she must learn to cook for him and clean the home to his standards. She has to master these tasks to avoid his vitriol. Once Mariam becomes pregnant, she realizes that she very much wants to be a mother, but she unfortunately loses the baby. This results in tension in her marriage, as she is never able to bring a baby to term, and also her increasing unhappiness, since she is not able to mother a child and feel its love and affection.

After Rasheed takes Laila as a second wife, Mariam's motivations shift again. First, she seeks to avoid Laila and is very cold to her. Eventually, though, Mariam becomes close with Laila and her children, especially her daughter, Aziza. Aziza is almost like an adopted daughter to Mariam, who is finally able to fulfill her goal of becoming a mother and loving someone unconditionally. Near the end of the novel, Mariam is motivated to protect Laila and her family. She even kills Rasheed to defend Laila, who would've been killed by him if Mariam had not intervened. Mariam decides to turn herself in for the crime to allow Laila, Tariq, and the children to flee. She sacrifices herself for their good; she is motivated again to protect Laila and her daughter at any cost.

Mariam's character is quite dynamic in A Thousand Splendid Suns.  Early in the novel when Laila first arrives in the home as Rasheed's second wife, Mariam is very upset and takes out the decision on Laila--she shuns her in the home.  However, in time, Mariam forms a strong bond with Laila and eventually becomes her protector.  Rasheed is taken with Laila because of her physical beauty while he trashes Mariam, so Laila stands up for Mariam.  Laila's nature is appealing to Mariam who never really had anyone who was willing stand up for her.  As the novel progresses, Mariam becomes like a auntie or grandmother to Laila's children, and she regards Laila as family.  So when Rasheed is beating Laila and her life is in danger, Mariam makes the bold move of standing up to Rasheed and ends up killing him.  Mariam does not regret her actions and is happy that Laila and her children will have a better life without Rasheed present.

Near the end of the novel, Mariam is condemned to death for killing Rasheed with a shovel. The judge says he would like to show her mercy because of the circumstances that led to the murder, but he notes that she did a brutal thing.

Mariam accepts the sentence and signs the necessary papers. During her ten days in jail, she says she is frightened, but she nevertheless faces her public execution with courage and grace. As she walks to the goalpost on a playing field to die, watched by thousands of spectators in the bleachers, she thinks over her life. She realizes that, though her life has been one of hardship and unkindness, she does not want to die. Her life has had "moments of beauty." She longs, too, to see the children grow up.

In her last moments before death, Mariam experiences peace. She realizes she has risen in stature from her start as a lowly, illegitimate child. She has loved and been loved. She thinks of herself now as a person of "consequence."

In the moment before her death, as she kneels, presumably to be shot, she prays to Allah with words from the Koran that affirm her faith in an ordered and loving universe. Allah is in charge, and he is merciful.

After Mariam kills Rasheed in order to save Laila's life, she is imprisoned for doing a "wicked thing." Mariam has no legal council and no examination of evidence during her trial. Though the judge admits that he believes her testimony that Rasheed was a "disagreeable" man, he insists that it is his job to punish Mariam's deed. She is sentenced to death and imprisoned for a little more than a week.

On the final morning of her life, Mariam is transported to the site of her execution at Ghazi Stadium. This is a soccer stadium in Kabul which has a history of public executions during the rule of the Taliban. A large crowd has gathered to witness her death, but Mariam blinds herself to their reactions. Instead, as she approaches the goalpost, she takes an inventory of both the tragedies and great joys of her life. Walking behind Mariam is her executioner, and when she is asked to stop, she watches the man's shadow raise his gun toward her.

In her final moments, Mariam finds peace in the knowledge that she has found a great love in Laila and Laila's children. In the totality of her life, she believes that "this was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings." Mariam offers one final prayer before being told to kneel and look down, which signals the end of her life.

The story of Mariam's life is a tragic one in Khalid Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. She is the illegitimate child of a rich man and a woman who was his servant. She is raised by her mother, though her father occasionally visits; she cannot live with him, since he has three legitimate wives with their own children. Mariam's mother eventually commits suicide, and Mariam lives with her father briefly.

He quickly arranges her marriage to an older man, a widower named Rasheed who owns a shoe shop and has a house. Mariam protests, but she becomes his wife when she is only fifteen. Mariam must learn to serve her husband, to clean the home and cook his meals to his preferences. She must be subservient to him and forfeit her autonomy. She cannot continue her education or work. She is expected to bear his children. Mariam does become pregnant but loses the child. She never ends up producing a child. The early years of Mariam's marriage are lonely. She is also physically abused by her husband and loses hope that her life will ever improve.

Eventually, Rasheed brings Laila into the home, making her his second wife. She has a daughter, Aziza, within the first year of the marriage; the girl is actually the child of Laila's true love Tariq. She later has a son with Rasheed named Zalmai. The introduction of Laila to the family eases the relationship between Mariam and Rasheed somewhat, as he pays more attention to Laila, but he is abusive to Mariam and insults her constantly. Rasheed physically abuses both of his wives throughout their marriages. Late in the novel, Mariam kills Rasheed as he tries to kill Laila. Mariam is put to death for the crime, after she turns herself in to protect Laila and allow her to run away with Tariq and her children.