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Mariam is Born
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Major Events in the Life of Miriam
Ten Important Events in the Life of Miriam -
Mariam - Event 1
Mariam learns from her mother that she must, "endure," as it is what her mother thinks that women like them must do.
"'Look at me.'
Mariam did.
'Only one skill. And it's this: tahamul. Endure'" (Hosseini 18). -
Mariam - Event 2
Mariam sees that her mother has commited suicide, since Mariam had left her to go find her father. "Mariam saw. A gust of wind blew and parted the drooping branches of the weeping willow like a curtain, and Mariam caught a glimpse of what was beneath the tree: the straight-backed chair, overturned. The rope dropping from a high branch. Nana dangling at the end of it" (Hosseini 36). -
Mariam - Event 3
Mariam learns that her father, Jalil, has found a suitor for her. "'A khastegar. A suitor, His name is Rasheed'" (Hosseini 46). -
Mariam - Event 4
The next major event in Mariam’s life is when she is introduced to her new home with Rasheed.
“He unlocked the front door and let her into the house. Rasheed’s house was much smaller than Jalil’s, but in comparison to Mariam and Nana’s kolba, it was a mansion. There was a hallway, a living room downstairs, and a kitchen in which he showed her pots and pans and a pressure cooker and a kerosene ishtop. The living room had a pistachio green leather couch" (Hosseini 58). -
Maiam - Event 5
Mariam receives a burqa from Raheed, which is what Muslim women wear to over their faces in public.
“He fished a sky blue burqa from the bag. The yards of pleated cloth spilled over his knees when he lifted it. He rolled up the burqa, looked at Mariam” (Hosseini 70). -
Mariam - Event 6
Mariam is esentialy raped by Raheed for the very first time.
"That night, Rasheed visited her room again. But instead of smoking in the doorway, he crossed the room and sat beside her where she lay on the bed. Thes springs creaked as the bed tilted to his side" (Hosseini 76). -
Mariam - Event 7
This is one of the very few happy moments in Mariam’s life, when she is sent to her room while Raheed has visitors.
“Mariam didn’t mind much. In truth, she was even flattered. Rasheed saw sanctity in what they had together. Her honor, her namoos, was something worth guarding to him. She felt prized by his protectiveness. Treasured and significant” (Hosseini 81). -
Mariam - Event 8
After Mariam’s miscarriage, she contemplates something harsh her mother told her.
“'As a reminder of how women like us suffer,' she’d said. 'How quietly we endure all that falls upon us'” (Hosseini 91). -
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Major Events in the Life of Tariq
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Major Events in the Life of Laila
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Tariq - Event 1
Tariq looses his leg to a landmine at the age of 5. "That was shortly after Laila's third birthday. He'd been lucky that time, losing only a leg: lucky that he'd survived at all" (Hosseini 127). -
Laila - Event 1
Laila recalls learing from her father that education was importat for women. "Babi had made it clear to Laila from a younger age that the most important thing in his life, after her safety, was her schooling" (Hosseini 114). -
Laila - Event 2
Laila sadly thinks about when her parents were more of a loving couple. "Listening to Mammy tell these stories, Laila knew that there had been a time when Mammy always spoke this way about Babi. A time when her parents did not sleep in seprate rooms. Laila wished she hadn't missed out on those times" (Hosseini 120). -
Laila - Event 3
Laila finds out that Tariq is home, by a flashlight signal. "Then one night Laila saw a tiny flashing light from down the street. A sound, something between a squeak and a gasp, escaped her lips" (Hosseini 127). -
Tariq - Event 2
Tariq finds the climbing of the Buddha statues on their day trip to be quite difficult. "The climb was gard for Tariq, who had to hold on to both Laila and Babi as they inched up a winding, narrow, dimly lit staircase" (Hosseini 147). -
Laila - Event 4
Laila shares a breathtaking moment of love and affection with her father while overlooking the Bamiyan Valley. "He planted a brisk kiss on the top of her head and hugged her back akwardly. They stood this way for a while, looking down on the Bamiyan Valley" (Hosseini 150). -
Tariq - Event 3
Tariq finally expresses his intimate feelings for Laila. "Laila hoped she wasn't blushing. 'You changed the subject.'
'From what?'
'The empty-headed girls who think you're sexy.'
'You know.'
'Know what?'
