Quarter 4: Week 5, Post A

This week I noticed a fem more cultural differences between the United States and Afghanistan, Laila's home. Also, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Part 2 of the book is from a new point of view. Laila becomes the main character instead of Mariam and the story revolves around her life and her family, rather than Mariam's life with Rasheed. So, my posts will focus on Laila for now!

Anyway, one of the cultural differences I noticed this week has to do with marriage again. I already discussed arranged marriages as a cultural difference. This time, it's marriages to family members. For example, Laila's parents were originally cousins: "Both Mammy and Babi, who were first cousins, had been born and raised in Panjshir..." (98). In the United States, it would be a huge scandal if two first cousins got married. That just doesn't happen here, it's not socially acceptable. In Afghanistan, the social standard is clearly different--marriage between cousins is accepted and seen as normal.

A second cultural difference I discovered in this week's reading was in schooling. Laila's teacher, Shanzai--or Khala Rangmaal, Auntie Painter, as the students call her--uses discipline methods with her students that are very different from Edina High School: "...behind her back, the students called her Khala Rangmaal, Auntie Painter, referring to the motion she favored when she slapped students--palm, then back of hand, back and forth, like a painter working a brush" (101). Slapping students is considered totally reasonable punishment in Laila's school. If a teacher did that in Edina, or anywhere in the U.S., there would be severe consequences!