A Thousand Splendid Suns: Part I: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Jalil and his wives—Afsoon, Khadija, and Nargis—sit across from Mariam at a long dark table. They make awkward small talk. Mariam looks through the window and at the cabinet next to it, where there is a framed photo of Jalil and three of his sons.

Khadija tells Mariam that she has a suitor named Rasheed, a friend of Jalil’s business colleague. He’s a Pashtun who lives in Kabul, but speaks Farsi like them. He’s a very sought-after shoemaker, so, Khadija reassures Mariam, he’ll be able to take care of her. Mariam looks desperately at Jalil, but he refuses to look back. Afsoon admits that he’s forty or forty-five, but as a fifteen-year-old Mariam is at a good marrying age. Mariam knows that her fifteen-year-old half-sisters Saideh or Naheed, who both are in school and plan to attend Kabul University, would not be considered of marrying age.

Nargis says that Rasheed’s wife died during childbirth, and his son drowned a few years ago, so he’s suffered too. Mariam begs Jalil not to make her go. The wives continue to try to convince her, but she says she’ll live with Mullah Faizullah. Khadija says he’s too old, and Mariam knows she also means he’s too close—they’d still have to deal with the shame of their husband’s mistake.

Mariam tries to imagine living in Kabul, 650 kilometers away, and cooking and cleaning for Rasheed. She is particularly terrified of what Nana told her about chores of intimacy that women have to endure with their husbands. Mariam begs Jalil to say no to his wives, but after a long silence, he only asks Mariam meekly not to do this to him. Afsoon brings her back upstairs and locks the door behind her.