Endurance of Women in Afghan Society in Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (Book review)
Women's condition in Afghan society as depicted by Khaled Hosseini in his novel A Thousand Splendid Suns is miserable. This novel focuses on how the women are victims of the patriarchal despotism, and also explores on the endurance as a typical characteristics of women in Afghan society. Khaled Hosseini (2007) depicts the plight of Afghan women realistically in his novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. It is about "the tragedy of Mariam's life. Rather it is better to say that this is the unavoidable destiny of many women. A woman is exploited everywhere" (Jana, 2013 P.7) Afghan women are living a pitiable life not only because of patriarchal social structure but also because of the war and crisis even in the 21 century. The women have been treated indifferently and have become major sufferers during the time of Russian invasion in Afghanistan. It is a story of women's sufferings and endurance on the one hand, and hopes and struggle for living on the other. Hosseini (2007) depicts a pathetic life situation of women, as he writes about the condition of a major female character of the novel; "Nana has been one of the housekeepers. Until her belly to swell"(P. 6) Nana's daughter, Mariam and her husband Rasheed's second wife Laila suffer a lot; but both of them have an unbelievable endurance to tolerate even in the difficult situation. Women have a typical quality of endurance even in the most difficult situation, as Nana says, "It's our lot in life, Mariam, women like us. We endure. It's all we have" (Hosseini, 2007, P. 18) Both Mariam and Laila, who were forced to marry Rasheed, had to face the same problem being physically and mentally oppressed from him. They make a mutual bond to support each other and try to resist over the extreme form of domination. They were the victims of patriarchy at the domestic level manifested as the domestic violence on the one hand, and the socio cultural Taliban rule on the other. During Taliban's tenure, women were treated inhumanely. Sharia Law was enforced which restricted women from enjoying their fundamental natural rights.