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Alayne Hutchinson
Literary Analysis
A Thousand Splendid Suns
April 21, 2016 2A
The Power of Education
In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, author Khaled Hosseini exemplifies the lives of
two women, Mariam and Laila. Both main characters face many hardships while living in
Afghanistan, a misogynistic society where women arent given the opportunity to learn or to
thrive, along with lacking basic rights that neither women receive. Despite experiencing many
setbacks, the two are able to team up and use both their talents and abilities to prosper and end
the novel living a life they both are content with. In Khaled Hosseinis novel, A Thousand
Splendid Suns, the characters support the theme that change and triumph are only possible when
accompanied by knowledge and education.
Despite living in an environment where women do not get the opportunity to learn,
Mariam and Laila both acquired a form of education, but through different educational
experiences. Mariam was tutored by Mullah Faizullah, who taught her the Koran. At the same
time, her mother, Nana, insisted that she never had the need to go to school, and that an
education would do nothing for her. Nana believed that the only lesson Mariam needed to know
was how to endure when hardships came her way. "As a reminder of how women like us
suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us. (Hosseini, 91). On the other end
of the spectrum, Lailas father, Hakim, insisted she receive as much education as possible.
Hakim felt that for Laila, marriage and motherhood could wait, and that education could not. "I

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know you're still young, but I want you to understand and learn this now he said. Marriage can
wait, education cannot. You're a very, very bright girl.(114). Hakim, who was a former teacher,
taught Laila as much as he could, in subjects like history and literature. With the combination of
Mariams learn as you go mentality, and Lailas book smarts, the two were able to handle the
adverse circumstances that came their way and eventually both become content with their
situations.
"God has made us differently, you women and us men. Our brains are different. You are
not able to think like we can."(364). Mariam and Laila both contributed what they knew, in
order to educate Aziza, Laila's daughter. Mariam was able to teach Aziza the Koran, just as
Mullah Faizullah had taught her, while Laila passed down the knowledge she had learned from
Babi. Laila eventually volunteers to teach at Aziza's school. By doing so, she shows the
progress they have made in the attempt to educate women. At the end of the book, Aziza and
Zalmai, Laila's son, go off to school together. This feels hopeful in terms of education and
equality. If it weren't for Mariam and Laila both being so empowered to educate not only
themselves, but also the children, then they wouldn't have been able to handle the situations they
were thrown into, along with the circumstances Aziza could eventually encounter.
"A society has no chance at success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No
chance."(216). This quotes from Babi, proves to be true in more ways than one. Mariam and
Laila faced countless struggles, all of which they endured. Mariam knowledgably decided to
turn herself in for killing Rasheed, in order for Laila to be able to leave a life. Also, Laila was
able to keep a contact with Tariq, which led to her be able to have a family with him. Both girls
used their intellects when decided what to say and do. In Khaled Hosseinis novel, A Thousand

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Splendid Suns, it is only through education that the two main characters, Mariam and Laila, had
the ability to withstand and overcome all the struggles they were forced to face.

Works Cited
Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. New York: Riverhead, 2007. Print.