The Tragic Life of Mariam Jo

            My first impression of Mariam Jo, the protagonist of Khaled Hosseini’s story, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is that she is a naïve yet stoic girl.  The illegitimate child of Jalil, an affluent man in Herat, Mariam lives with her mother in a shacklike house isolated from society.  There, Jalil would faithfully go and visit Mariam every Thursday to spend some time with her.  Her naivety is evident when her love for her father exceeds to the point of idolization as she would “sleep poorly,” and “sit against a wall, eyes glued to the stream, and wait” for her father to arrive (page 19).  She is under the illusion that her father would sacrifice anything for her.  The truth, however, is far different from what she believes.  When Mariam goes to Jalil’s house one day, he gets a chauffeur to tell Mariam that he isn’t home even though she could “see his car” parked outside the house (page 31).  Under Jalil’s orders, the chauffeur also tells Mariam to go home.  Instead, she ends up spending the whole night outside Jalil’s house.  Never does Jalil even consider going outside to see her.  Even in the morning, when she wakes up, Jalil sends the chauffeur back out to forcefully send Mariam home because she was making a scene.  This trip to Herat signals the end of Mariam’s naivety.  Prior to this trip, Mariam was shielded about Jalil's true regard for her. Once Mariam attempts to reach Jalil, however, she is exposed to the truth about his consideration for her as an outsider to his life.  Additionally, despite her naivety, Mariam is actually quite stoical.  For fifteen long years, Mariam has resided in an undersized house made of “sun-dried bricks plastered with mud and handfuls of straws” that only had room for “two sleeping cots, a wooden table, two straight-backed chairs, [and] a window” (page 10).  Yet, despite the cramped environment, Mariam has never grumbled about it or ask to move.  In addition, Mariam never complains about her lot in life.  While Jalil’s other daughters get to live in an ample house as prosperous people, Mariam is confined to living with her overbearing mother in a cot, deprived of luxuries and entertainment.  However, she is never despondent about this and is able to stay significantly optimistic. 

This story is full of pathos and readers can definitely relate to how depressing Mariam’s life is.  The author chooses to set this book in Afghanistan thirty years ago to vividly portray to the audience how oppressed women were at that time.  Mariam’s life clearly reflects this oppression.  Following the tragic death of Mariam’s mother, Mariam has become the sole responsibility of Jalil who is clearly ashamed of her.  Consequently, Jalil decides to marry off Mariam to a suitor.  At the young age of fifteen, Mariam now has no choice but to marry a corpulent, “square, ruddy [faced]” fourty-five year old man named Rasheed (page 49).  This decision is forced upon her and she clearly has no feelings whatsoever towards Rasheed.  This marriage that the author places in the story alludes to how Afghanistan marriages back then were simply focused on convenience and necessity rather than true love.  It also shows how superior men were and how inferior women were.  Another example that displays the oppression of women is Mariam’s mother, Nana.  When it is discovered that Nana, a common housekeeper, had conceived a baby with Jalil, he immediately decides to desert Nana and force her to live in a small cot outside of the city.  He is even audacious enough to spin a story claiming that Mariam had forced herself onto him.  She had no say in this matter as no one would ever believe her.  To make matters worse, not only does Jalil desert her, but so does her own father.  When her father finds about Mariam’s affair, he severs all ties with her and leaves to Iran, “never to be seen or heard from again” (page 6). 

            As much as I would like a happy ending, I cannot foresee one in this book.  The author is trying to display to his readers how dismaying and harsh life was for women in Afghanistan thirty years ago.  He would not suddenly show a lot of happy moments in Mariam’s life.  Therefore, my prediction of this novel is that Mariam’s relationship with Rasheed will continue to deteriorate.  He will constantly berate her and might even physically attack her in the future.      

How basketball came into my life

Angst.  How many people have succumbed to the innate pessimism that lies in everyone?  Only those who can steel themselves mentally can surmount the challenges that they will inevitably encounter in the twists and turns of life.  For me, my first challenge emerged when I was ten and it was then that I learned the importance of psychological control.

            It was the year 2005.  I was grade five at that time.  Walking to the basketball court at recess one day, I saw two boys playing.  From their demeanour – their actions and deliberations, I could tell immediately that they were pompous and conceited.  As if condescendingly, they invited me to play with them.  Needless to say, I fumbled the ball many times as it was the first time I ever played basketball.  My face red with embarrassment, I could feel my cheeks burning as I continued playing.  As expected, the two boys guffawed each time I made an awkward move while bragging about how well they played.  Infuriated yet composed, I made a resolution: I would practice and become so skilled that I would overthrow the bullies.  Resolutely and rigorously, I toiled for months before I was finally satisfied with my level of play.   

            At recess one day, I challenged the two boys to a game.  Aware of the phenomenal improvement in my skills, I was confident that I could beat them.  Yet, as the battle with the bullies commenced, another one started simultaneously.  I was suddenly fighting two battles.  In one battle, I was playing basketball against the bullies, their shots going swish, swish, and swish while mine went clang, clang, and clang.  In the other battle, I was drowning in a pitch black ocean that contained my negative thoughts instead of water.  I was surrounded by thoughts of humiliation, disappointment, and shame.  All I could think about was what would happen if I were to lose.  My friends would all be in dismay while the bullies would continuously boast and view us contemptuously.  Suddenly, I was transported back to reality.  My knees jittery and my heart pounding like a drum, I collapsed onto the cement floor, gasping for air.  Looking to my right, I saw the bullies towering over me and snickering at me, aware that their victory was imminent.  Looking to my left, I expected to see the despondent looks on my friends’ faces.  Instead, what I saw was hope flashed across their faces, faith that I could defeat the bullies and clinch the victory.  The unflinching support that they gave me was the crucial factor that boosted my morale.  All my negative thoughts were swiftly shattered and all that was left was my drive to win.  Impelled by my newfound confidence and hope, I caught up like a roaring beast, scoring every shot I took.  Everything soon reversed as I became the one cool and composed while the bullies were the ones uneasy and intimidated.  In the end, I did beat the bullies, to ecstatic cheers and applause from my friends who were relieved that that would be the last they would see or hear from the two bullies. 

            As I now journey through life, I realize that this experience has helped to develop my strength of character, teaching me to be resilient and sanguine.  No matter what happens, I should always try to remain phlegmatic when confronting the obstacles that I will encounter in the highway of life.