A Thousand Splendid Suns

Domestic violence is a crucial motif in the novel, as it defines both Mariam and Laila’s experiences of being married to Rasheed. When Mariam and Laila attempt to run away from home and are caught by the authorities, they are told, “‘What a man does in his home is his business,’” implying that the law offers no protection against domestic violence (260). It also implies that because they are effected in the home, the blows women endure are unseen by the law. When Rasheed makes Mariam chew on pebbles as a punishment for giving him “‘bad food and nothing else’” in the marriage, no one is around to witness his cruelty or the two broken molars that are its casualties (103). However, when Laila becomes part of the family unit, the two wives become witnesses to the violence Rasheed inflicts on the other. When Laila first stands up for Mariam and defends her against Rasheed’s blows, it is a turning point in their relationship, as Mariam grows to respect Laila. Laila, for her part, witnesses Mariam’s “face of grievances unspoken, burdens gone un-protested, a destiny submitted to and endured” (243). The climactic defense against domestic violence in the novel is Mariam’s beating Rasheed to death.