Post B # 2

Mariam has changed emotionally in many ways since she got married to Rashid, but the most prominent change that happened to her since the marriage was the change from her childish, curious manner, to her reserved, depressed, and fearful manner. When she was young, she wanted to receive an education. She wanted to take control of her life. "I mean a real school, akhund sahib. Like in a classroom. Like my father's other kids" (16). I didn't pick this up before, but out of the eleven children that Jalil had, Mariam was the only one that was not in school. When her mother hears of this, she is appalled, even angry. "What's the sense schooling a girl like you? It's like shining a spitoon. And you'll learn nothing of value in those schools" (17). From that moment on, Mariam was belittled more and more by various people in her life. Her husband Rashid has a notion that she is his slave, and is not afraid to let her know. "A week's gone and... [...] as of tomorrow morning I expect you to start behaving like a wife. Fahmidi? Is that understood" (58)? Rashid doesn't hesitate to remind Mariam that she is uneducated, either. He gives this answer after Mariam asks him what Communism is, and what Communists believe. "You know nothing, do you? You're like a child. Your brain is empty. There is no information in it" (89). Hosseni gives a third person view of the whole matter in the next paragraph. "It wasn't easy tolerating him talking this way to her [...] Mariam saw how much a woman could tolerate when she was afraid. And Mariam was afraid. She lived in fear of his shifting moods [...] he would resolve [small issues] with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies and sometimes not" (89). Because of the fact that she didn't receive a proper education, and the physical and emotional insults from her husband, throughout the first 94 pages, Mariam changes from a talkative, happy girl to a fearful, reserved woman.