A Thousand Splendid Suns

In this book, Hosseini follows the lives of two Afghani women in the late 20^th century. The women in the story are born into extremely different circumstances. Mariam, the elder of the two, grows up poor on the outskirts of her village. She is raised by her mother, who teaches her that education is worthless for women, and whose own mental illnesses keeps her from showing Mariam a mother’s unconditional love. Mariam is forced to marry young and soon finds that she is nearly worthless (by society’s standards) to the man who has married her. Laila, on the other hand, is a beautiful, intelligent young woman, deeply valued by her father who keeps nothing out of her reach, including her education. She is expected to do great things and bring honor to her family. Hosseini’s merging of these two characters’ lives highlights for the reader that war spares no one. These women both fall victim to oppression and despair, which brings them closer together than anyone may imagine.

One of the most startling scenes in the book took place in a hospital during the regime of the Taliban. Laila was in labor, and was forced to travel to a women’s hospital. Upon her arrival, she finds the hospital dirty and without anesthetic. A nurse if forced to keep watch during surgery lest the doctor be found performing surgery without her burka.

Although the book is most likely overly used as the ONLY source on the Middle East in secondary English courses, its value should not be taken for granted. Hosseini’s story paints a picture of a wounded Afghanistan, and highlights specific lives within the struggle. Any attempt to engage young readers in a sympathetic portrait of the people of the Middle East is an improvement over the way in which they are too commonly dehumanized in the majority of readily available popular culture.