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Punishment included fingers being chopped off, public beatings at what used to be a school stadium and so On. On top Of all these rules and regulations, there were more specific ones for women. Women were not allowed outside unless accompanied by a male relative, they were to be covered from head to toe. Women had to stop studying and conform to living at home with the windows boarded up. Women were not allowed to wear perfume or nail polish. The only use for a woman was to procreate, satisfy a man’s sexual needs, and do housework.
The Taliban felt that all these isolations and prohibitions were needed in order to protect a women’s honor, and preventing adultery and honoring the Islamic religion. The novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” depicts the life of two women living together in a polygamous marriage during the Taliban rule. This novel is allegorical to theocracy because it shows how different characters represent objects or authority under the Taliban rule. To begin with, the title of the novel can be interpreted differently. ” A Thousand Splendid Suns” is about the men and women under the Taliban government.
Women were paid no importance and were disregarded as such of possible. Therefore, men were the supreme power and were placed on a high pedestal. Hence, the name ” A Thousand Splendid Suns” can be seen as a thousand splendid sons for all the men in Afghanistan. The antagonist of the novel, Rehashed represents the Taliban Authority. In Rasher’s house, he is the Taliban leader. The way he imprisons Miriam and Leila in his own house is the way the Taliban imprisons all of the citizens of Afghanistan. In the beginning of the novel before the Taliban took over, he makes Miriam wear a Burma in order to respect his honor and pride.
Later on he Taliban force women to cover themselves head to toe to respect the men. The beatings that Miriam and Leila both received for minor things is the way the Taliban government would beat and punish the civilians for minor things such as women showing their ankles or wearing nail polish. His house is Afghanistan, Leila and Miriam are the Citizens, and he is The Taliban Authority. Leila and Miriam both represent the hope for all citizens under Taliban authority. Leila is the daughter of an educated man. Her father taught her extra work and gave her the mindset that her knowledge is the same as all he men in Kabul.
As she is forced into a marriage with Rehashed, she constantly talks back to him and refuses to live under his rules. Her ability to bear children gives her more hope that she will one day be in a happy marriage with love. Miriam had suffered immensely through her years. But once she found Leila and her children and grew to love them unconditionally, she did the ultimate sacrifice to keep them alive. The Burma represents the all women in Afghanistan. ” The padded piece felt heavy and tight on her skull and it was strange seeing the world through a mesh screen.
She practiced walking around her room in it and kept stepping on the hem and stumbling. The loss of peripheral vision was unnerving, and she did not like the suffocating way the pleated cloth kept pressing against her mouth” (72). Women lost their peripheral vision not only because of a cloth but because of the oppression they faced. They weren’t allowed to explore other ideas and expand. Their vision was very straightforward and Taliban related. The cloth took away their freedom Of speech and freedom Of individuality. In conclusion, the novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” was a novel of hope and love during the Taliban rule.