Mariam quotes

Question 1

Geographical anchoring of her suffering - quote

Answer 1

“This man’s will felt to Mariam as imposing and immovable as the Safid-koh mountains looming over Gul Daman” (Where M spent childhood)

“imposing and immovable” = Force you to live in their shadow, they simply are, exactly how M experiences pat. auth., not something she could ever argue with or outlast, fact of her existence

(Where M spent childhood) , Same mountains that framed her isolated childhood, now frame her opression as a wife - continuation of the suffering of her past

The mountains are ancient, unchanged by war, politics, or the parade of regimes. In the same way, the patriarchal structures crushing Mariam predate the Taliban, the Soviet invasion etc . They are presented as similarly ancient and entrenched. The land itself becomes implicated in her oppression; Afghanistan is not just a backdrop but almost a co-author of her fate.

Question 2

We do not know Mariam’s ethnic/tribal group

Answer 2

Unlike Rasheed and Tariq’s family, who are Pashtun, and Laila, Tajik.

This reinforces the idea that Mariam has no place in society as a harami.

Question 3

Caste system in Afgh.

Answer 3

There is a caste system, and it is divided based on wealth, privilege, occupation or inherited rank and race.

Lower and higher castes are not allowed to associate with each other.

Question 4

L after M dies

Answer 4

Mariam is in “Laila’s own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns” (4.51.37).