A+Thousand+Splendid+Suns+essays

Describe an important symbol(s) in a text you have studied and analyse how the symbol(s) helped develop ideas in the text Two important symbols in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is the Burqa and women's hospital. These two symbols portray one of the novels most crucial and provoking themes; the suppression of women. Being forced to wear the Burqa is one of the ways that shows men's dominance over women highlighting the idea that women have no rights and a complete lack of freedom. The women’s hospital however symbolizes the low level in which women have to exist. These two symbols clearly highlight the unjust society that women lived in and the power and control that men have in these women's lives. The Burqa has an important significance in the novel because it directly relates to the oppression of women in society. A Burqa is a draping cloth like robe that covers the skin and faces of women in Afghanistan. While wearing this garment no one is able to recognize you. Khaled Hosseini portrays the Burqa as an enclosure for Mariam, almost like a cage where she is forced to hide her face from society. Before marrying Rasheed, Mariam and Laila can wear what they want, but Rasheed forces them to wear the Burqa. “ Mariam had never before worn a Burqa...The padded head piece felt tight and heavy on her skull, and it was strange seeing the world through a mesh screen.” This highlights Rasheed’s power and dominance over Mariam and the idea that wearing a Burqa isn’t exactly the most comfortable or appealing garment, but because of their status in society women had to bear the pain and discomfort and had to conform to the men’s ways and values. This helps the reader gain an insight into the unjust and unfair ways that women were treated and the role of men in Afghanistan's society. The Burqa helped develop the idea of, the suppression of women, as it symbolizes a lack of freedom for women and the control men have over women's lives. While under Taliban's rule women are oppressed from normal society, they have no rights and are worthless to men. They have many rules and regulations to which they must abide to, such as they aren’t allowed to be uncovered in the street. “You will not under any circumstances show your face...if you do not you will be severely beaten.” This highlights to us just the unbelievable and unjust dominance men had over women. Not only do they force these unfair laws upon women but they threaten and beat them if they do not abide by them. This creates tension and uncertainty in our minds as we sympathize with the women and find it hard to understand and comprehend the awful way in which men treated them. The women's hospital is also an important symbol in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns as it highlights to us the low levels in which women were forced to exist. Rasheed and Mariam take Laila to the hospital to give birth to her son only to find that the hospital doesn't serve women. There is only one hospital in the entire city which does treat women– Rabia Balkhi which has no clean water, no oxygen, no medications and no electricity. “The waiting room at Rabia Balkhi was teeming with women in Burqas and their children. The air stank of sweat and unwashed bodies, of feet, urine, cigarette smoke and antiseptic.” This hospital shows us the awful circumstances in which women were forced to cope with and the pain and agony they had to endure. When Laila is required to have a caesarian she isn't offered any antistatic and has to go through immense pain in order to give birth to her son. This shows the power of the Taliban and the terrible ways in which women are forced to live. This also conveys to us the underlying theme of courage in the face of fear because these women face immense fear but show unbelievable and admirable courage when experiencing this pain and anxiety. When Laila screams it is not only her screaming but the country as a whole. The women’s hospital helped develop the idea of the suppression of women as it reinforces and portrays the horrific and unjust environment in which women were forced to live. The Taliban takeover is the reason for the public oppression of women. “Mariam had heard the announcement, in January of that year, that men and women would be seen in different hospitals, that all female staff would be discharged from Kabul’s hospitals and sent to work in one central facility.” It is the Taliban who created and enforce this undesirable society for women. The strict environment has a major contribution toward the oppression, and the status that women used to have in business, shows how drastically it has changed and the extremity of it all. This is also used to convince us of the legal inequality of women and how the Taliban's laws have such a strong a powerful influence in these women's lives. This has relevance to our society today as it gives us a huge appreciation for the way in which we live and the freedom that we experience. The Burqa and women's hospital are both extremely important and significant symbols in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, which are used to portray and highlight to us the extreme and unlawful ways that women were forced to live. They are also used to heighten the idea of the Taliban's dominance in society and expresses the awful laws and customs in which the women were forced to abide by. The theme of the suppression of women is extremely important to the novel as it gives us an understanding of the history of Afghanistan and gives us an appreciation of the society that we live in. Excellence Ideas are developed and display insight. Emily has used significant quotations to support her ideas as well as linked them to the main ideas before and after the quotation. They are also woven into the body of the essay and this means that the essay avoids being disjointed.

