A_Thousand_Splendid_Suns

A Patriarchal Analysis of A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, depicts a patriarchal society which denigrates and oppresses the women and children of Afghanistan. From government officials such as the Taliban, to husbands such as Rasheed, to children like Zalmai, the majority of men dominate, alienate and brutalize Afghani women adding to the hardships they already experience in this war torn country. Hosseini’s depiction of this misogynist society is not completely bleak, however. He presents a balance in his portrayal of men by showing those select few who recognize the importance of women and honour their strengths and equality. Tariq, Jalil (in his later years), and Babi are illustrations of Afghani men who believe in a more just, equitable and peaceful society. One element that defines a patriarchal society is the superiority of men over women through government. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the theme of government is prevalent throughout the novel. Afghanistan seems to be under constant attack from invading forces and new enemies. Through these foreign oppressors the women of Afghanistan are viewed as easy targets but possible threats to male dominance. In order to maintain a patriarchal society, the women of Afghanistan must be treated harshly to reinforce fear and obedience. This is depicted when the Taliban invade the city of Kabul and demand that men and women are to be seen in different hospitals and all female staff are to be discharged and sent to one central hospital on the other side of town. Hosseini describes “The waiting room at Rabia Balkhi {as} teeming with women in burqas and their children. The air {smells} of sweat and unwashed bodies, of feet, urine, cigarette smoke, and antiseptic” (Hosseini 255). This depiction exemplifies the poor unsanitary conditions of hospitals which women are forced to utilize. The Taliban show no mercy when it comes to the women of Afghanistan as they are seen with disgust and inferiority. By ensuring women are not offered the proper rights to treatment and healthcare, the Taliban are able to maintain power and demoralize women. On the contrary, Hosseini does offer Afghanistan women hope as there are a select few men who have not been corrupted by violence or hatred and are respectful towards women and their rights. It is through these men that the patriarchal society can be viewed with a positive outlook in terms of hope and opportunities for women. Tariq, a main protagonist in A Thousand Splendid Suns, believes women should be viewed equal to men. He demonstrates his love and affection for Laila even from a tender age. When Laila’s mother is distraught over the death of her two sons’ and unable to acknowledge her daughter, Tariq provides a shoulder for Laila to lean on. He invites her to his home on a daily basis where she is accepted and embraced by his family. When the war on Afghanistan strikes the city of Kabul, Tariq’s family decides to move and head for Pakistan. It breaks Tariq’s heart to think of having to leave Laila behind and in a futile attempt to persuade her into coming he asks to marry her, which she sadly refuses. This final encounter between Laila and Tariq however, results in a passionate sexual relationship which later leads to Laila’s pregnancy. Almost ten years later, Tariq appears on Laila’s doorstep after she believes he was long dead, and their passion is reunited once more. Tariq regrets ever having left Laila as he had never stopped loving her. For Laila, the time gone by feels merely a dream when Hosseini emphasizes, Laila’s mind flashed to all the times they’d met in the alley, kissing in secret. She wondered how she must seem to him now. Did he still find her pretty' Or did she seem withered to him, reduced, pitiable, like a fearful, shuffling old woman' Almost ten years. But, for a moment, standing there with Tariq in the sunlight, it was as though those years had never happened. Her parents’ deaths, her marriage to Rasheed, the killings, the rockets, the Taliban, the beatings, the hunger, even her children, all of it seemed like a dream, a bizarre detour, a mere interlude between that last afternoon together and this moment. (Hosseini 305) Tariq loves Laila for who she is and wants more than anything for her to be happy and would never raise a finger towards her or the children. In other words, Tariq is a perfect husband, father, companion, parent and individual who portrays men in a positive way. The second and perhaps most malicious character Hosseini depicts as being a negative portrayal of men in a patriarchal society is Rasheed. Throughout the novel Mariam and Laila are daily abused, degraded, and victimized by their violent manipulative husband Rasheed who keeps them dwelling in a constant nightmare in which there is no escape. The brutality Rasheed inflicts on his wives is beyond horrendous and his actions are both sinister and loathsome. Rasheed undoubtedly demonstrates his uncontrollable temper when he abuses Mariam and Laila to the point where Mariam accepts the abuse as part of her daily routine and marriage. After Laila and Mariam attempt to escape from Rasheed’s household and flee to Pakistan they are caught by guard officials and sent back home where Rasheed is patiently waiting for them. As soon as they enter the household Rasheed begins his reign over them and Laila is astonished at Mariam’s reaction when Hosseini writes, “Downstairs, the beating began. To Laila, the sounds she heard were those of a methodical, familiar proceeding. There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten” (Hosseini 240). Rasheed is a destructive character who obtains pleasure by watching women quiver until they submit to his will. He has no desire for a loving relationship and merely treats them as a slave to cook, clean, and pleasure him. Rasheed is the perfect example of the extreme negative portrayal towards women in a patriarchal society. In the first few years of Rasheed’s marriage to Mariam, she has already learned the positions of power in the household as Rasheed manages to maintain a climate of fear. Unfortunately after Mariam has gone through the devastation of suffering seven miscarriages; Rasheed’s temperament worsens and finds Mariam a burden to him when she says, It wasn’t easy tolerating him talking this way to her, to bear his scorn, his ridicule, his insults, his walking past her like she was nothing but a house cat. But after four years of marriage, Mariam saw clearly how much a woman could tolerate when she afraid. And Mariam was afraid. She lived in fear of his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies and sometimes not. (Hosseini 89) Mariam resides in a household where abuse is tolerable and she must acknowledge the fact there are no laws that support a woman’s right to protect herself from her abusive husband. One day, when Mariam cooks for Rasheed, his temper escalates to the point where he plays a horrible cruel joke on her and with his powerful hands shoves “two