Insight Paragraph

       As I read the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns and an article of Women’s Status in Islam, I gained further insight of the Islamic culture. At first, I felt that it was unjust for women to be treated in such a harsh manner but I soon came to realize that at different parts of the world, there are different religions, different practices and different ideas. Because A Thousand Splendid Suns is American literature meant for Americans to read, unconsciously we came to judge their beliefs and practices because it was so different from our belief and practice that unconsciously we thought as justified and righteous. In the American society, women flourish under the equality among men and women while women in Afghan are oppressed and are taught to listen, obey and endure. The article Women’s Status in Islam: The Line Between Culture and Religion talks of women’s “rights” in this particular society where Americans view them as restrictions, Afghans view them as an ancient tradition meant to be upheld.

       Moral values that are valued within both Afghan society and American society are education. Education is able to grant one access to alleviate themselves from their social status and gain equality among men of higher social status. Afghan culture is filled with the corruption of greed for power for at the top of the social hierarchy abuse their immense power and by labeling cultural traditions as religious, they manage to maintain their superiority of men dominant society. I found it ironic how men are able to abuse and shape women to their liking and the article states, “the honor of the male head of a family is directly dependent on his wife’s virtue. Men and women in the Afghan society depend upon each other for their social reputation with the exception that women suffer a greater amount of consequence including domestic abuse and expulsion from the community. After reading the novel, I am able to compare and contrast the Afghan society and the society that I live in without limited freedom. Evolvement had become a prominent phenomenon yet isolated and exceptionally traditional based areas few areas are able to sustain their ancient traditional values.
       The theme of isolationism I thought is caused by the oppression that men give to women in society. Mariam throughout life began to develop a barrier around herself in order to prevent herself from getting hurt. This was caused by Jalil, her father when he gave Mariam an ambivalent attitude. Jalil doted on Mariam  but refused to show her to the pubic eye. He told Mariam that he loved her but he hid her and her mother away at the outskirts of town. This caused Mariam to isolate herself from the world as a means of protection. The feeling of isolation is developed throughout life and caused by an event that caused a vast emotion scar to the heart. Hosseini gives the characters mixed feelings as the center of his storytelling. Using mixed feelings, he is able to convey to the reader various issues within the Afghan society.