The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns provides an optimistic ending by showing increased rights of women. The country Afghanistan is directing towards freedom, progress and acceptance. It gives hope to all the women in Afghanistan that they can be free and peaceful. To understand the condition of a country the first thing to be noted is how women are treated by the society. If women are provided equal rights and opportunity like men, then there will be equality and fraternity. If they are not treated so, then it must be due to discrimination, inequality and variation. In this dissertation it is demonstrated as to how women are subjugated and how they have used their inner strength as a tool to come out with those problems. It depicts the clear picture of the women in the patriarchal society. Men always dominate, degrade, and dishonor women with their mighty power, but women always stand along with them. Feminists say women are not meant to be violated and subjugated; they should be given equal rights like men.
Only few women have attained this freedom. To eradicate this subjugation each woman should be a feminist should come out with their power and inner strength to fight against the men. Many Afghan women act as feminists in their daily life, because they have been fighting for their liberation. They face many problems but their courage is never lost. In order to overcome from their subjugation those women adopt certain strategies. It helps them to fight against the oppressive powers. All the women endure some or other kind of trouble in their life. These women are the victim of social injustice, but their inner strength helps them to defeat such problems. Like a caged bird they sing for their independence. Many women directly fight for their as equality. In olden days women fought for their freedom covertly, because the patriarchal society did not allow them to express their views. They accept the pain, agonies and never fight back. This is used as a powerful weapon by men and they treat women miserably. Now-a- days some women fight overtly, for example, Malala, a courageous young girl, fought for the Right to Education.
She faced pain to the life-threatening stage in her young age. Very few people felt sorry for her, the rest being self- centred, did not bother about her issues. She tried to create great awareness among the people, especially among women. She insists them that education is prominent for all the girls. Anyone who fights for social justice becomes targeted by others and they want to suppress them immediately. Like Malala many women endure severe attack and many have lost their lives too. So people are afraid to fight against their subjugation. The subjugation raises many problems in the families and in countries. To reduce this some countries give some rights to women. Those who achieved freedom should help other women to get their liberty with the help of their own strength. Sometimes men seem to be weak when compared to the inner strength of women. They feel disgraced when anything happens like this. In this novel also women characters exploit some strategies to live in the patriarchal society. It helps them to overcome from their suffering. Motherhood relationship plays an important role in this novel both for Nana and Laila. It helps them to survive in the difficult situation. It does not differ by wealth or money, the rich as well as the poor mothers have the same pure love, emotions and feelings towards their children. They care more about their children than they do in any other relationship. The mother willingly sacrifices her life for her children and she even wishes to do things which the child likes. She becomes the backbone of her child and she helps as well as supports the child to achieve his or her goal. She lives not for God’s sake but for her beloved children.
She simply spends whole life for her children. Most of the times, the children don’t bother about their mothers and they live their own life. This creates emotional conflicts between the mother and the child. Some women take it easier and some take it very serious. Though this conflict happens, the mother still loves her child whole heartedly. In this novel both Nana and Laila were able to live happily to some extent, because of their children. Nana faces many problems in her life, she is considered as the illegal wife of Jalil, so society does not allow her to lead a good life. She and Mariam lead a solitary life. Nana loves and adores Mariam, because she is the one and only hope for her. She always accuses Jalil, because she only knows the real character of him. Mariam believes him and she wants him to be with her. Mariam loved Jalil more than her mother, but she later on regrets about this mistake and is tormented by it till the end of her life.
Likewise Laila lived for her children throughout her life. When her daughter was taken away by her husband, she protests against him to meet her. Whenever she goes to meet her she endures severe physical torture by her husband as well as by Taliban. Even then she never stops it; this shows the maternal affection of Laila. Thus both Nana and Laila represent the motherhood relationship vividly Laila fights for her children overtly but Nana fights for her child in covert manner. This shows the generation gap between Nana and Laila. Nana rebelled silently and she couldn’t achieve the goal of protecting her daughter. She lost her life because of the deed done by Mariam. On the other hand Laila achieved some freedom after many years of her marriage. She is represented as very brave and courageous woman than any other women characters in the novel. Women should be courageous only then they can achieve their freedom easily.
The second strategy they have used in this novel is sisterhood relationship. In this we can see the real care and love between Mariam and Laila. This sisterhood relation also helps them to survive the hardships to in their life. They both care for each other; to the extent that Mariam was willing to lose her life for Laila. This shows the affection of Mariam towards her. Moreover in the beginning she does not like her, but later they become close friends. They share about their past life and this makes them to feel happy and relaxed. Both Mariam and Laila support each other in complicated situations. Thus the sisterhood relationship is very effective. Third strategy used in this novel is love. It helps Laila to find some hope in her life. Love conquers all human beings. Without love and affection one cannot live a lovable life.
Love increases the strength and power of all human beings. In this Laila loves Tariq eternally, though she gets married to Rasheed she always think about the beautiful memories of her past life. She thinks of Aziza as a token of their love, so she never wants to leave her. It is because of that she rebelled against her husband. Laila and Tariq’s love is considered as intense love. When she gets her lost love she becomes happy and anxious about it. She faces drastic confusion in her life, but the love of Tariq helps her to get rid of those suffering. By this one can understand that, love is more important and it rules many hearts. After the reunion with Tariq she feels very happy and peaceful. They begin their new life with love and hope. Thus one can survive any drastic situation with the help of love. The last strategy used in this novel is education, which is denied for many women. This lack of education results them to feel inferior towards other gender. It also brings out the patriarchal notion about women.
Comparing to urban areas, rural area women are more backward. They do not have any awareness about education and women empowerment. The men in those places expect stereotypical women and if they have not found that, then there will be subjugation or suppression. They dominate them easily with power and strength. To reduce this subjugation woman should get equal education like men then only they can overcome from their subjugation. Moreover only a few are enjoying the essence of education, others are still fighting for it. They can survive in any situation if they have courage and education. It teaches the importance of women empowerment. It also leads them to attain a certain position in their life. The right to education is equal for both genders, so girls should get education accordingly. All these strategies are useful in one or other way to each woman for their endurance.
Thus women should use their courage to fight against their subjugation to have an access over free life. In future too, if anything happen against women they should fight back. They are not supposed to be silent. If they are quiet about their suppression there would not be any liberation at all. Every woman should fight for their freedom so that they can enjoy the beauty of their own life. The novel not only emphasizes the need for women empowerment but highlights the necessity to build an equal society where men and women have an equal, holistic role to play.
