A Thousand Splendid Suns, Passage Fifteen (Chapter 39 – pages 286-287)

The waiting room at Rabia Balkhi was teeming with women in burqas and their children. The air stank of sweat andunwashed bodies, of feet, urine, cigarette smoke, and antiseptic. Beneath the idle ceiling fan, children chased each other, hopping over the stretched out legs of dozing fathers.

Mariam helped Laila sit against a wall from which patches of plaster shaped like foreign countries had slid off Laila rocked back and forth, hands pressing against her belly.

"I'll get you seen, Laila jo. I promise."

"Be quick," said Rasheed.

Before the registration window was a horde of women, shoving and pushing against each other. Some were still holding their babies. Some broke from the mass and charged the double doors that led to the treatment rooms. An armed Talib guard blocked their way, sent them back.

Mariam waded in. She dug in her heels and burrowed against the elbows, hips, and shoulder blades of strangers. Someone elbowed her in the ribs, and she elbowed back. A hand made a desperate grab at her face. She swatted it away. To propel herself forward, Mariam clawed at necks, at arms and elbows, at hair, and, when a woman nearby hissed, Mariam hissed back.

Mariam saw now the sacrifices a mtoher made. Decency was but one. She thought ruefully of Nana, of the sacrifices that she too had made. Nana, who could have given her away, or tossed her in a ditch somewhere and run. But she hadn't. Instead, Nana had endured the shame of bearing a harami, had shaped her life around the thankless task of raising Mariam and, in her own way, of loving her. And, in the end, Mariam had chosen Jalil over her. As she fought her way with impudent resolve to the front of the melee, Mariam wished she had been a better daughter to Nana. She wished she'd understood then what she understood now about motherhood.

She found herself face to face with a nurse, who was covered head to toe in a dirty gray burqa. The nurse was talking to a young woman, whose burqa headpiece had soaked through with a patch of matted blood

"My daughter's water broke and the baby won't come," Mariam called.

"I'mtalking to her!" the bloodied young woman cried "Wait your turn!"

The whole mass of them swayed side to side, like the tall grass around the kolba when the

breeze swept across the clearing. A woman behind Mariam was yelling that her girl had broken her elbow falling from a tree. Another woman cried that she was passing bloody stools.

"Does she have a fever?" the nurse asked. It took Mariam a moment to realize she was being spoken to.

"No," Mariam said. Bleeding?

"No."

"Where is she?"

 Over the covered heads, Mariam pointed to where Laila was sitting with Rasheed.

"We'll get to her," the nurse said.

"How long?" Mariam cried Someone had grabbed her by the shoulders and was pulling

her back.

"I don't know," the nurse said. She said they had only two doctors and both were operating

at the moment.

"She's in pain," Mariam said.

"Me too!" the woman with the bloodied scalp cried. "Wait your turn!"

Mariam was being dragged back. Her view of the nurse was blocked now by shoulders

and the backs of heads. She smelled a baby's milky burp.

"Take her for a walk," the nurse yelled. "And wait."






Synthesis Paragraph:
Within this passage, the author used several literary devices that defined cultural values and socials issues that were taking place in the country during this time. One example of  a literary device that which Hosseini had used was imagery. By using imagery, he helped readers visualize what was actually taking place in the story and help understand what is occuring. For instance in the passage when Hosseini says, "The air stank of sweat and unwashed bodies, of feet, urine, cigarette smoke, and antiseptic," he is describing the environment of the hospital and what the women must suffer from. The hospital is very much disturbing and unsanitary which you can tell by the description that is given. The quote also shows an example of symbolism in which it symbolizes the cultural value of men being more valued than women. Women are forced to suffer in dirty hospitals while men are giving a variety of hospitals that have many tools and supplies along with clean rooms, chairs, etc. 



Insight Project:
After reading the information based on the Rabia Balkhi Hospital, I found out not only was it a real hospital but it also didn't have a lot of supplies and was in terrible conditions,. A woman named Jane Sinense who had visited the hospital and was able to see the poor conditions for herself. Afterwards she got in contact with very important organizations and engineers who could help rebuild the hospital. She then started the Rabia Balkhi Project in 2003 to help raise money for supplies and rebuild the hospital. Sinese was deeply effected by her experience of the hospital and quickly had the urge to help fix the hospital to make it better place for Afghan patients. Sinese is currently trying to raise an amount of $30,000 for supplies as she trys to persuade others to visualize the experience that the people in Afghanistan go through everyday. This article really helps readers understand how not only was the people during the time period in the book suffering but how people today are suffering as well. The social issue of women’s rights was truly important during that time and is still focused on today. Women in Afghanistan suffer from many things that people in other countries may not recognize but this article helps readers of the novel, Thousand Splendid Suns not only see how it was back than but also see how it is for women in everyday life.