Jessica's+Page

Jessica's Page

Throughout my life there have been many forces that have influenced me and that have helped shape the person that I am today. First and foremost I have been greatly influenced by my family. I surely would not be who I am today without my crazy family of nine. As a child I did almost everything with my five siblings and I have learned so much from each of them individually. Although we spend the majority of our time yelling at each other, we still value the time we have together and the strong relationships that we will have for the rest of our lives. Specifically, my parents have instilled in me the desire to become successful. Their expectations for me have always been high and I have done my best to achieve them. I know that their push and constant support has enabled me to develop the strong work ethic that I have today. My grandparents have also shaped the person that I am today. Growing up with the very dissimilar lifestyles of the Smith’s and Kakarla’s has allowed me to learn a lot about both cultures. Moving around has also shaped who I am today. I have lived in quite a few houses in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Yorkshire, England. Through living in such diverse environments, I was able to experience many different things and got to know many different people. Changing schools a few times has broadened my social skills and has allowed me to make many friends that I still stay in touch with today. The activities that I am involved in, mainly Cross Country, Track, and Band, have advanced my interests and talents in these areas. Running is definitely a love of mine and has taught me so much. The races and hard workouts have taught me perseverance and the use of positive thinking. The team atmosphere has encouraged me to be kind and sensitive to others and has helped me grow as a leader. Participating in band has given me musical ability (which is mediocre at best), but has mostly given me long lasting friendships that I will value and cherish forever. Another force that has shaped me is my twin sister Amelia. Aside from a few weeks and days here and there we have been almost inseparable, doing mostly everything together. I’m not exactly sure how our relationship has affected me as a person, since it’s all I’ve ever known, but having my best friend beside me through everything has certainly changed my life for the better.

Summary: //A Thousand Splendid Suns// begins with the story of Mariam and her mother, Nana, who live just outside Herat in a kolba. Mariam is the daughter of Jalil, a wealthy man who lives in Herat, but is not publicly considered so, because she is his illegitimate child. Despite this fact, she loves her father and cherishes every Thursday when he comes to see her. Her mother’s feelings are quite the opposite; however, as she believes that Jalil despises Mariam’s existence. On her fifteenth birthday Mariam decides that she wants to go to with Jalil to his movie theater to see Pinocchio. Her mother desperately wishes that she not go, but Mariam is determined. When Jalil does not show up at the kolba, Mariam walks all the way into town to see him. She is told by Jalil’s chauffeur that he is away on business, but Mariam refuses to leave and ends up sleeping outside on the porch. In the morning when the chauffeur wants to take her home, she catches a glimpse of Jalil in his bedroom. Feeling absolutely betrayed by the man she idolized, Mariam agrees to go home, finally realizing that her mother was right all along. She arrives at the kolba, only to find that her mother had hung herself. Mariam’s life changes completely after her mother’s death. She is taken to Herat to live with Jalil and his other three wives and nine children. Within a short period of time Jalil and his wives make an announcement to Mariam. They tell her that she will be married to Rasheed, a shoemaker from Kabul that is thirty years her senior. Mariam wants none of it, but is forced into the union by Jalil. After a short ceremony Mariam is whisked off to Kabul with Rasheed. While in Kabul she feels alone, and she spends the first week sulking on her bed. Slowly, she begins to take on the duties of a wife, but she and Rasheed never develop a close bond. Mariam becomes pregnant a total of seven times, but she never gives birth to a child. Her repeated disappointments cause Rasheed to become abusive.
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Analysis: I really enjoy this book so far. I find it somewhat relatable as Mariam is my age, but the things that she experiences are far beyond anything that I have encountered. Everything in Mariam’s life, starting from the very beginning, has all been troublesome. She was naïve about it in her youth, but once she was thrust into the role of adulthood, that innocence quickly vanished. The turning point in that was realizing that her father was not the man she believed him to be. She comes to understand the views her mother had, and that makes her passing all the more difficult for Mariam. I think Khaled Hosseini does a great job of portraying the hardships that women go through, especially during that time period.

Application: This part of the book has a large focus on women’s rights, or lack thereof, and those thoughts and ideas have been ever-present in history. Mariam was born in 1959, so the story takes place mostly in the mid 1970’s. At that time in the United States, women were being seen as much more equal to men, but in Afghanistan it was quite different, as shown in this part of the book. I’m not sure how much has changed in Afghanistan from the 1970s to the present, but since men and women are still not regarded as complete equals, the lifestyle of Afghan women may still be as depicted in the book. This ties in with the objectives on human roles and behavior. In the middle of the first section, Mariam must learn to transition from a young child with no responsibilities to a young married woman with household chores and duties. Initially she had trouble with it, mostly because of the way she was thrust into her role as a wife.

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