Kudia 1

Mahum Kudia

Mr. Fuentes

HIE 10

18 March 2016

Gender and Social Injustice in Literature Essay

Since the beginning of time, there have always been roles and expectations for certain

genders. At first it was because of physical differencesmen are physically stronger than

women, so they were viewed as more superior. Later on however, the superiority of men in a

society just became the way things were. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini,

explores the issue of gender roles in relation to domestic violence in war-torn Afghanistan

between the 1970s to the 2000s; through conflicts between the contrasting characterswho

themselves are victims of domestic violencethe author uses this issue in his work to show us

that extremism in society, especially in regard to gender roles, will only lead to a civilizations

demise.

The major issue explored in this book has to do with gender roles, as they appear quite

often and are the reason for many of the events that happen in Hosseinis work. The book starts

off with the childhood experiences of Mariam, a child born illegitimately, and her bitter mother,

angry at the world. According to Mariams mother, Nana, Mariams father Jalil, impregnated her

and then cast her out to save his own skin. Nana says, Like a compass needle that points north, a

mans accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. (Hosseini 7).To save his reputation as a

very rich and successful man, Jalil said that Nana had forced herself on him. This experience

demonstrates the value men had for women. They, the men, used women for their own purposes
 Kudia 2

and then left them to deal with the consequences of these actions. This was even more common

with impoverished women, as they were easier to take advantage of, not having the resources to

protect themselves. In turn, this extreme attitude towards women slowly leads to extreme action,

such as abuse.Another way women in difficult situations were taken advantage of was through

forced marriage. In the book, Mariam wanted to go watch a movie with Jalil in his cinemaher

mother told her not to go, but she went anyway, and was utterly destroyed by her fathers selfish

reasons for his complete lack of care for her, as he let her sleep out in the streets, not even letting

her into his home. When Mariam got back to her house, she saw that Nana had hung herself.

Mariam was now all alone, and her father and his wives decided to marry her off as quickly as

possible because as an unmarried woman, she was a burden. Mariam refused, and at first she

said, I dont want to, I dont want this. Dont make me. Tell them you wont let them do

this, to which one of Jalils wives responded, Actually, your father has already given Rasheed

his answer, Rasheed is here, in Herat; the nikka will be tomorrow morning, and then there is a

bus leaving for Kabul at noon.(Hosseini 49). Forced marriage is a classic example of domestic

abuse against women, especially in places like Afghanistan, where it was very difficult to get out

of a bad marriage, as you would face societal backlash as well as disgrace from society. Mariam

was emotionally and mentally pressured by Jalil and his wives, who encouraged her to marry a

man over 30 years older than her, and essentially, gave her no choice in the matter. Going back

to the book, Mariam reluctantly marries Rasheed, who at first is fairly nice to her, but then

slowly, as she gets more comfortable in her new home, his true colors start to show. Rasheed

gives her a burqa to wearhis reason? It embarasses me, frankly, to see a man whos lost

control of his wife, (Hosseini 70). This scene in the book immediately starts to foreshadow, that

Rasheed is not a nice guy, as it demonstrates his view that women are essentially an object for
 Kudia 3

men to have and do what they wish with. Women are people, not animals or something else that

needs to be controlledthey have feelings, emotions, and desires as well, and Hosseini is

essentially laying the foundation for Rasheeds future actions towards his wives. This small

scene in the book is the basis for everything else that happens, it shows Rasheeds belief that

women are inferior objects, existing only for the pleasure of men. Hosseini reinforces Rasheeds

beliefs in the book, as Rasheed begins to isolate Mariam from the rest of the world, not allowing

her to leave the house without him, and not going anywhere without wearing the burqa. He also

forced himself on Mariam, who then becomes pregnantRasheed automatically assumes its a

boy, and buys all sorts of things for a baby boy. However, children are just not in their cards, and

when she has several miscarriages, he begins withdrawing from her, yelling at her, criticizing

her, and punishing her, His powerful hands clasped her jaw. He shoved two fingers into her

mouth and pried it open, then forced the cold, hard pebbles into it. Mariam struggled against him,

mumbling, but he kept pushing the pebbles in, his upper lip curled in a sneer. CHEW! He

bellowed. Good, now you know what youve given me in this marriage. Bad food, and nothing

else.Then he was gone, leaving Mariam to spit out pebbles and the fragments of two broken

molars, (Hosseini 104). This was the first time he physically abused her, wanting to hurt her.

