Discussion Topic C

In the inspiring novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Hosseini shows how past events can affect the present actions ,attitudes, and values of a character. Hosseini uses the past events as to explain the motivation for the things the character does throughout the continuation of the novel. By implementing this strategy the readers can see the types of influences the character has had and hopefully come to an understanding the reason for why the behave the way they do.
More specifically the focus will be on the character of  Mariam. The development of Mariam as a character begins when her mother calls her a harami, a bastard. "She understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing, that she Mariam was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to things other people had, things such as love, family, home, and acceptance". From that one moment of anger Mariam concludes that this idea of a what a harami is, is what others think of her. In turn she then goes through the next ten years of her life allowing what others "think" of her to influence what she thinks of herself.
As a young child Mariam became aware of how biased her mother was when she spoke of her father, she became "sick of Nana twisting the truths of her life and making her, Mariam. another one of her grievances against the world". It was up to Mariam to determine what she believed about her father and what she let fall to the wayside. At the age of 15 she finally began to understand what her mother kept trying to do. It was clear that misery loves company. Because her mother was mad at society for the way she was treated when pregnant with a harami, she wanted Mariam to feel that way too. What Nana failed to realize is that the world had never been cruel directly to Mariam, the only person that treated her as if she was unworthy was her own mother, the "only person that [she] was supposed to trust in the world".
Hosseini then proceeds to use the death of Nana as an eye opener for Mariam. Naturally Mariam feels guilty as if the death of her mother was her fault. However with age Mariam learns that her mother killing herself had more to do with the disparity she felt within and less to do with the love she had for her daughter. Hosseini then uses these events as reasons why throughout the novel Mariam feels of less worth than others around her. Mariam continues to feel unworthy of love and unable to give it until Laila and Aziza enter her life.
By showing what a character goes through Hosseini allows the readers to feel justified in the way the character turns out. Mariam's point of view of what she deserved in life was a significant indicator as to what she did to get them. Seeing as she thought she deserved nothing, her hermit like personality was clearly seen through parts 1 and 3 of the novel. Mariam's character permits the reader to conclude that an individual's worse enemy is themselves. One will only go as far as their mind enables them. This is proven when Mariam opened up and starting loving Laila and Aziza to the point of death, she to becomes deserving of love in return all because she changed her mindset and view of herself. 
The novel as a whole then benefits from the life of Mariam because she single handedly becomes the epitome of what an individual can do if they set their minds and hearts to it.