Extra Credit

This piece was my second favorite paper to write, following the paper I wrote this morning for the final. We were told to do a cultural analysis paper on our book of choice. I read the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

“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.” From her earliest moments, Mariam found this to be true. It was no wonder she found Laila’s companionship to be a lifeline. Women in Afghanistan do not have any rights and must stick together if they wish to have any companions. As infants men are set high above women-receiving the best of every meal and having new gifts and clothes bought for them while girls receive the left-overs. Women need each other to keep going; everyone knows without friends to gossip with, women go a bit insane. In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini it is evident that due to the lack of freedom for women in Afghanistan, a very close bond is needed to survive in the unhealthy patriarchal society they live in.
Many women were in relationships with men where they were cruelly neglected and verbally and physically abused. When Mariam and Laila attempted to escape a relationship like the one described above, their lives only got worse. “Ever since the failed escape, two and a half years ago, Mariam knew that she and Laila had become one and the same being to him, equally wretched, equally deserving of his distrust, his disdain, his disregard.” (245) the man who they depended on for food, shelter, and emotional support shut himself out of their lives. Mariam and Laila had to depend on each other for the emotional support that a husband is supposed to provide in American culture. Women in the United States have countless family members, friends, and organizations to help them get out of abusive relationships. In Afghanistan, there is no help. When Laila implied that Rasheed would kill not only herself but also Mariam if the officer sent them home after their attempted escape, the officer simply said, “What a man does in his own home is his business.” Mariam and Laila knew to keep the rights they had they needed to look out for each other.
To keep the few rights they had, women knew they had to look out for each other. The Taliban would not allow male doctors to see female patients so female doctors were required; they knew they needed to be very careful to keep their jobs. ‘“They want us to operate in burqa,” the doctor explained, motioning with her head to the nurse at the door. “She keeps watch. She sees them; I cover.”’ Their agreement is like setting a pick in basketball. You have their back; they shouldn’t have to ask for a pick. Your teammate knows they can depend on you to step up and clear the lane to the basket. Your reward is having the satisfaction of knowing without your pick, your teammate would have a very hard time getting to the basket, and probably would have gotten caught on their way. Having a close bond and looking out for each other saved many lives, and many more from beatings.
The close bond between Mariam and Laila saved Laila’s life. Mariam knew one of them would have to give themselves up and receive the punishment for killing their husband Rasheed or both she and Laila would die-she chose to give Laila, the younger wife, a mother- a chance at the life she dreamed of but could never achieve. Mariam looked out for Laila. Laila, as hard as it was to let go, accepted Mariam’s sacrifice and did not waste the gift that Mariam gave her.
“And so Laila resigned herself to moving on. For her own sake, for Tariq’s, for her children’s. And for Mariam for who still visits Laila in her dreams, who is never more that a breath or two below her consciousness.” Even after death, the companionship that made their lives bearable under Rasheed’s hard rules still lessons the blow of living a hard life. Even though Laila was in a relationship with Tariq, a man who would do anything to make her happy, she relied on the memory of Mariam’s silent strength- the bond they shared-to get through every day.