His vindictive behavior is typical of sexist men, who punish the women in their life, blaming

them for their own problems. It starts of with the small thingsmen objectify women. Then they

stop thinking of them as individuals with emotion. Next, they start to suppress and oppress

women, believing that females are inferior to males, and finally, when they dont get their way,

they resort to violence against women, proving that unjust gender roles, will eventually always

result in violence towards the oppressed gender, which is almost always women.
 Kudia 4

Through the setting of the story in war-torn Afghanistan, the conflicts between

contrasting characters, and the storyline of the book, the author explores the issue of gender roles

and their relationship to violence. Afghanistan has its own set of cultural gender roles, backed up

by societal expectations, as well as later on being mandated by the government-we see this

when the Taliban take over. In their society, women were expected to marry young, whenever

they were told totheir own opinion didn't really matter. To justify forcing Mariam into a

marriage, Jalil and his wives told her when she refused to get married, Now be reasonable,

Mariam weve all seen nine-year-old girls given to men twenty years older than your suitor.

What are you, fifteen? Thats a good solid marrying age for a girl (47). In effect, they were

saying that, Hey, everybody is doing it, so why cant you? If everyone is doing it, it makes it

OK, but it doesntin no way is forcing someone to spend the rest of their lives caring for

someone elses needs the right thing to do. Mariam had heard terrifying stories from Nana about

what men did to their wives, and what the wives had to do with their husbands. In addition to

societal pressure, the government also supported unjust gender roles. We see this problem

highlighted in Hosseinis work, through the lack of healthcare for women, as well as how law

enforcement officers treated women. Mariam and Laila were sick of Rasheed abusing them, so

they decided to run away with Aziza, Lailas daughter. However, this was during the Talibans

rule, and women were not allowed to travel by themselves, so they found a man waiting with his

wife and young son for the bus to Peshawar, and asked him to pose as their cousin. The man,

Wakil, agreed, took their money, and said hed buy them tickets. However, when it came time to

board the bus, he ratted Mariam and Laila out to the soldier, who then took them into custody.

The officer at the police station asked them who they were, and why they were alone, so Laila

tells him the truth, that their husband does horrible things to them. The officer says, What a man
 Kudia 5

does in his home is his business. As a matter of policy, we do not interfere with private family

matters, to which Laila replies, Of course you dont. When it benefits the man. And isnt this a

private family matter, as you say?(Hosseini 266). The only reason they were stopped was

because they were womenit didnt matter that they were running for their lives. The officer

questioning them was very hypocriticalbecause Mariam and Laila were women traveling

alone, they would be subject to questioning on why they were outside, because according to the

officer, it is a crime for women to run away. This is a personal matter being made into a

government issue; men arent questioned as to why they are outside or if they are running away

from their wives. How can it be a crime, how does the government think its okay to make it

illegal for women to flee danger that is a threat to their lives? How does a government have that

sort of power to take away a persons basic rights, of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

The only way that is possible is when the people in power think of women as inferiorthey

mandate injustices towards womenanother example of this is when Laila is forced to put Aziza

into an orphanage because Rasheed spent all of the familys money on things for Zalmai, his and

Lailas son, and they dont have enough money to properly feed and take care of everyone else.

The only way Laila can visit her daughter is by going out of the house to the orphanagethe

problem is that she cant go without a man accompanying her, and Rasheed refuses to take her

most of the time. As a result, Laila is forced to go alone, and most of the time is stopped by the

Taliban who beat her for being outside alone. On one such occasion, a young Talib beat Laila

with a radio antenna and told her, I see you again, Ill beat you until your mothers milk leaks

out of your bones, (Hosseini 321). Because of the oppressive government, women didnt even

have basic rights such as control over their own life, or access to healthcare, as is seen when

Laila is forced to have a caesarian without anesthetics because They wont give me what I need.
 Kudia 6

I have no X-ray either, no suction, no oxygen, not even simple antibiotics. When NGOs offer

money, the Taliban turn them away. Or they funnel the money to the places that cater to men,

(Hosseini 290). The government even restricted healthcare and its accessibility to women,

because to the Taliban, women are not as important as men. Moving on from how the author

used setting to explore gender roles, conflicts between contrasting characters with widely

different views about life were also vital in the authors exploration on how gender roles lead to

violence. A perfect example would be the foil between Tariq, Lailas lover, and Rasheed, her

husband, and what they thought about Aziza. Tariq said, I want to meet her. I want to see her.

Aziza. Aziza. He smiled, tasting the word. Whenever Rasheed uttered her daughters name, it

came out sounding unwholesome to Laila, almost vulgar, (Hosseini 341). The reason for their

differing treatments towards Aziza, Tariq with love, Rasheed with cruelty, has to do with their

values and what they think about gender roles. Tariq grew up believing that men and women

were equal, and he knew that women were to be protected and respected. An example of this was

when a group of boys soaked Laila with urine-filled water guns when Tariq was not around.

