Archive: A Thousand Splendid Suns

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Plot Summary
A Thousand Splendid Suns, is a story of two women and their lifes in Afghanistan over the past 40 years. Mariam was born an illegal child and was forced to marry Rasheed, an abusive husband at age 15. Rasheed is an ugly, cruel man inside and out. Her husband broke her spirit with his abuse and was forced to wear a burqa against her wishis. Laila is an attractive girl who lives just up the street,she is in love with Tariq. She was born to educated, liberal parents and enjoyed the freedoms Mariam was restricted from.In the same neighborhood live a girl named Laila and a boy named Tariq, who are close friends, but careful of social boundaries. War comes to Afghanistan, and Kabul is bombarded by rocket attacks. Tariq's family decides to leave the city, and the emotional farewell between Laila and Tariq ends with them making love. Laila's family also decides to leave Kabul, but as they are packing a rocket destroys the house, kills her parents, and severely injures Laila. Laila is taken in by Rasheed and Mariam.Rasheed is not nice to Laila and Mariam and abuses them, they stick together and try to figure out a way to escape and run away.

Characters

 * Laila--one of the main characters in the story, her parents are killed by a bomb and she is forced to live with and marry Rasheed.She is in love with her best friend Tariq who moved away.
 * Mariam--Rasheed's first wife and she befriends Laila and they plan an escape from their abusive husband and start a new life.
 * Rasheed--abusive husband that treats Mariam and Laila badly.
 * Tariq--Laila's best friend and he grew up with her, he is in love with Laila but his family had to move away so they couldn't be together, but he promises to come back to her.
 * Jalil--Mariam's father and a wealthy businessman, Jalil abandons Mariam.
 * Nana--Mariam's mother who eventually commits suicide.
 * Hakim--Laila's father, Hakim is bookish and sensitive and does his best to give Laila an education, stressing to her that women should have every opportunity that men have.
 * Fariba-- Fariba is a distant mother to Laila — although once she was an exuberant presence in her community.
 * Aziza--Aziza is Laila and Tariq's kind, mature, and thoughtful daughter who is forced by Rasheed to live in an orphanage.
 * Zalmai--Zalmai is Rasheed and Laila's son who, although somewhat spoiled by Rasheed, is still a kind boy.
 * Mullah Faizullah--Mariam's Koran when she was a child. He was a kind and loving presence in Mariam's difficult childhood.
 * Abdul Sharif-- man hired by Rasheed to lie to Laila and tell her Tariq had died so that Rasheed could convince Laila to marry him.

Significant Quotes

 * "Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always."
 * “Laila’s footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed.”
 * "A woman who will be like a rock in a riverbed, enduring without complaint, her grace not sullied but shaped by the turbulence that washed over her.”
 * "Everybody wants Jack to rescue them from disaster. But there is no Jack. Jack is not coming back. Jack is dead."
 * “as a reminder of how women like us suffer, how quietly we endure all that falls upon us.”