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).
