A thousand splendid suns – Khaled hosseini
Characters:
1) Nana (mariams mother) – she was never married but almost did when she was 15. She loved Mariam in her own way and all she had was her
2) Jalil (mariams father) – he had three wives and had gotten nana pregnant. Nana used to work at his house before Mariam was born
3) Mariam – the story revolves around her as well as Aziza’s life. She got married at the age of 15 but couldn’t get pregnant
4) Mullah Faizullah – he came to the kolba to teach Mariam.
5) Aziza – the girl around which and the story revolves in part 2
6) Tariq – Aziza’s best friend and lover which she later married
7) Rasheed – Mariam as well as Aziza’s husband. He had a wife before mariam and Aziza but she died due to some reason he also had a son who died as he drowned in a river.
The story revolves around the lives of two girls Mariam and Aziza both of whom were married to a man much older to their ages-Rasheed. Both of them faced a lot of problems in their lives.
Mariam had a really hard childhood. She lived with her mother (nana) in a kolba 2 KMS from herat. She wanted to live with her brothers and sisters but she couldn’t. Once nana told her that she would die if Mariam ever left her. On her 15 birthday Mariam went to herat and came to see her nana dangling from a tree. She lived with Jalil for some days but he wasn’t what she thought him to be. A couple of days later he got her married to Rasheed a shoe maker 25 years older than her. She lost her childhood and had to stay under a burkha as she was told that she was only to be looked at by Rasheed.
Aziza lost her parents at the age of 14 when rockets fell on her home because of which she got hearing aid in one of her ear. Rasheed tricked her in getting married to him. She too agreed for the marriage as she came to know that she had Tariq’s baby growing inside her.
This story mainly revolves around the lives of women first nana then Mariam and lastly of Aziza. All of them had to face many problems and fight their own battles of life.
Nana only had Mariam and loved her truly in her own ways she had to face all the problems alone for her as well as her daughter. She had to face the society as a mother of a child who wasn’t married. She tried all she could to make Mariam see the real Jalil but in vain.
Mariam had to Face her problems in the form of her husband. She couldn’t give birth to a baby due to which she was deprived of loving her own children and due to this Rasheed started treating her like a maid. He used to beat her and didn’t respect her at all. AT the age of 15 she had to look after her husband and was burdened with the responsibilities of a marriage.
Aziza had a good childhood. She had a loving family and Tariq which was all she wanted but one day while they were leaving for pakistan a rocket attacked her home and she lost her parents. she was tricked by Rasheed and had to marry him. He used to treat her like a queen but it was onlt till the time she gave birth to a girl-Laila after which she too was treated like a maid and was beaten. Later she gave birth to Zalmai.
This story is packed with different kinds of emotions. We get to know how the women were ill treated and also about the practices the people had to follow. There are a lot of things that we come to know about how and in what way the people were treated. Such as:
- The women in Afghanistan could not go out of their home without a man accompanying her
- She couldn’t leave her home without a burkha
- she couldn’t laugh publically
- The men had to grow beard
- If a women was caught out of her home without a male companion she was beaten and was later sent to home
- The people who did not follow the rules were beaten in front of the crowd to create fear among them.
- The boys playing in the roads were taken along by the patrol guards and were forced to join in.
- The women and girl were raped and later their throats were slit
Not only did the women had to suffer but all the sections of the society had to face various kinds of problems.
By this book We also get a brief account of the society of Afghanistan during the time of the war.
Everyone full of emotions and the love for reading should read this book not only is it heart touching but there are a lot of things in this book to learn from. This book not only teaches us to face our problems but it also tells us that every problem has a solution and we can not run away from our probolems and we have to face them. And that in the end everything gets back to it’s place. Whoever you are whatever you do there’s always a solution to your problems and if you share it the load of your sadness beacome lighter.