There are multiple literary criticisms that could be used for A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. One that is very prominent and obvious is the Feminist Theory criticism. The setting of A Thousand Splendid Suns is in Afghanistan from the 1960s to the 2000s and during this time, due to the culture and the Taliban, women are treated poorly and unequally. In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam, Laila, and Aziza all support this theory. Feminist criticism deals with “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" (Brizee 1). During the time period that this novel takes place, the Taliban take control…show more content… Before Mariam is even born, her life is already greatly affected by her country’s culture and society. Due to her wealthy father, Jalil, and his shameful affair with a servant, who is Mariam’s mother, Mariam is born a bastard child (Harami) and raised in a secluded, little hut isolated outside of the city with Nana, her mom. From the beginning Mariam feels like she is “an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people have, things such as love, family, home, acceptance” due to how Nana always says the word “Harami” in a negative way (Hosseini 5). Nana loves Mariam, but she is mad at Jalil and the world for how she is treated and she reminds Mariam that “like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman” (Hosseini 7). Mariam remembers this quote throughout her life and believes it to be true. Because Mariam is the result of a sin committed by her father, she does not get to live like other young girls and get to go to school, to town, or experience anything outside of her little hut. This eventually leads to her mom killing herself and Mariam being forced into a marriage, at a young age, to a man much older than her by her father, even though her other half sisters get to have an education and are not forced into a marriage. Her husband, Rasheed, forcefully has sex with her and abuses her. He controls what she…show more content… The fact that Mariam and Laila can not go anywhere without Rasheed, who rarely goes anywhere, except to work, shows how restricting the Taliban rules are. The women are forced to always wear burqas and their jobs are to tend to the children and the house. They do not get to have jobs and those who do have jobs, find it difficult to work, due to the shortage of supplies. Laila is continuously whipped and beat by the Taliban when she attempts to visit her daughter at the orphanage. Mariam and Laila are always subject to Rasheed’s banal abuse and marital rape. Aziza has to stay in the orphanage for a long time and usually never gets what she wants, while her brother, Zalmai gets everything he wants. The police do not care about what goes on inside the household unless it is the man who is complaining. It is clear to see that women in this time period and culture are treated very poor, worse than animals. They are not respected and “have no importance in Taliban eyes unless they are occupied producing children, satisfying male sexual needs or attending to the drudgery of daily housework” (“Some of the Restrictions Imposed by Taliban in Afghanistan”). In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam, Laila, and Aziza can all be viewed through a Feminist Theory literary criticism. This is due to the time period in which this novel takes place and the control of the Taliban in bellicose Afghanistan. Through
