At her excecution, Mariam thinks to herself
"It was not so bad, Mariam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings." (p329)
What made her legitimate in the end? (Hosseini suggests loving and being loved) and did her marytrdom confirm that or erode it?
In what way were her struggles in life different from Laila's because she was harami? Did they play a role in the vast differences between their two endings?
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5 comments:
I think Mariam had resigned herself to an unhappy, pointless life with Rasheed, enduring his abuse and trying without hope to meet his demands. She never expected a friend or a family to love. She never expected anyone to value her. So I think maybe it didn't feel so terrible to give up her life because of what surprise happiness she had gained.
I think her beginnings as a harami may have made her more willing to be the martyr. She was not raised to think of herself as having worth. The opposite was true, in fact. At least in dying in that way, she had a purpose, to set Laila free.
Well said, Erin!
Laila and Mariam were really very different and that made their struggles different. Laila was taught to expect more out of life, as a human being and as a woman. Her dad, in particular, instilled a lot of self-esteem in her that other women, especially illiterate, underprivileged women, would never have known. That made her stronger in many ways, but it also could make life more bitter.
I think Hosseini did a nice job showing the initial animosity between the women (mostly, understandably, on Mariam's side) and having that negativity and pain slowly turn into an abiding and everlasting love.
All over three cups of chi. Chi is magic.
Though it was also Aziza that enabled great progress in the relationship. Her grabbing on to Mariam's finger in the hallway was the first real sign of connection between the women in that household, was it not?
I also appreciated the scene when Mariam first went to the communal Tandoor and encountered Laila's mother. I thought that was a great way to help us empathize with her transformation once her sons went off to war.
Didn't the old Mullah play a role in Mariam's life similar to Laila's father? I was shocked when on p 15 he was there teaching her to read.
Yes, Aziza did really "enable" the affection between the two women. Good point.
Yeah, I was surprised by the "liberal" mullah, too, that he took such an interest in little Mariam, and for a half second I thought he might have less than reputable intentions, but he was a great man. I think Hosseini had to put a "good guy" in that location so Laila had someone to find when she visited Mariam's hometown at the end of the book. Plus, until she met Laila, the mullah was the only example of unselfish caring she had in her life, and I think that was important for her own personal development and especially for her relationship with Laila's kids.
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