What is wrong with Laila's mother?

Laila's mother has fallen into manic depression over the loss of her sons to the war. She does not get out of bed every day. Good days are very rare for her. Laila's friend, Tariq, lost one leg to a land mine explosion when he was five.

What is Laila's relationship like with her mother?

Laila, like Mariam, is definitely influenced by her mother's behavior. For instance, at times both girls resent their mothers, but at other times they are empathetic, even loving, toward their mothers.

Why does Laila's father stay with his wife?

Why does lailas father stay with his wife? How are the mothers and fathers dreams different and why? The mother wants to stay in Afghanistan where her sons were killed but the father wants to move. He doesn't leave enter because he loves her and his family with her.

What happened to Laila in A Thousand Splendid Suns?

At age 15, Laila falls in love with her best friend since childhood, Tariq, but war forces Tariq and his parents to flee to Pakistan. Days later, a rocket kills Laila's parents and wounds her, and Rasheed and Mariam nurse her back to health.

What does Laila represent in A Thousand Splendid Suns?

Laila represents the new modern face of Afghanistan. Her father, Babi, is a well-educated teacher who holds progressive views about politics and women's rights. Education has always been a priority in Laila's life, and she has always received encouragement from her parents to achieve her dreams.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s mum ‘branded ex fiancee Laila R0uass pr0stitute’ in cruel rant

Who is Laila's mother?

Laila's mother. She was originally a curious, joyful woman but, by the time Laila is growing up, she is increasingly depressed at the departure of her two sons to fight in the Mujahideen.

Why does Laila have a hard time putting herself in her mother's shoes?

Why does Laila have a hard time putting herself in her mother's shoes? She did not know her brothers as well as her mother had and does not feel grief on the level her mother does. The deaths of Laila's brothers debilitate Fariba.

What is the main message of thousand splendid suns?

The primary theme in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns is the rights of women, especially under the Taliban. Mariam and Laila grow up during regimes that are not oppressive. Although Mariam's father's family pushes her into marriage with Rasheed, it is ultimately her choice to agree to marry him.

What does Hasina say about Laila?

“By the time we're twenty,” Hasina used to say, “Giti and I, we'll have pushed out four, five kids each. But you, Laila, you'll make us two dummies proud. You're going to be somebody. I know one day I'll pick up a newspaper and find your picture on the front page.”

What happened to Rasheed's first wife?

Character List and Analysis Rasheed. Rasheed is a widowed shoemaker whose first wife and son died many years before his marriage to 15-year-old Mariam. Conservative and willful, Rasheed quickly instructs Mariam on what he believes an ideal wife should be: subservient, obedient, and fertile.

Why is Rasheed abusive?

Why does Rasheed become abusive? Rasheed becomes abuse because she can't have children.

Why was Mariam's mother sent away from Jalil's house?

"She [Mariam] was being sent away because she was the walking, breathing embodiment of their shame" (48). The wives wanted Mariam to leave because she was an illegitimate child, and she was a constant reminder of the shameful and disgraceful things.

Why does Laila not leave with Tariq?

First, Tariq decides to leave with his family in order to safeguard his father's failing health. Next, Laila decides to remain with her family, despite her strong desire to marry and follow Tariq.

Is Mariam Laila's mom?

Jalil and Nana are Mariam's only family, and their relationship is anything but healthy. Mariam finds the family that she never thought she'd have in Laila and Aziza. Mariam becomes a mother figure to Laila—she even frequently identifies herself as Laila's mother to other people.

Do Laila and Tariq get married?

Laila and Tariq marry on the day of their arrival to Pakistan. Laila and Aziza assist Tariq with his job, cleaning hotel rooms for Sayeed.

How is Mariam a mother to Laila?

This helps her understand her own mother better, and Mariam's life changes with the arrival of Laila, Rasheed's second wife. Through her love for Laila and Laila's children, Mariam is able to fulfill her wish to be a mother and to finally give and receive love.

What is Laila and Tariq's relationship like?

Tariq is a boy growing up near Laila in Kabul. He loses his leg to a landmine when he's very young and, through the support of his kind parents, never lets this disability slow him down. He and Laila are best friends as children and become lovers as teenagers.

How old was Laila when she married Rasheed?

When she is fifteen, Mariam, forced into marriage with forty-year old Rasheed, moves to Kabul to start a life with her husband. Hopeful at first, she is unable to conceive, and lives a loveless existence with a husband who abuses her regularly.

What did Laila's teacher forbid?

Take your daughter and run away.

How did Laila endure?

The daughter of Laila has endured physical abuse from her father and an unwanted relinquishment from her mother for a short time. Her undesired relinquishment gives her a high percent chance of having PTSD when paired to the injustices committed by Rasheed.

Is A Thousand Splendid Suns a true story?

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a work of fiction, which means it is not true.

What does snow symbolize in A Thousand Splendid Suns?

Snow here connects Mariam to her lost mother and aligns her with her mother's view that it is a woman's lot to suffer, and suffer often. Also amid Mariam and Rasheed's loss is another look into how traditional ideas of gender inform their behavior, both during their joy and their grief.

What does Laila learn about at school?

At school, Laila's teacher (a staunch Communist) stresses to the children that men and women are equal, therefore women should not cover themselves. The teacher encourages her students to spy in support of the Communist cause, even though the Soviet Union seems to be losing its grip on Afghanistan.

What has Laila done with Mariam's money?

Laila and her family now live in Kabul. Laila used Mariam's money to fund Zaman's orphanage, where she and Tariq now also work. There is still the threat of war in Kabul, but things are improving.

How are Mariam and Laila different?

Mariam was quite, reserved, and took everything that came her way and never stood up for herself. Laila was very intelligent and open. She stood up for herself and was extremely independent. The only similar thing they both had in common was their marriages to Rasheed and the beatings they received from him.