am

“When the pain got bad. I’d bite on a pillow and scream into it until I was hoarse. And still no one came to wipe my face or give me a drink of water…” (Hosseini 11).

“Then Jalil did, in a think, threadbare voice. ‘Goddamn it, Mariam, don’t do this to me,’ he said as though he was the one to whom something was being done” (Hosseini 49).

“‘Put these in your mouth.’’...”His powerful hands clapped her jaw. He shoved two fingers into her mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it. Mariam struggled against him, mumbling, but he kept pushing the pebbles in, his upper lip curled in a sneer…” (Hosseini 104).


Throughout Part I, of A Thousand Splendid Suns, one of the main factors Hosseini tries to point out is women’s suffrage. At first, we are introduced to the physical suffering Nana had to endure while giving birth to Mariam, and the lack of support she received, but she seems to be telling this to Mariam in order to prepare her when she goes out to the read world. Moreover, after Nana’s death, Mariam starts to deal with reality. Once she moved with her father, she was told she had a suitor and her dad had authorized him.After she immediately searched for hope in her father, all she received in return was his betrayal. Just like Nana said, “women endure:, and Mariam is now enduring the lack of support of her father, the only other person she had. Now, as a result of this marriage, Mariam has to endure being physically abused by the man she was forced to marry. Even though she tries to justify his actions, she is still quietly suffering, just like Nana told her. We can notice that there will be many instances in this novel where women have to endure physical and emotional pain, but at the end of the day, they simply become stronger.

WC= 210 (excluding quotes)

Allysiah
4/2/2018 06:01:02 pm

I completely agree that it seems that Hosseini's point of the first part of the novel is to introduce his audience to women's suffrage in Afghanistan during this time period. It is quite strange, at least for me, to read this novel as a woman of the 21st century. We hear stories of times like A Thousand Splendid Suns, but it was not until reading this novel in its entirety that I understood the magnitude of the suffering women our age had to deal with back in the times when A Thousand Splendid Suns took place. I agree that it is truly women's suffrage as a whole that shapes Mariam, because if women were treated as equals there would have been so many situations where Mariam could have just gotten up and left her unfair life. But since she was a woman and women were treated as inferiors, she was trapped.

Zarafshan
4/5/2018 09:40:14 pm

In the first section of the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, there are several occasions that introduce the theme of oppression of women; from male dominance in laws, home life, education and so many other aspects of daily life, it is clear the oppression of women is a dominant theme in the novel. For example, when Mariam is given away to Rasheed by her father, she pleads with her father to reject the idea yelling “‘Tell them. Tell them you won’t let them do this,’” followed by his selfish response “‘Goddam it, Mariam, don’t do this to me’” (Hosseini 49). This highlights the blatantly accepted male dominance present in Afghanistan at the time of Mariam’s adolescence. This is also the beginning of living to meet the reality of the prediction Nana made about her future: being made to do nothing but endure. After living with Rasheed for less than a month, he came home with a burqa for Mariam to wear in public, reasoning that “‘Where I come from, one wrong look, one improper word, and the blood is spilled. Where I come from, a woman’s face is her husband’s business only. I want you to remember that’” while truly wearing down her every bit of individuality and separating her further from the outside world (Hosseini 70). This example demonstrates the male power witnessed in female oppression, embedding in reader’s minds the cruelty these women were forced to endure. At the very end of the first part of the novel, Rasheed lashes out at Mariam for cooking a bad meal- though she claims to have worked specially on his complaint to avoid the criticism- while also releasing other agitations- such as her inability to get pregnant and produce him a new son- by forcing rocks into her mouth and breaking her teeth. “He shoved two fingers into her mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it… then he was gone, leaving Mariam to spit out pebbles, blood, and the fragments of two broken molars” (Hosseini 104). Here it is clear that the abusing- both mentally and physically- of women was nothing out of the ordinary in the daily life style of the main character, Mariam; while living up to the sad expectations of her mother to endure, Rasheed is successful in highlighting the oppression of women as an effect of the dominance of males present in the novel.
Word Count 405


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