74 pages • 2 hours read
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Symbols & Motifs
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is a crucial motif in the novel, as it defines both Mariam and Laila’s experiences of being married to Rasheed. When Mariam and Laila attempt to run away from home and are caught by the authorities, they are told, “‘What a man does in his home is his business,’” implying that the law offers no protection against domestic violence (260). It also implies that because they are effected in the home, the blows women endure are unseen by the law. When Rasheed makes Mariam chew on pebbles as a punishment for giving him “‘bad food and nothing else’” in the marriage, no one is around to witness his cruelty or the two broken molars that are its casualties (103). However, when Laila becomes part of the family unit, the two wives become witnesses to the violence Rasheed inflicts on the other. When Laila first stands up for Mariam and defends her against Rasheed’s blows, it is a turning point in their relationship, as Mariam grows to respect Laila. Laila, for her part, witnesses Mariam’s “face of grievances unspoken, burdens gone un-protested, a destiny submitted to and endured” (243). The climactic defense against domestic violence in the novel is Mariam’s beating Rasheed to death. It is significant to the novel’s context that Rasheed’s violence can only be met with violence. The tragedy is that in a system rigged against women, Mariam’s endurances of Rasheed’s violence count for nothing and she is punished with the death sentence.
The Burqa
Though the burqa, a head-to-toe covering that comprises the total concealment of the face save for the eyes, is demonized in the West as a symbol of fundamentalist Islamic oppression and misogyny, Hosseini seeks to present a more complicated portrayal of the garment. Although the Taliban, when they come to power in 1996, legally enforce the burqa, it is already part of Rasheed’s domestic regime and prioritization of female honor, and his belief that “‘a woman’s face is her husband’s business only’” (69).
Hosseini shows that the burqa is physically uncomfortable and restrictive; the burqa does not merely conceal Mariam’s physique from lewd stares, but it also restricts her movements, speech and agency. Her lack of peripheral vision, especially, makes her vulnerable and less able to act without her husband’s assistance. Laila, who is later forced to wear a burqa, “walked in perpetual fear of tripping and falling, of breaking an ankle or stepping into a pothole” (225). Where she was once free to roam the streets at will, now walking outside is “an exercise in avoiding injury” (225).
Nevertheless, given that both Laila and Mariam have married Rasheed after great personal tragedy and even shame, they both find “some comfort in the anonymity that the burqa provided” (225). Laila feels that it affords her protection from the stares of people who might recognize her and witness “how her lofty aspirations had been dashed” (226). For her part, Mariam also enjoys protection from “the scrutinizing eyes of strangers” who might with “a single glance” guess the “shameful secrets” of her past (72).
Rather than being a blatant symbol of fundamentalist Islamic oppression and misogyny, in Hosseini’s novel, the burqa functions as being part of a conspiracy of female shame. Some of this is directed by Rasheed’s perspective of female flesh as tempting and sinful and another part by the women’s own feelings.
Mariam’s Suitcase
Mariam’s suitcase is provided by Jalil just after Nana’s suicide. It is a symbol of her transitory, rootless status. Jalil packs a few of Mariam’s things in the case and moves her to a guest room in his house. Positioned in the guest room with her suitcase, there is the implication that though Jalil has made a great show of finally welcoming her into his home, she will not be staying for a long time.
When she arrives at Rasheed’s house, she is similarly installed in the guest room on the pretense that he prefers sleeping alone. This is prophetic of her guest status in his household; she is not so much part of the family as she is there on his good will. Mariam, at first, prefers having the status of a guest and a week goes by before Rasheed motions to her suitcase and demands,“‘Are you ever going to unpack that thing?’” (63).
She does unpack, and settles into what she hopes will be a more legitimate status as Rasheed’s wife. However, she remains in the guest room and when she cannot give him a son, he makes it clear that she is contemptible. He also insists that Laila sleeps in his own room, thus reinforcing Mariam’s status as a guest or servant in his household. Nevertheless, Mariam rebels against this, first by insisting that Laila does her share of the chores and, secondly, by reinforcing her solidarity with Laila and Aziza and making herself indispensable to them.
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By Khaled Hosseini
