Name: Brody Brock___________________________________
Dialectical Journal
Passages from Text
1. “What of it? What? She’s too young,
you think? She’s fourteen. Hardly a
child. You were fifteen, remember? My
mother was fourteen when she had
me. Thirteen when she married.”
2. “She can leave. I won’t stand in her
way. But I suspect she won’t get far. No
food, no water, not a rupiah in her
pockets, bullets and rockets flying
everywhere. How many days do you
suppose she will last before she is
abducted, raped, or tossed into some
roadside ditch with her throat slit? Or
all three??
3. “Well I shouldn’t have,” Mariam
snapped. “I wouldn’t have fed you and
washed you and nursed you if I’d
known you were going to turn around
and steal my husband.”
4. “You heard how his son died?’…”He
drowned, didn’t he?...”At Gharga lake,
wasn’t it?...”Did you know that he used
to drink sharab back then, that he was
crying drunk that day?”
5. “I should have known you’d corrupt
here,” Rasheed spat on Mariam. He
swung the belt, testing it against his
own thigh. The buckle jingled loudly.”
Chapters: 28-41__________
Page Comments & Questions
#(s)
214 This part is a real culture shock to me. It’s crazy to think
that young innocent girls are getting married and having
children at such a vulnerable age. Even in present day
Afghanistan it is still a common thing for young girls to
marry older men simply for reputation, respect, or to
bear children.
215 This passage makes me think that Rasheed’s character is
manipulative. I say this because it seems that Rasheed is
simply making Mariam feel bad for what will happen to
Laila if he doesn’t marry her solely because he wants to
marry another young woman. He also supports the idea
of him getting married again by saying how almost
everybody else has upwards to four wives while he only
has one.
226 Mariam saying this makes me angry as she should not
blame Laila for marrying him before she knows Laila’s
reason for doing so. This further more proves how
Rasheed has manipulated Mariam and keeps a tight hold
on Mariam.
227 If I were Laila I would be fearful to have a child under the
care of Rasheed. Even if he had quit drinking by the time
Laila gives birth, this still proves that he would end up
being a poor father to her child.
240 This part makes me furious as Rasheed begins to blame
Mariam for Laila not wanting to have sex. I feel like we
are going to experience more of Rasheed’s abusiveness
as the story goes on and that Laila and Mariam will
slowly bond together because of Rasheed.
 Passages from Text
6. “You win. You win. Don’t do this.
Please, Rasheed, no beating! Please
don’t do this.”
7. “An unguarded, knowing look. And in
this fleeting, wordless exchange with
Mariam, Laila knew that they were not
enemies any longer.”
8. “We’re leaving this spring, Aziza and I.
Come with us, Mariam.”
9. “To Mariam first, then to her, and you
last. I’ll make you watch. You
understand me? I’ll make you watch.”
10. “Cosmetics are forbidden. Jewelry is
forbidden. You will not wear charming
clothes. You will not speak unless
spoken to. You will not make eye
contact with men.”
Page Comments & Questions
#(s)
241 I believe this is a turning point in Mariam and Laila’s
relationship. Up until this point Mariam believes that
Laila has done no good for Mariam’s life but now
Mariam will feel obligated to be kind to Laila from now
on.
250 This passage makes me happy because this seems to be
the beginning of a beneficial friendship between Laila
and Mariam. I think the author is also foreshadowing
later that one of our two characters will depend on one
another later in the story.
256 I think the author is trying to show here just how close
Mariam and Laila have become. I say this because when
Laila fist married Rasheed, Mariam was extremely brash
towards Laila, but now Laila has told Mariam her plan to
escape.
272 Now that Rasheed is aware of Laila and Mariam wanting
to escape, this will hinder any future plans of escape for
Laila and Mariam.
278 This passage is only a quarter of all the rules , but, just
these few rules restrain women from doing things as
simple as starting a conversation. I believe this is the
point where Mariam and Laila will make the ultimate
choice to flee from their home country in an attempt to
evade oppression.