Assignment #2 Topic A

C. Rodriguez
2nd period

Discussion Topic A:


Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns explores the darker realities of what most Afghan women are forced to endure, and thus, stirs feelings of sympathy. Trapped in a world where “…all [those] people know is war,” (177), Hosseini centers the tale of his novel in a country that is infamous for divesting women of their rights. Moreover, he incorporates the time period when the Taliban victoriously rule Afghanistan, 1994. That alone, automatically allows the reader to imply that the account of the two women is a representation of the majority of the women in Afghanistan. After all, the Taliban often symbolize a cause for alarm, for fear, inequality, and worst of all, violence. As a result of the lack for rights women have, beatings, insults, and mistreatment by the men in their lives is approved, perhaps even encouraged. In the men’s defense, however, “[as] a matter of policy,” (266) officers “…do not interfere with private family matters…” (266). Consequently, laws that protect women’s safety is inexistent. Most of the men in this novel resemble each other: mean, volatile, inflexible, selfish, and violent. Protected by the government, men could do as they pleased to women. Despite the brutality of their assault, to their advantage, one can say that “…there isn’t a court in [that]…country that will hold [them] accountable for [what] they will do,” (272). This novel transmits the pain of the women abused word wide, and allows one to see the extent of evil found in this world.