She marries him to protect her child, who isn’t actually his, and steals his money over the course of many months to escape to Pakistan. Laila and Mariam are later caught and sent back to Rasheed’s abusive household, now worse than ever. It is in this moment that she sacrifices her educated, middle-class mindset in exchange for survival in a male dominated environment, realizing what little control she has left has been destroyed. Laila blames herself for their dire circumstances after their failed escape. The abuse is one thing, but when Rasheed loses his business and the threat of starvation settles in, she has no choice but to put her daughter in an orphanage. Zaman, the orphanage director, tells Laila that “no one here blames you,” as the situation the Taliban has created is really to blame (Housseini 283). It is in this moment that Laila releases just a fraction of the burden she carries- it is here that she realizes it is not her causing the unjustice in her child’s life, but the
She marries him to protect her child, who isn’t actually his, and steals his money over the course of many months to escape to Pakistan. Laila and Mariam are later caught and sent back to Rasheed’s abusive household, now worse than ever. It is in this moment that she sacrifices her educated, middle-class mindset in exchange for survival in a male dominated environment, realizing what little control she has left has been destroyed. Laila blames herself for their dire circumstances after their failed escape. The abuse is one thing, but when Rasheed loses his business and the threat of starvation settles in, she has no choice but to put her daughter in an orphanage. Zaman, the orphanage director, tells Laila that “no one here blames you,” as the situation the Taliban has created is really to blame (Housseini 283). It is in this moment that Laila releases just a fraction of the burden she carries- it is here that she realizes it is not her causing the unjustice in her child’s life, but the