Rasheed
“Still she [Mariam] shivered with fright when he was like this, sneering, tightening the belt around his fist, the creaking of the leather, the glint in his bloodshot eyes” (240).
After the death of his first wife and son, Rasheed remarries and soon begins to abuse the young Mariam when she fails to provide him a son. He terrorizes her, beating her at the smallest perceived offense and making her feel like “the goat, released in the tiger’s cage, when the tiger first looks up from his paws, begins to growl” (240). The same treatment is imposed on his second wife, Laila, after she produces a daughter. Supported by a society that favors males and declares “what a man does in his home is his business” (366), he threatens the lives of his wife and daughter while cherishing that of his son. He relishes the new political environment and informs Laila “there isn’t a court…that will hold me accountable for what I do. To Mariam first, then to her [Laila’s daughter] and you last. I’ll make you watch” (272). Rasheed’s cruelty serves to illuminate the flaws of a male-dominated society and exposes the plight of women. His actions drives his wives together and deepen their conviction in the importance of women. Their friendship gives them the strength to rise against him and demonstrates that the oppressed must band together to achieve progress.
After the death of his first wife and son, Rasheed remarries and soon begins to abuse the young Mariam when she fails to provide him a son. He terrorizes her, beating her at the smallest perceived offense and making her feel like “the goat, released in the tiger’s cage, when the tiger first looks up from his paws, begins to growl” (240). The same treatment is imposed on his second wife, Laila, after she produces a daughter. Supported by a society that favors males and declares “what a man does in his home is his business” (366), he threatens the lives of his wife and daughter while cherishing that of his son. He relishes the new political environment and informs Laila “there isn’t a court…that will hold me accountable for what I do. To Mariam first, then to her [Laila’s daughter] and you last. I’ll make you watch” (272). Rasheed’s cruelty serves to illuminate the flaws of a male-dominated society and exposes the plight of women. His actions drives his wives together and deepen their conviction in the importance of women. Their friendship gives them the strength to rise against him and demonstrates that the oppressed must band together to achieve progress.