A Thousand Splendid Suns - Women in Society

I am currently reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, and I noticed that one of the central themes appears to be the role of women in society.  I feel I should take a little bit of time to discuss my opinion on the current role of women in society, and then compare it to that of A Thousand Splendid Suns.

For the purpose of comparing different cultures, I am going to very briefly describe women in modern America. Women here have been gaining power over the years in history, and now it seems like they have just as many rights as men do (at least, that’s how I see it). In A Thousand Splendid Suns (and, by extension, modern Afghanistan), this is not the case. From what I have read so far, it appears that women are generally viewed as property for men, not that much far off from slavery.

The relatively poor treatment of women is made very clear by the painfully tense relationship between Mariam and Rasheed, in which Rasheed only married Mariam so that he can have her bear a son as a replacement for the one he lost earlier. Seriously, that is the only reason he showed any sort of kindness to her.  Don’t believe me? Once it is obvious that Mariam cannot give birth, Rasheed becomes very bitter and ill-tempered, and slowly starts physically abusing Mariam. If you want an idea of just how abusive, try chewing some pebbles. It’s not a very balanced breakfast, is it?

As for Lalia, her life can be more comparable to the American lifestyle, as she went to school and has already decided (with support from her father) to worry more about education and her future than marriage (at least until civil war breaks out in Kabul).

Swaddling Clothes - by Yukio Mishima

          Today I read a short story by Yukio Mishima called “Swaddling Clothes.” Basically, the story is about a woman named Toshiko who, along with her husband, has seen their nurse give birth to a child while she was supposed to watch after their son. This newborn child is then wrapped in newspaper by a doctor instead of swaddling clothes, presumably under contempt. Toshiko then worries deeply about this child’s future, wonder how the poor delivery of the baby will affect the rest of his life.

          This story not only reflects a typical mother’s fears of how a child’s future will turn out (will he have a successful life or not?), but it also explains how “corrupt” modern Japan has become after American occupation. Traditional Japanese childbirth is portrayed as something scorned upon by modern society, and how such a change in culture is inevitable, despite the full knowledge of the change occurring.

About Me

Hi; I am just some random person coming up with a blog for my World Literature class in school. Before I fade into obscurity in the world wide web, perhaps you should know a bit about me:


I am a senior in high school that enjoys playing video games and getting a good laugh out of others. I like listening to video game music (I can listen to other music, though) and watch a fairly wide variety of movies (just something that's not boring).

I do enjoy reading reading newspaper comics, especially Calvin and Hobbes (as my username implies).

I am also fairly soft-spoken as well as mildly autistic, so people I personally know will probably see me write more than speak.

I don't HATE reading, but I wish that there were more books out there that actually interest me. Hopefully, this World Literature class can help expand my almost nonexistent urge to read some good books.