Describe a main conflict in a text you have studied and analyse how the conflict helped the author to present important ideas. In the novel __A Thousand Splendid Suns__ the author, Khaled Hosseini uses a strong conflict between the two main characters Mariam and Rasheed to present many important ideas within the novel. It follows Mariams struggle through her life with Rasheed which clearly leads to the idea of suppression of emotion. Through Rasheeds conflict with Mariam we witness his total mistreatment of her and the idea of the oppression of women is established. Mariams constant beatings throughout the novel lead to her finding love for a human being that she has never felt before. The conflict between Mariam and Rasheed is first established when she is forced to marry him at the age of fifteen. When they first meet through a mirror ‘their gazes met briefly in the glass and slid away’ right from here we know that the relationship between them will have many complications. This is only further shown when they get back to Kabul, Rasheeds mistreatment of Mariam right from the start through his lack of communication and constant high expectations of her to perform all the duties of a wife, lead to them having heated arguments and they begin to grow apart. Mariam never does find a heart to love Rasheed and their conflict never does resolve itself until Mariam ends it herself. The oppression of women is a dominant theme in the novel that is established through Mariam and Rasheeds conflict. He has complete control over her and this is shown when he forces her to wear a burqa whenever she goes out in public. This intricately portrays the burqa as an enclosure for Mariam where she is being kept in captivity, by her abusive husband. The burqa restricts mariam ‘she kept stepping on the hem and stumbling. The loss of peripheral vision…and she did not like the suffocating way the cloth kept pressing against her mouth’. This highlights that their conflict has lead to Mariam obeying his every need so she has no choice but to wear the burqa. Also in doing this she is able to avoid any extra mistreatment and Rasheed only grows to know how much he controls Mariam in everything that she does. Mariams constant mistreatment from Rasheed and the arbitrary arguments they have turn Mariam into a very strong women. She has to learn to cope with Rasheeds violent temper because she never knows what will come next, ‘she dreaded the sound of him coming home in the evening’. How Mariam handles Rasheed throughout the novel highlights the theme of Suppression of emotion. She is forced to hide her complete terror and fear of the situation she is in to avoid further conflict with Rasheed. Finally we see Mariam break down in tears, it all becomes too much for her. She has been holding her emotions in so long they all come flowing out but, even then Rasheed is still the first thing she worries about, ‘she pictured Rasheed coming home finding her like this’. She has not and does not ever let him see her in such a state. Throughout the novel all Mariam wants is to love and be loved. She has every hope of finding it someday with Rasheed. However we soon begin to realize this is not going to happen; he uses and abuses their marriage to benefit him. Ironically this mistreatment of Mariam leads to her finding the only thing she ever wanted, to love someone and brings about the important idea of love in the novel. At the time, ‘Mariams anxiety really wretched her up. Her teeth rattled when she thought of the night he might do what husbands did to their wives.’ However, when Mariam falls pregnant for the first time ‘her love for it (the baby) dwarfed anything she had ever felt as a human being.’ This highlights that their hatred for each other and the conflict that lies between them has brought about an amazing feeling for Mariam, one that she will treasure for the rest of her life. The novel __A Thousand Splendid Suns__ by Khaled Hosseini, presents readers with a very evident conflict between Mariam and Rasheed. It most importantly highlights key themes of the novel, most which are portrayed through Mariam. Her constant mistreatment from him helps us understand the oppression of women in Afghan society and how she handles the situation shows the theme of the suppression of emotion. However through the conflict Mariam gains what she always wanted and grows to love someone, something that can never be taken away from her.

There are some fantastic ideas throughout this essay. Make sure you clearly explain the significance of all your points. Very close to E with this.**
 * Merit