December 2020 Classic of the Month: 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'

Why Khaled Hosseini's story about two women in Afghanistan needs to be heard.

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini, 415 pages - Instagram @c_reads_books

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The classic of the month for December 2020 is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I’ve now read this book twice, both times being equally powerful and memorable.

Mariam is a character who sacrifices a lot, from her freedoms to her life as a whole. Mariam’s ultimate sacrifice of her life to protect Laila and her children reflects the value she places on the people she loves, a value even greater than that which she places on herself. Through the character of Mariam, and everything she sacrifices, Hosseini reveals the meaning that is gained when one loves others and is selflessly and unceasingly loved back and the importance of, along with the strength and beauty in, sacrifice.

From the very beginning of the novel, and throughout the majority of her life to follow, Mariam does what she is told to please others. Mariam and her mother, Nana, live abandoned by Mariam’s father, Jalil, in a mud shack kolba, symbolic of their being cast aside, unwanted, and hidden from the view of others.

Foreshadowing her life to come, Mariam is told from the beginning of her life by her mother that she is a harami, blaming Mariam’s existence for essentially ruining her life. The only time that Mariam defies her mother in her young life, her mother kills herself, which Mariam cannot help but blame herself for.

At just 15-years-old, wanting to be a good daughter, Mariam surrenders her life over to an unknown future, going through with the arranged marriage her father and his wives set up for her. Although Mariam does so willingly, she does not do it for herself, but for others.

As Mariam marries and moves in with Rasheed, she continues to do what she is told without protest to please others. Rasheed requires her to wear a burqa in public and isolates her from other people. Mariam complies with Rasheed’s rules, relinquishing some of her most basic human rights and enduring countless beatings from her husband.

Mariam realizes that she did not fulfill her parents’ expectations of her as a daughter, so she starts to look for value in being a wife. Having not yet found meaning in her own personal existence, Mariam knows no better than to just comply with others’ expectations of her, placing others’ needs and wants before her own.

Originally at odds, Mariam and Laila, Rasheed’s new second wife, soon begin to form a mother - daughter relationship, drinking chai tea and caring for Laila’s children, Aziza and Zalmai. Mariam continues to endure Rasheed’s beatings and repression of her rights, but now she does so to protect the people she has come to love, caring less and less about being a good wife.

Rasheed’s abuse to both women continues to intensify, to the point where he is strangling Laila, and in this scene, as Mariam raises a shovel over her head, about to kill Rasheed, she realizes that everything she does will never be enough.

No matter how much she attempted to please her parents and Rasheed, they were never satisfied or grateful. The only person who has ever loved her without wanting anything in return was Laila, and Mariam realizes that she must do anything to protect her and her children, making a decision that is not only drastic, but also one of the few, if not only, actual decisions in her life.

After she kills Rasheed to stop him from killing Laila, Mariam is adamant in her sacrifice of her life to protect Laila and her children, insisting that she solely take the blame, knowing that she will be killed for her actions.

For the first and last time, Mariam makes a sacrifice for herself. She does so not because she feels like she should or because anyone is telling her to, but because she herself wants to and knows in her heart that it is the right thing to do. It is through this final act that Mariam reacts to people’s expectations of her as a person and as a woman, finally realizing the strength in herself.

Mariam’s ultimate sacrifice of her life not only gives her own life meaning in her eyes, but it also opens the door for Laila to have a new and better life. Through the act of killing Rasheed and knowing that she is giving up her life for the life and happiness of Laila and her children, Mariam finds strength and purpose in herself.

Having gained value through loving others and being loved back, she is at peace with her death. Although Mariam herself was not able to become free from people’s expectations of her and live her life making decisions for herself, her life and death gave rise to hope for a better life for Laila and her children that wouldn’t have been possible without it.

Although Mariam surrenders her life for others, it does not make her weak, but instead shows her immense strength and the power of her loving others and being loved back, revealing the strength and beauty in sacrifice.

Humanizing a country and the lives of millions, A Thousand Splendid Suns truly gives you a new perspective on the lives of and empathy for millions of people. Despite the at times dark imagery, Hosseini’s powerful story of two women is one of hope and compassion, a story that undeniably deserves to be read.