When he found out, Tariq was furious, he began hopping toward Khadim, then charging him,

his unstrapped leg raised high over his shoulder like a sword. The boys stepped aside they

gave him a clear path to Khadim. Then it was all dust and fists and kicks and yelps. Khadim

never bothered Laila again, (Hosseini 134) This event really demonstrates Tariqs values that

women are to be respected so when he heard about his daughter, he was very happy. Rasheed on

the other hand, was under the impression that men are superior to women, and was very cruel in

his treatment towards females. Tariq believed in gender equality, and treated women like actual

human beings with feelings, never even thinking about committing acts of violence against them.

On the other hand, Rasheed, saw women as a thing to be used and abused. This is proven when
 Kudia 7

Mariam finds a drawer in Rasheeds bedroom overflowing with pornographic magazines

(Hosseini 82). The only values Rasheed sees in women is physicalwith their bodiesand that

they bear children and make food. He doesnt actually see women as individuals with feelings

and emotions, which makes violence against women a lot easier. These opposing values and

vastly differing views on women, resulted in drastically different characters, in other words,

Rasheed and Tariq were foils of one another.

Extremism in societies, especially in regards to gender roles, will lead to the demise of

civilizations. It starts with domestic life; Rashid was extremely violent and restrictive in his

treatment towards the women in his household; this treatment would lead to one type of end, via

death and destruction. It would either be Mariam and Laila, or Rasheed, and we see what

happens in the climax of their struggles, when Rasheed is choking Laila to death, He was still

on top of Laila, his eyes wide and crazy, his hands wrapped around her neck. Lailas face was

turning blue now, and her eyes had rolled back. Hes really going to kill her, Mariam thought

In Rasheeds eyes she saw murder for them both. And so Mariam raised the shovel high, raised it

as high as she could, the sharp edge was vertical, and as she did, it occurred to her that this

was the first time that she was deciding the course of her own life. And, with that, Mariam

brought down the shovel. This time, she gave it everything she had, (Hosseini 348-349). That is

what ended up happening, to save herself as well as Laila, Mariam had to kill Rasheed. But when

she did that, she realized that she would still never be free, Ive killed our husband, Ive

deprived your son of his father. It isnt right that I run. I cant. Even if they never catch us, Ill

never Ill never escape your sons grief. How do I look at him? How do I ever bring myself to

look at him, Laila jo?(Hosseini 358). As a result of her guilt, Mariam turned herself in and was

executed. This effectively shows how extremism will eventually result in the destruction of both
 Kudia 8

parties, the oppressors, in this case Rasheed; and the oppressed, in this case, Mariam. Looking

back towards the setting of the story, in war-torn Afghanistan, there was extremism in the

country, so the Afghanis rebelled, first against the Communists, then the Mujahideen, and finally

the Taliban. In all three cases, there was destruction of life as the Afghanis knew it. Before, at the

time of the Communists, everyone had education, and they were free to do whatever their hearts

desired. However, people were unhappy, so they revolted against the communists, which resulted

in loss of life, and destruction on both sidesthe rulers, as well as the people being ruled. The

current way of life was destroyed, and replaced by daily war, with houses and people being

blown up at random. This was then followed by the Taliban, who stopped the war, but

established a totally different way of life, without basic freedom for women. The Taliban made

an already patriarchal society more unjust, giving even more rights to men, and taking away

many of the rights of women. At first, this extreme treatment towards women, results in their

destruction, but soon, it comes back around to the Taliban, as they are destroyed by coalition

forces who push the Taliban out of Afghanistan, placing an interim president in light of the

political change. This change brings back basic rights such as education, and freedom for women

to have a say in their own lives.

Everything has a balancenight and day, light and dark, good and evil, yin and yang,

men and women. When this balance is broken, as is seen through the exploration of gender roles

in Khaled Hosseinis book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, terrible things happen. We can see this

through the conflicts between the characters as they struggle to fight for their place in a war-torn

nation, and what happens when one side goes to farthey inadvertently cause their own demise,

as well as the demise of whomever they are oppressing. A lesson that everyone can learn from

this book is that going too far on one side of an issue will generally make the issue worse, be it
 Kudia 9

with gender roles, politics, or societal pressures. The best way through life is on a middle path,

not too far left or right, but straight without detours. This is the best way to ensure success

practice moderation, as extremism will result in extreme effects that most likely arent what

people desire.
 Kudia 10

Works Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007. Print.