What would you think if you heard your mother say to you “Learn this now and learn this well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman.” This is the reality that most women in radical islam have to face, being the scapegoat of a society where men can treat them however they want just because they’re given the power and freedom necessary to do it and have no consequence. In radical islamic countries some women have to go through situations like having a husband who comes home and gives them a “handful of pebbles and forces [their] mouth[es] open and stuffs them in, (...) then orders [them] to chew the pebbles” all so he can make a point that the rice she made for him was bad that day. An unhappy wife who tries to run away and is captured may face the wrath of a husband saying “You try this again and I will find you. I swear on the Prophet’s name that I will find you. And if I do, there isn’t a court in this godforsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do” only because he knows it’s true and he has the power to do so. In the reality these women live in, there’s nothing they can do to demand respect, to demand to be treated as an equal.  However, through the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini we are given an opportunity to see women prevailing in these terrible situations, we are given an opportunity to see a truth that isn’t recognized by many of us; the strength in women. 

Some may read this book and think it’s a story of weakness, they may think a woman isn’t strong if she doesn’t stand up for herself. But after all, how could they? As the saying goes, “the night belongs to the taliban”, the group of men responsible for the atrocities committed against the people. But in the natural world, the night also belongs to predators, and in this society women become the prey. The strict rule of the Taliban does not allow for the types of freedoms a woman in another country may have. Some of the endless restrictions are: women must not perfume themselves, they must not wear thin or adorning clothes, they must cover their entire bodies, they must not walk in the middle of the streets, they must not go out of their houses without their husband’s permission, they must not look at strangers, they must not carry objectionable literature, they must not play sports, they must not be heard laughing loudly, or talking at all by a stranger. All of these things create a feeling of oppression amongst them.Women in this novel attempt to board trains in the hopes of getting to a country that doesn’t find it acceptable that beating women is a husband’s venting method. When it comes to facing the consequences, the most common offense women share in jail is for running away from home, and even when the judges of a trial deem a crime worthy of a death penance, they take it with their head held high even until the last moment where a public cheers for their deaths. As someone who’s experienced a country where women aren’t given enough respect, I value these acts of courage and realize how hard it really is for them to even go through them. I’m scared to go out in the street alone, I’m terrified of being followed by a man, I’m perturbed by the thought of a man’s eyes on my body, eyes that don’t give me a sense of security, eyes that transmit a message in which I am objectified. All because of the power they hold over me by having been born men in a society that favors and glorifies everything they do. If you ask me, what women are doing in these radical islamic countries with the limited freedom they’re given is a real demonstration of their bravery and strength.

Women have their own way of showing their strength, not by the size of their muscles or by physical acts of violence but by perseverance and routine. There is strength in waking up each morning despite having lost their children at war, in making dinner for a husband who abuses them every night, in falling asleep in a bed they don’t want to be in, in ignoring the easy way out and holding on to a small shred of hope, wishing for things to get better. Even though they know that the Taliban rule is strict, they attempt to do things to defy their unfair rules despite the possible consequences they might face.

And the truth? The truth is, there’s nothing that makes me admire women more than the fact that some of us out there have to endure terrible things and rise along with the sun every day, having to face the endless restrictions holding them down, the beastly actions of their husbands, the inhumane position they’re put in; all for being a woman. The truth is, if that’s not being strong, then I don’t know what is.

WORK CITED: 

"Some of the Restrictions Imposed by Taliban in Afghanistan." Some of the Restrictions Imposed by Taliban in Afghanistan. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

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