The story A Thousand Splendid Suns is set in Afghanistan late 1960 to early 2000’s during the fall of the soviets and the rise of the brutal Taliban. The novel follows the two main characters Laila and Mariam which follow their trials of life as a woman in Kabul. It begins with a young Mariam, who is forced into a marriage with a much older man. Mariam spends the next couple of years, having miscarriage after miscarriage and dealing with violent beatings at the hand of her shoe maker husband Rasheed .Her life continues in this way until Laila, Rasheed’s soon to be second wife, is rescued from the rubble. Both wives along with Laila daughters try to survive an oppressive society and Rasheed savage beatings. In the end Mariam makes a huge sacrifice to help Laila gain her freedom from Rasheed to marry the father of her first child. She kills him while he is attempting to murder Laila, she then pays for this selfless act with her own life. …show more content…
There's an example of foreshadowing of Mariam mother mentioning how she has to learn how to endure "I forced myself on him. That is was my fault. .... This is what it means to be a woman in this world."(pg.7). This novel is written in third person which gives the reader a better grasp on the emotions of the characters and induces empathy. A third literary device used is metaphor, the shovel she uses to kill Rasheed is a representation of her finally taking her life into her own hands and making a huge decision ultimately deciding her