How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world […] As a reminder of how women like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us. (1.13.37)
Mariam encounters an insane amount of hardship during her life, but she never becomes jaded, mean, or cruel—or, at least, not for very long. In fact, Mariam doesn't even lash out against Rasheed until he almost kills Laila. Talk about making up for lost time: that snowflake turned into an avalanche.
Quote #5
Marriage can wait, education cannot. You can be anything you want, Laila. I also know that when this war is over, Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men, maybe even more. (2.16.56)
This advice from Laila's father shows his modern views on women's rights. And you know what? He's right. As we see at the end of the novel, women like Laila are the ones who lead the charge to rebuild Afghanistan.
Quote #6
Mariam heard the answer in his laugh: that in the eyes of the Taliban, being a communist and the leader of the dreaded KHAD made Najibullah only slightly more contemptible than a woman. (3.37.58)
Things change big time when the Taliban takes power. It might make sense that the members of the new government goes after the leaders that preceded them, but the Taliban's immediate assault on women's rights reveals something far more troubling.