A Thousand Splendid Suns Essay Example

branches of the weeping willow like a curtain, and Mariam caught a glimpse of what was beneath the tree: the straight-backed chair, over turned.

The rope dropping from a high branch. Nana dangling at the end of it. ” (Hosseini 36) When her mother commits suicide Mariam feels very guilty and it affects her greatly, “But Mariam could not hear comfort in God’s words. Not that day. Not then. 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 and let her tears fall on the spotted, paper-thin skin of Mullah Faizullah’s hands. ” (Hosseini 38) Even though Jalil has a nice house, Maraim feels uncomfortable and unwanted in his house, “, she knew that Nana had spoken the truth.

She did not belong here. ” (Hosseini 40) Mariam did not eat much and rarely came out of her room in Jalil’s house, “Except for when she had to use the bathroom down the hall, Mariam stayed in the room. ” (Hosseini 40) She struggles to find any connection with Jalil and his family, Jalil notices this and becomes worried, so he finds her a husband, Rasheed. Even though she does not agree to this, “I don’t want to,…I don’t want this. Don’t make me. ” (Hosseini 47), she is forced to marry him.

At first, Marriam felt protected and significant to Rasheed, “She felt prized by his protectiveness. Treasured and significant. ” (Hosseini 81) After a while, Mariam struggles to find connection with Rasheed and becomes uncomfortable because she went through several miscarriages and could not give him

a child, “Now Mariam dreaded the sound of him coming home in the evening. …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.

She could not give him his son back. In this most essential way, she had failed him-seven times she had failed him-and now she was nothing but a burden to him. She could see it in the way he looked at her, when he looked at her. She was a burden to him. ” (Hosseini 99-100) Rasheed became very abusive with her and treated her poorly. The only shelter she received from him was a roof over her head while she became emotionally distraught. Rasheed takes Laila as his second wife even though Mariam does not agree with him.

Rasheed treasures Laila much more than he treasures Mariam, “If she (Mariam) were a car, she would be a Volga…you (Laila), on the other hand, would be a Benz. A brand-new, first-class, shiny Benz. ” (Hosseini 222) One night, Rasheed attempts to beat Mariam with a belt, but Laila stops him, “Stop it, bas!... Rasheed, you can’t do this. …Rasheed raised the belt again and this time came at Mariam. Then an astonishing thing happened: The girl lunged at him. She grabbed his arm with both hands and tried to drag him down, but she could do no more than dangle from it.

She did succeed in slowing Rasheed’s progress toward Mariam…In the end, Mariam knew that there would be no beating, not that night.

” (Hosseini 241) The next day Mariam and Laila have tea together outside in the garden and become friends, “, a look passed between Laila and Mariam. An unguarded, knowing look. And in this fleeting, wordless exchange with Mariam, Laila knew that they were not enemies any longer. ” (Hosseini 250) They started doing chores together and became good companions. Mariam finally had someone who she could talk to and Laila gave her some emotional shelter.

Laila had a daughter named Aziza. Aziza always wanted Mariam to hold her, “When Aziza first spotted Mariam in the morning, her eyes always sprung open, and she began mewling and squirming in her mother’s grip. She thrust her hands toward Mariam, demanding to be held, her tiny hands opening and closing urgently, on her face a look of both adoration and quivering anxiety. …As soon as she was in Mariam’s arms, Aziza’s thumb shot into her mouth and she buried her face into Mariam’s neck. ” (Hosseini 252) Aziza made Mariam finally feel wanted by someone, “Mariam had never before been wanted like this.

Love had never been declared to her so guilelessly, so unreservedly. ” (Hosseini 252) Aziza made Mariam forget about everything bad that was happening and truly gave her emotional shelter. In the end, Mariam’s life starts out rough and it is very hard for her emotionally as she moves on from Nana to Jalil and then finally on to Rasheed. She struggles to find emotional shelter throughout the novel until she meets Laila and Aziza. By the end of the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, Maraiam finds physical and emotional shelter.