A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini
Independent Research Assignment
"A Khastegar. A suitor. His name is Rasheed," (Pg 43, Hosseini)
Throughout this part of the novel, Jalil and his wives had mentioned to Mariam that they had "good news" for her, meaning they had someone they would like her to get married to. Mariam cried and refused for this to happen & attempted to come up with other possibilities, like living with Mullah Faizullah. Although the adults continued to disregard Mariam's feelings towards this event & told her that her opinion does not matter, because they had already given Rasheed an answer, prior to asking her. This demonstrates how the Rights of Women become violated and Mariam's guardians forcing her to marry someone approximately 30 years older then her demonstrate discrimination and shame towards the lives of women. This is unfair treatment brought upon Mariam and this should not be allowed. Mariam shouldn't be forced into doing something she does not want and should not be discriminated against because she's a girl, and allowing her father to make this decision without her consent is not right.
Throughout this part of the novel, Jalil and his wives had mentioned to Mariam that they had "good news" for her, meaning they had someone they would like her to get married to. Mariam cried and refused for this to happen & attempted to come up with other possibilities, like living with Mullah Faizullah. Although the adults continued to disregard Mariam's feelings towards this event & told her that her opinion does not matter, because they had already given Rasheed an answer, prior to asking her. This demonstrates how the Rights of Women become violated and Mariam's guardians forcing her to marry someone approximately 30 years older then her demonstrate discrimination and shame towards the lives of women. This is unfair treatment brought upon Mariam and this should not be allowed. Mariam shouldn't be forced into doing something she does not want and should not be discriminated against because she's a girl, and allowing her father to make this decision without her consent is not right.
"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...Now chew." (pg 94, Hosseini)
This quote demonstrates the abuse Rasheed had put Mariam through, by making her chew on pebbles and dirt because he didn't approve of the rice she had prepared for him. This is unfair treatment towards Mariam and if Rasheed wants something done a particular way, then he should accomplish it himself. By Rasheed's punishments towards Mariam it ended up causing her to have 2 broken molars and a bloody mouth. Just becasue Mariam is the women in the relationship does not give Rasheed the right to treat her this way.
"His hand was on her right breast now, squeezing it hard through the blouse," (Pg 69, Hosseini)
This quote shows how Rasheed had sexually harassed Mariam and forced her into having sex with him. The actions demonstrated by Rasheed are unexaptable and should not be allowed. Just because he is a man does not give him the right to take advantage over Mariam.
Solutions to the problems Mariam endures throughout this novel may be fixed by the offerings of this site regarding the Rights of Women;
http://www.equalitynow.org/
This website relates to the abuses and discrimination towards the women characters of this novel and can help prevent many of the troubles Mariam faces throughout, like raising international visibility of individual cases of abuse, mobilizing public support through global membership, and wielding strategic political pressure to ensure that governments enact or enforce laws and policies that uphold the rights of women and girls. The areas this website focuses on can help every right broken within this novel.
(Eg: Discrimination, sexual violence, Female Genital Mutilation)
http://www.equalitynow.org/
- campaigns to raise awareness by highlighting individual cases of pervasive and severe violations against women and girls;
- building partnerships and coalitions with grassroots women’s rights groups to amplify local and global advocacy;
- strengthening international and regional human rights law and mechanisms that address the rights of women and girls;
- conducting strategic litigation at national, regional and international levels to establish legal precedents on women’s and girls’ rights;
- mobilizing financial and capacity-building support for partners on the ground;
- using the media to bring these stories to the public.
This website relates to the abuses and discrimination towards the women characters of this novel and can help prevent many of the troubles Mariam faces throughout, like raising international visibility of individual cases of abuse, mobilizing public support through global membership, and wielding strategic political pressure to ensure that governments enact or enforce laws and policies that uphold the rights of women and girls. The areas this website focuses on can help every right broken within this novel.
(Eg: Discrimination, sexual violence, Female Genital Mutilation)
how the womens rights are abused throughout a thousand splendid suns
“A society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated…"
- In Afghanistan, a woman is a man’s property. They are stripped of any powers that they would otherwise have and become slaves to their country and husbands.
- The Taliban had control of Afghanistan and made the situation for women even worse than it already was
- . In Afghanistan under the Taliban, women were denied education, the right to work, the right to move freely, and access to adequate healthcare
- but until Mariam's mother died was when she began to be affected by women rights
- Rasheed, was a traditionalist and therefore enforced the Islamic rules and abused her often
other potential Organizations that can help
http://www.amnesty.ca/about-us
https://www.aclu.org/about-aclu-0
- Amnesty International turns knowledge of human rights violations into global awareness and action.
- They uncover the truth about human rights abuses, and mobilize individuals to take action so that human rights abuses are stopped, individuals and communities are protected, and perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice.
https://www.aclu.org/about-aclu-0
- The ACLU is the nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in the country.