'That I only have eyes for you' (Hosseini 170). -
Laila - Event 5
Laila is devestated when she hears that Tariq is leaving. "And here was Tariq now, seated beside Laila on the couch, looking at the ground, hands between his knees. Saying that he was leaving" (Hosseini 180). -
Tariq - Event 4
Tariq expresses his desire to marry Laila and for her to leave Afghanistan with him. "She could go. They could be together. They would have more afternoons like this.
'I want to mary you, Laila'" (Hosseini 183). -
Laila - Event 6
Laila's parents are killed when a missle lands upon their home. "Laila dropped the books at her feet. She looked up to the sky. Shielded her eyes with one hand. Then a giant roar. Behind her, a flash of white. The ground lurched beneath her feat" (Hosseini 193). -
Laila - Event 7
Laila is pregnant with Tariq’s baby, as she had intercourse with him before his departure and her parent’s death. She then married Rasheed, her neighbor to cover up the pregnancy. Laila ends up having a girl and Rasheed desperately wanted a boy.“They came back early the next evening. Mariam saw Rasheed enter the yard first. He let the gate go prematurely, and it almost hit the girl on the face” (Hosseini 235). -
Laila - Event 8
Laila and Mariam finally become friends.
“And when Aziza woke up crying and Rasheed yelled for Laila to come up and shut her up, a look passed between Laila and Mariam. An unguarded, knowing look. And in this fleeting, wordless exchange with Mariam, Laila knew that they were not enemies any longer” (Hosseini 250). -
Tariq - Event 5
Tariq finally gets out of prison after a seven year stay for having tried to smuggle cannabis.
"When Tatiq's sentence was up, early in the winter of 2000, Salim gave him his brother's address and phone number" (Hosseini 339). -
Mariam - Event 9
Mariam ends up killing Rasheed with a shovel, since he was strangling Laila due to the fact that Tariq was at his house earlier. “She turned it so the sharp edge was vertical, and, as she did, it occurred to her that this was the first time that she was deciding the course of her own life. And, with that, Mariam brought down the shovel. This time, she gave it everything she had” (Hosseini 349). -
Tariq - Event 8
Tariq yearns to meat his daughter, Aziza, whom he has never met.
“As he was leaving, Tariq said, ‘I want to meet her. I want to see her.’‘I'll arrange it,’ Laila said.‘Aziza. Aziza.’ He smiled, tasting the word” (Hosseini 341). -
Tariq - Event 9
Tariq remembers the horrors of the Nasir Bagh refugee camp, when he is explaining what happened to him to Laila.
“‘A lot of kids died. Dysentery, TB, hunger - you name it. Mostly, that damn dysentery. God, Laila. I saw so many kids buried. There's nothing worse a person can see’” (Hosseini 335). -
Mariam - Event 10
Mariam is executed in front of thousands of people for killing Rasheed after she has spent 10 days in prison. These are the last words she hears.
“’Kneel,’ the Talib said.‘O my Lord! Forgive and have mercy, for you are the best of the merciful ones.’One last time, Mariam did as she was told” (Hosseini 371). -
Tariq - Event 6
Tariq finds out with Laila what has been done at the world trade center in New York City. “Laila and Tariq work their way in.The TV is tuned to BBC. On the screen is a building, a tower, black smoke billowing from its top floors” (Hosseini 384). -
Tariq - Event 7
Tariq has his first fight with Laila as a married couple.
“’No,’ Tariq says. He props himself up on his elbow, looks down at Laila. ‘You misunderstand. What I meant was – ‘‘You wouldn't know,’ Laila says. She is aware that her voice is rising, that they are having their first fight as husband and wife” (Hosseini 386). -
Laila - Event 9
Laila decides that she must go back to Kabul after a memory of poetry about Kabul enters her mind.
“And then, from the darkened spirals of her memory, rise two lines of poetry, Babi's farewell ode to Kabul:One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.Laila settles back in her seat, blinking the wetness from her eyes. Kabul is waiting. Needing. This journey home is the right thing to do” (Hosseini 392). -
Tariq - Event 10
Tariq comforts Laila, as she weeps over the death of Mariam.
“That night, after they return to the hotel, after the children have played and gone to bed, Laila tells Tariq about the letter. She shows him the money in the burlap sack. When she begins to cry, he kisses her face and holds her in his arms” (Hosseini 407). -
Laila - Event 10
Laila is pregnant again with Tariq’s baby and they are thinking of names for the baby.
“But the name game involves only male names. Because, if it’s a girl, Laila has already named her” (Hosseini 415). -
Works Cited
Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007. Print.