Have you ever wondered how gender roles and the diversity of genders in the Middle East compare to where you live? The book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini conveys these comparisons incredibly well and it is worth the read.
Hosseini paints a tragically beautiful picture using his words of a young girl who struggles with an under-respected mother. After her mother's depressing death, Mariam is forced by her father to marry a suitor. A man that is harsh and follows very traditional past times like the covering of the body and not furthering education. If one fragile girl being broken by a harsh man wasn't enough, another girl, named Laila, who loses everything is forced into  marrying the same man.
The characters of  A Thousand Splendid Suns are incredibly unique and all hail from different backgrounds and from a different family environment. Mariam, the daughter of a servant and a scared father, is forced into marrying a harsh man. Hosseini displays Mariam's struggle to survive by clinging on to a few things. One survival tool are the good memories and the few warming interactions that encounter her. With these she has a strong will. As well as her stead fast faith in her god. The other girl, named Laila, has similar problems. She had an ideal life especially for being in Afghanistan, until tragedy struck. She resorts to using her bare bones will to survive the harsh conditions she faced. Especially not looking back; “ Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that's all she can do. That and hope”. This shows just how depressing her life ended up becoming. However, she becomes a strong-willed woman and keeps moving forward with her chin tilted up.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini displays the vast differences between Afghanistan men and woman, as wholes and against each other. The book is fantastic and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the different cultures of women and men, the roles that they face, or if one is simply interested in the differences between where you lived and the Middle East.