Insight

I gained some further knowledge from looking up events and important pieces of information regarding the soviet regime and Taliban takeover. An interesting thing to point out is that, when searching for the Taliban under an American reference material, it will be defined as a terrorist organization; however, if searched under an afghan reference material it will be listed as an Islamic political party. This is a reflection of how the afghan culture uses censorship and to different cultures different things are presented. I also read up on other women with similar circumstances to that of Mariam and Laila, one of whom was a woman named Shukria. She like many other women in Afghanistan was subject to an arranged marriage, when she was only a teenager. She was soon impregnated with the baby of her forty-five year old husband. She, just like Laila, attempted to escape the household of her husband; however, was caught, and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. This is an example of the political struggle with the Taliban in Afghanistan; harsher laws against women have been in effect due to Taliban control. The final piece of insight I gained from external knowledge is the definition of "akhund" in Muslim culture. It represents a person who is the religious leader of a place or a wise person. This word is used to describe Mullah Faizullah, which gives the sense that Hosseini makes Faizullah an admirable character, who is more than wise but also a leader and overall significant in the story.