A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

I have just finished reading Khaled Hosseini’s second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini's second novel. Similar to The Kite Runner, Hosseini weaves a story of friendship, betrayal,  family, endurance and survival in the war torn society of Afghanistan. This time, the tale centers on two Afgani women who are brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of more than several decades of turmoil and war.  Both women have to endure pain and misery to survive amidst the chaos and cruel male dominance to find their happiness. Mariam and Laila are the heroines of the story  born 20 years apart that builds a deeply moving account of family and friendship to find hope, courage, and faith in their pursue of hapinness. The breathtaking story is set against the backdrop of Afganistan's volatile events in its last thirty years of warfare - from the soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding. While his first novel, The Kite Runner unfolds the story of Amir and Hasan from the time of peace up to the rise of Taliban viewed from male point of view, his latter novel reveals the story of two women from a female point of view. Yet, Hosseini’s profound insight about women position in Afgan already finds the way out in The Kite Runner when he narrates the story of Soraya, Amir’s wife. I think A Thousand Splendid Suns expanded the horizon that had been opened slightly in his first novel, the world of women in Afghan. The novel takes us into a journey on what it's like to be a woman in a country where male tradition hiding behind the stiff religious doctrines to justify their oppression and superiority towards women.

Mariam was an illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Herat businessman, Jalil who had 3 wives and 9 “legitimate” children, with his housekeeper, Nana. His 3 wives were less than enthused when they learnt about the affair. They devised a  compromise to force Nana and her daughter to live in a location where people rarely set foot on the area. They did not want to bring shame to the family. So, it was decided that Nana and her illegitimate daughter should live in a kolba, a poor little hut made of mud. In return, Jalil would supply all their basic needs. Born in 1959, Mariam was raised in a kolba on the outskirts of town. Nana became a bitter often cruel person to Mariam . Innocent of her unwanted existence, Mariam kept thinking that Jalil was a good father as he  visited her weekly and brought her many presents. On the other hand, Nana always made grudges about him, saying he was a coward without respect at all.  Naïve and innocent, Mariam favored Jalil over her mother. Tension between mother and daughter was palpable. Her life centered only around the kolba. Her only neighbors were Mullah Faizullah, her teacher, and Bibi Jo. She received  inconsequential education solely from Mullah Faizullah. Status and education were denied to her due to her illegitimacy. She has learnt hardship and suffering resulted from the betrayal of men since her early childhood. It ruined both Nana's life and hers.

"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", once her mother said to little Mariam. Sadly, she only learnt the truth of the remark later on when it was too late. Nana had killed herself for her disobedience. She went to his father's house despite Nana's strong prohibition. It was an action she regretted for the rest of her life. She was all left alone and learnt the bitterness of his father's betrayal. She had worshiped her father with all her heart, yet he abandoned her. Her own father had rejected her, surrendering to tradition and good name. Eventually, she was given in marriage to Rasheed, an older shoe-maker from Kabul, at the age 15. Her father mainly married her off to remove the embarrassment of her very existence from his world. Rasheed was an ugly, cruel man inside and out. Her husband tore her spirit down with his cruel abuses and dominance. she was forced to wear a burqa against her will. His only concern was to get Mariam bore him a son. When she had miscarriages, he stopped trying and treated her like dirt on the floor. He was a hypocrite. He kept saying that his nimos (honor and respect) require him to order Mariam to conceal her face and body from the world. But he himself sought pleasure in porn photographs. Mariam was naïve and pure at heart. Despite all his abusive manners and hypocrisy, Mariam, like any other women in such male dominance society, devoted all her life for her husband. She was helpless, alone, uneducated, and poor. She could not think of any other option to get free.

Meanwhile, Laila was an attractive girl who lived just up the street. She was born from an educated, liberal parents and enjoyed the freedoms Mariam was restricted from. Unlike other girls during Mariam time, Laila rejected many tradition and restriction imposed by the society. She and her dear male friend, Tariq did routines and habits that often girl was not allowed to do like going to cinema, kissing, etc. She was a liberal at mind. During warlord wars, propelled by despair of separation, they made love out of a marriage. It was an act of adultery and greatly condemned by their society and religion. With a promise that he would return for Laila, Tariq left with a devastated heart. She endured the same pain as well. A rocket destroyed Laila's home with her parents in it upon their preparation to leave Kabul for Peshawar. Somehow, she suffered the same fate with Mariam. She was alone and cast off. It's a fate that brought Laila and Mariam together.

Laila's unexpected pregnancy forced her to become Rasheed's second wife. She deceived Rasheed in order to survive in the harh world where women were always to blame for the all sins committed. She needed Rasheed to protect her and her unborn child. Both were deceiving each other. Yet, it was too late for Laila to realize just how cruel he was. Mariam, bitter and alone, was resentful with Laila's presence. Laila had robbed her of everthing dear to her. She was old and childless. It was a losing war to compete with the young and beautiful Laila. Not to mention that Laila had bore Rasheed two children. Her relationship with Laila started out poorly and got worse. It was after Laila shared her secret that Mariam started to develop a mutual feeling for Laila. Eventually,  their shared victim status and their mutual disgust and hatred for Rasheed had sealed their fate together to fight the tyrant. After an initial rivalry, Mariam and Laila became ally and best friends. Both shared their thoughts and dreams, trusted each other with their secrets and both shared a common enemy, their husband. Rasheed was a hostile and sadistic tyrant at their household. Through Laila and her two children, Mariam found peace and comfort. She found her shattered dreams fixed in them. To safeguard her her dreams, Mariam would do anything, including giving her life a way. She had to help Laila find her hapiness. She would do anything to get Laila and her children in Peshawar to be with her beloved Tariq who was alive and well. It's a sweet sacrifice for Mariam. 

“She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how people like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us”




The resolution of the conflict between these two women is like a bitter sweet orchestra. It is compelling, riveting and painful that will make readers shed tears to see their suffering and struggle. It's like the readers will get the impression that there aren’t too many happy endings in Afghanistan. Yeah, life in the war-torn Afganistan is hard. Frankly speaking, the story is wrenching the heart. It's beautiful as well as sad. I prefer a happy ending, yet a happy ending is hard to get in the world of Afganistan that is still torn with unrest of civil war :-). War, violence, male dominance society, and ancient traditions and norms had curbed women further into inferiority in Afganistan. Worse, such society justifies their ancient traditions and customs by misinterpreting religious doctrines for their own purpose. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking novel :-) amidst the backdrop of historical settings.