A Thousand Splendid Suns - Essay

Adversity                                                                        
  Life is full of a lot of adversities and one must learn to cope with them. A popular film director Walt Disney once said, “All the adversities I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you”. Adversity is synonymous to misfortune or difficulty. The theme of adversity is dominant in the novel A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini. Women are mostly the victims of adversity in the novel; they experience this from their relatives, husbands and the Taliban rulers. Mariam and Laila are forced to marry Rasheed because they have no other alternative. Also, they are both the victim of his various abuses in the novel. Hosseini demonstrates the ability of Laila and Mariam to endure adverse situations such as forced marriage, maltreatment and discrimination. He demonstrates how these misfortunes shaped and built up their character to feel safe, be defensive and form a strong bond with each other.
It is seen how the adversities suffered by Mariam and Laila helped to shape and buil their characters when Mariam marries Rasheed. He buys a Burqa for her because he feels that it is necessary for a woman to be covered all over to prevent lust from other men. Mariam has no choice but to obey her husband and wear the Burqa. She feels uncomfortable at first when she wears the Burqa but later adapts to it“ …she no longer worried that people knew, with a glance, all the shameful secrets of her past”(Hosseini, 73). Mariam feels extremely safe in the Burqa she wears because she believed that people would not be able to see her face and know all about her past i.e harami. Rasheed does not like the fact that Laila gives birth to a baby girl. He dislikes the fact that the girl is disturbing his peace in the house, so he shouts at Laila about it and tells Laila not to...