Mariam:
“She was leaving the world as a women who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequences at last" (370).
Harami--an illegitimate child. This word has a lasting impact on Mariam, defining her status in Afghanistan and establishing a life-long struggle with self-worth. Raised by a sacrificing but bitter mother and neglecting father, Mariam is taught from a young age that she “would never have a legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance” (4). Her mother attempts to steel her to hardship in preparation for a future of injustice and abuse by men, assuming Mariam’s future will parallel her own past. Despite her longing for education and a better future, Mariam is told that she has no potential to escape poverty and hardship. As events derail her optimism, Mariam soon begins to believe her mother was right when she said her only potential is to endure.
Burdened by grief and guilt after her mother’s suicide, Mariam is betrayed by her father, who marries her off to a much older man in order to conceal his own shame. Her marriage and the male-dominated society she lives in seem intent to prove her mother’s statement that “like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a women” (7). Mariam’s story is one of resilience as she seeks to endure her difficult life and the abuse from her controlling husband without losing her spirit. In the process, she struggles with concepts such as justice, worth and the role of women. Before she can overcome obstacles, she must confront her life-long fear and guilt. Fifteen years later when she is succumbing to despair and resentment, she finds hope and a second-chance in an unlikely person: her husband’s second wife Laila. Through their friendship, Mariam re-evaluates her life and reassesses her self-worth. In doing so, she must finally prove or dispel her mother’s fateful words. Her personal development and renewed faith leads to a pivotal moment that will force her to choose between the safety of enduring and the risk of determing her own fate. She sums up her life's journey as:
"This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings" (370).
Harami--an illegitimate child. This word has a lasting impact on Mariam, defining her status in Afghanistan and establishing a life-long struggle with self-worth. Raised by a sacrificing but bitter mother and neglecting father, Mariam is taught from a young age that she “would never have a legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance” (4). Her mother attempts to steel her to hardship in preparation for a future of injustice and abuse by men, assuming Mariam’s future will parallel her own past. Despite her longing for education and a better future, Mariam is told that she has no potential to escape poverty and hardship. As events derail her optimism, Mariam soon begins to believe her mother was right when she said her only potential is to endure.
Burdened by grief and guilt after her mother’s suicide, Mariam is betrayed by her father, who marries her off to a much older man in order to conceal his own shame. Her marriage and the male-dominated society she lives in seem intent to prove her mother’s statement that “like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a women” (7). Mariam’s story is one of resilience as she seeks to endure her difficult life and the abuse from her controlling husband without losing her spirit. In the process, she struggles with concepts such as justice, worth and the role of women. Before she can overcome obstacles, she must confront her life-long fear and guilt. Fifteen years later when she is succumbing to despair and resentment, she finds hope and a second-chance in an unlikely person: her husband’s second wife Laila. Through their friendship, Mariam re-evaluates her life and reassesses her self-worth. In doing so, she must finally prove or dispel her mother’s fateful words. Her personal development and renewed faith leads to a pivotal moment that will force her to choose between the safety of enduring and the risk of determing her own fate. She sums up her life's journey as:
"This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings" (370).