A Thousand Splendid Suns - Essay Example

Khaled Husseinis A Thousand Splendid Suns is an exciting book that portrays the typical life that most women face in the society. The book shows the struggles of womanhood, abuse by insensitive husbands, and prejudice against women. Through the eyes of Nana, the image of a lamenting, troubled and disillusioned woman manifests. She is unreservedly critical of men and how the society held the women in low esteem. In fact, she tries to make her daughter, Mariam to grow up with the knowledge that the culture and life, in general, are unfair and biased against women hence she ought to brace herself for a similar treatment. She considers it as a mere delusion for Mariam to believe the lies that her father kept telling her. The reading affirms Nanas belief that Mariam had false hopes about life.

Contrary to Nana, Mariam's teacher, Mullah Faizullah, believes that Mariam has promise and potential for a good, happy life. Using the Quran teachings, Faizullah inadvertently creates in Mariam a false impression that everything can be so exciting and that ambitions require just dedication and sheer handwork. In telling this, Faizullah is right but fails to appreciate the fact that the environment, family and society within which an individual life, dramatically determine their achievements. Jalil too had made Miriam feel that she was his favourite and cared for her. On her way towards Jalils home, she is offered a free ride which makes her think that people in Herat can be so welcoming as opposed to what her mother had said about the place. In the novel, Mariam climbed onto thegari. They rode in silence, side by side (Hosseini 19). Nanas assertion that false hope was swaying Mariam is in no small extent vindicated in various instances.

The first evidence of false hope is when Jalil, Mariams father fails to show up to take her to the cinema despite him professing how much he loved her and promised to come so that they go to the movie. He told her "Tomorrow. At noon. I'll meet you at this very spot. All right? Tomorrow?" (Hosseini 16). However, he eventually failed to show up. Despite her boldness to trace Jalils home and find it, Mariam is treated like a stranger, not one of his children. She is not given a warm welcome expected at her fathers home. Her frantic efforts at seeing her father who had all along professed his love for her prove void since he fails to come out to embrace his estranged daughter.

The presence of Jalils care and chauffeur in the compound shows that he is present but does not want Mariam to enter the house where his other family lives. This is a show of disregard for a loving child. In fact, Mariam was ashamed of how she had dismissed her mother's stricken looks, her puffy eyes. Nana, who had warned her, who had been right all along (Hosseini 22) Mariam had developed more closeness and love for her father who seemingly told her fancy stories about how he had cared for Nana and herself. Mariam was so trusting of her father that she could not accept the truths that her mother divulged to her.

After her mothers burial, Mariams false hope in her father manifests when he tries to convince her to remain behind instead of going to the other family. At this point Mariam could hear him with Nana's ears. She could hear so clearly now the insincerity that had always lurked beneath, the hollow, false assurances (Hosseini 23) She is after that married off to a husband who abuses after a series of miscarriages. The sequence of events manifests the lack of hope that Nana had demystified to Mariam.

Work Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. "A Thousand Splendid Suns." (2007). Print.