fingers into her mouth and {after} {prying}it open, {forces} the cold hard pebbles into it” (Hosseini 94). Hosseini re-creates a monster in a society that accurately depicts the negative portrayal of men in which Rasheed is every woman’s worst nightmare. To people in the outside world, Rasheed appears to be your common everyday middle-class male who works, but when he steps foot into his household, he is a cruel, vindictive individual who spares them no mercy. The second character that Hosseini depicts as a positive influence for men living in a patriarchal society is Jalil. Towards the beginning of the novel Jalil is Mariam’s idol and beacon of light whom she loves and adores. Every Thursday when Jalil visits Mariam in the kolba, he shares stories, draws pictures, teaches Mariam to fish, and brings her newspaper clippings about the outside world. For Mariam, Jalil means the world to her as when he is not present she must listen and endure to Nana’s constant scolding and bickering about how Jalil is a traitor and an evil man. After living with Nana for quite some time, Mariam has learned that she is less than human and is often referred to as a “harami” or bastard by Nana. Mariam soon comes to the conclusion she “{is} an illegitimate person who {can} never have legitimate claim to the things other people {have}, things such as love, family, home, acceptance” (Hosseini 4). Jalil on the other hand never calls Mariam this name for “she was his little flower” (Hosseini 4). In Jalil’s final dying days he writes Mariam a letter in which he expresses his heartfelt sorrow and tragic grief for ever having let Mariam out of his life and how he lost everything from the war including part of his family and most of his fortune. Jalil has been diagnosed by doctors with having a weak heart condition and in his final request, he holds on to the vague hope Mariam will appear once again on his doorstep and he can make things right. Jalil undergoes a significant transformation when he realizes how heartless it was to give up his illegitimate daughter because of fear of shaming his name. After Mariam receives the dreadful news of her father’s death, her final thoughts are ones of love and forgiveness when she envisions “Jalil waving to her, skipping from stone to stone as he crossed the stream, his pockets swollen with gifts. All the times she had held her breath for him, for God to grant her more time with him” (Hosseini 277). Mariam finds it in her heart to forgive Jalil and realizes he is not perfect and that he has made many mistakes as a father. Unfortunately Jalil does not live long enough to hear this. Lastly, the third character who grows victim to the influence of male superiority in a patriarchal system is Rasheed’s son, Zalmai. As a mere child, Zalmai has yet to understand and learn the position and influence men have over women in Afghanistan but he knows to follow Rasheed’s example as his father and impressionable idol. Although Zalmai may not share the same attitude and beliefs that women are mere servants and deserve to be treated harshly and unjustly, he is quick to learn of his father’s expectations. Whenever Rasheed is not present in the household Zalmai seems to respond differently in his behaviour and attitude towards his mother Laila, once again replenishing his child innocence and vulnerability to the outside world. However when Rasheed arrives home, Zalmai’s personality is replaced from being this affectionate, tender child to a mischievous, cruel little individual that insults and ridicules his mother in order to gain praise from his father. Laila seems to observe this continuous pattern when she says, But Zalmai worshipped his father, and, because he did, he was transformed when his father was around to dote on him. Zalmai was quick then with a defiant cackle or an impudent grin. In his father’s presence, he was easily offended. He held grudges. He persisted in mischief in spite of Laila’s scolding, which he never did when Rasheed was away. (Hosseini 263) With Rasheed’s influence on Zalmai, and his constant approval to degrade and abuse women, Zalmai will eventually learn that this type of behaviour is appropriate and in time will begin to mimic in his father’s actions. An example of Zalmai’s betrayal towards his mother Laila is when Tariq shows up at their household after ten long years of being separated and Zalmai plays his little tattle-telling game to Rasheed but quickly realizes the situation he has caused and how the game has gone too far. Rasheed becomes enraged at the very thought of Laila together with Tariq and beats Mariam and Laila so severely, in the mix of things Rasheed is brutally murdered. Zalmai represents the situation most children face daily in Afghanistan where they are required and expected to follow after their father’s behaviour and the norms of living in a dominant patriarchal society. The third and final character that Hosseini depicts as a positive portrayal for men in a patriarchal society is Laila’s father, Babi. He is an exceptional man who is university educated and has been a high school teacher until the communists fired him. Unlike the majority of men in Afghanistan who feel it is blasphemy to entitle women a right to education and jobs in the workforce, Babi shares an optimistic outlook for the future for woman and in terms of Laila, education comes first when he expresses, I know you’re still young, but I want you to understand and learn this now, he said. Marriage can wait, education cannot. You’re a very, very bright girl. Truly, you are. You can be anything you want, Laila. I know this about you. And I also know that when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men, maybe even more. Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No chance. (Hosseini 103) Babi also finds the best ways of learning in life are not always absorbed in the classroom but the outside world as well. He takes Laila and Tariq to the Bamiyan Valley where they marvel at a historical wonder of the world, the giant stone Buddha’s. It is on top of this giant sight where he expresses his love for Laila when he “{takes} a long, deep breath, {and} {looks} at her to say “But I’m glad I have you. Every day, I thank God for you. Every single day. Sometimes, when your mother’s having one of her really dark days, I feel like you’re all I have, Laila” (Hosseini 135). Babi throughout the entire novel is portrayed by Hosseini as an honest, compassionate, loving father to Laila and is the complete opposite of Rasheed. In conclusion the patriarchal system depicted in A Thousand Splendid Suns is portrayed in a negative aspect for the majority of the novel in which men torment, abuse and mistreat Afghani women. However there are a few rare men that exemplify the positive characteristics of living in a patriarchal society and it is through their examples that Afghanistan has a bright future to one day value the equality and importance of women. Works Cited Page Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. U.S.A. Viking Canada, 2007