Theme: Inner Strength of Women

Thesis: In Khalid Hussein’s ``A Thousand Splendid Suns`` women are portrayed as
strong figures that are able to endure their surroundings of discrimination and hate.
Women are the victims of discrimination, vicious abuse, and society's limitations
who are still able to conjure up the strength from within to live on.

Dale`s G1,

Dale has recently acquired his G1 Licence, he is able to drive a car, but with some
limitations. He may only drive when accompanied by a driver with a G licence. In
the same way, Women in Afghanistan, for example Mariam and Laila, are not
allowed out of the house unless they are accompanied a male. In both situations
people are restricted by society’s rules and are not able to act as freely as they
would want to. Women must use their inner strength on a daily basis, in order to
live within society’s unfair rules.

Dales bird in cage.

This Bird is in a cage and is being deprived of its freedom much like many Afghani
women are today. The bird is imprisoned physically by the bars, but women like
Mariam and Laila are imprisoned mentally by the fear of going out of the house and
somehow breaking one of the many rules enforced by the Taliban. When they do
leave their prison they must use the strength within them to act within the rules
until they are in their houses and away from the Taliban's eyes.

Electronic Abuse

This iPhone has a broken screen, but despite these misfortunes, the iPhone
continues to work. The owner of this iPhone uses it allot, but when it malfunctions,
his anger gets the best of him and he throws it at a wall. It had worked well for him
for quite some time but the second it did one thing to his dislike he mistreated it.
Rasheed treats Miriam very similarly. Miriam cleans the house, cooks food, and runs
errands for him and Rasheed is satisfied, but the second he finds out she is not able
to have children he neglects her and begins to abuse her. Mariam must use her
inner strength in order to endure the vicious abuse that she is forced to deal with.

Burka

The Burka is a full body cover that is expected or even forced to be worn by women
in Middle Eastern countries. It is discriminatory against women because it does not
allow them to show their full selves as they please. Burkas are forced upon Mariam
and Laila by Rasheed whenever they leave the house. Rasheed does not care for
their personal thoughts about the Burkas; he is selfish and wants himself to be the
only man to lay eyes on his wives. Despite the fact that they are not able to do as
they feel as a result of discrimination, they still continue to live their lives using
their inner strength to overcome the Burka as they endure through its lack of
comfort in order to avoid aggravating Rasheed.

School

This is a picture of a school that represents the right for all genders to have an
education. In Afghanistan, schools only represent the opportunity of an education
for men. Mariam was not allowed to go to school, yet she still had the passion to
learn and didn't just give up on her education, she learned as much as she could
from her teacher about the Qur'an, and from Rasheed when he would tell her about
the news of what was going on in the world. For example: when he tells her of the
communists and what they are. Even though she is being discriminated upon as
result of her gender she still continues to be strong and learn as much as she can
on her own using her surroundings.

HT rules

The Holy Trinity Catholic secondary school rules, state that bags are not to be
brought into classrooms. As a result students are forced to carry their numerous
heavy text books and binders from class to class. It is an unfair rule that has
resulted in more students dropping their belongings all over the place. In the same
way the Taliban as seen in the novel "A Thousand Splendid Suns” have rules that
are very inconvenient for the citizens, especially women. For example women may
not laugh in public or else they will be beaten. This is an inconvenient law because
it is hard to control ones laughter in the public when someone says something
funny. The Women use their inner strength to deal with the laws in order to avoid
being beaten.

Abused Tree

This tree has been abused by nature and has fallen over but it still fights to survive
and live on. It uses the help of the trees around it to support itself, but it is very
clear that the surrounding trees are suffering as a result. In the same way Laila is
being abused by Rasheed, she represents the fallen tree being abused by nature
(Rasheed). Mariam symbolizes the surrounding trees because she saves Laila from
an almost certain death, but her heroic actions come at a cost to her life. Mariam
gathers her inner strength in order to kill Rasheed in hopes of saving Laila from his
vicious abuse even though she knows she faces being executed by the Taliban.

Macs Discrimination

The Store Keepers in Macs discriminate against teenagers. When teenagers go to

their store they are always under very close watch because of the stereotype that
teenagers always steel. Most of the time teenagers are only aloud in the store three
at a time. The store keepers do not have these same set of rules for the other adult
customers. The Taliban discriminate against women and enforce a different set of
rules against them than they do to the men. For example if women commit adultery
they are stoned to death. If Men are caught in adulterous acts they are never at
fault, it is always the women’s fault therefore she is the one who will get the
punishment. Women must use their inner strength to overcome the discrimination
and the double standards being placed upon them.

Empty Bottle

The empty bottle represents the struggle to live. Water is a resource we as people
depend on greatly to survive. In the novel ``A Thousand Splendid Suns``
Afghanistan experiences a drought, and as a result the economy struggles. Laila
and Mariam are forced to eat and drink very little in order to feed their kids. It gets
so bad that at one point they have to put their child Aziza into an orphanage so they
don`t starve to death. During this time, Afghanistan had certain limitations when it
came to resources. Mariam ,and especially Laila had to use their inner strength in
order to give up their child to ensure the survival of her and the rest of the family.

No iPod Rule

iPods are banned in classrooms. They are seen as distractions that negatively affect
the productivity of students in class. This is a misunderstanding because iPods can
actually be used to keep students on track, and focused. Many students work better
while they listen to music, and are less distracted by other students and sounds.
Also iPods are able to access the Internet, allowing students to do research on
various topics. Another benefit of having an iPod in class is that you are able to
organize events, with the calendar application almost using it like an agenda. In the
same way, the Taliban also have misinterpreted or misunderstood views on certain
things, they do not allow people to write books, watch films or paint pictures. All of
these things benefit people’s creativity and views on society. Also they don`t want
communication between two people with different religions, because they fear their
own will be converted. Conversing between two religions could be positive because
it allows people to learn about each other and be more open minded. The Taliban’s
Ignorance on these things form limitations for people especially women that want to
be more educated and open minded. They must use their strength to refrain from
being as ignorant as the Taliban and find ways to acquire books etc for their
personal benefit and knowledge.