Coming-Of-Age In Toni Morrison's A Thousand Splendid Suns
864 Words4 Pages
When people think of “coming-of-age”, we tend to think of sweet sixteen birthday bashes, bar mitzvahs, or the traditional quinceaneras. Some may even think of receiving their driving license as a crucial part of becoming an adult. While these show how someone is sometimes handed these rights just by living and breathing, many fail to realize these events are not the only moments that have the capability to turn a child into an adult. The majority of the time spent in the transition into adulthood tends to deal with how well a situation is handled and how it shapes an individual into the person they become later in life. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, there are many characters who each have to make choices that could change their entire lives. Laila, a character in the story, had made decisions which impacted her life in the long term.
Everyone has a story of how he/she had turned into the mature person they are today. Many times it involves the hardships one may have had to overcome to…show more content… This still holds true in A Thousand Splendid Suns when Laila learns that she is pregnant with Tariq’s child. This may not have been a problem if her parents were not killed in the bombing of her house and a strange man, who claims to have saved her, asks for her to become his wife. Laila is then quickly forced to make a choice and ultimately agrees to marry her “savior”, Rasheed, in order to have a place to raise her unborn child. Another factor that influenced her into making the decision was because she was told Tariq had died in an attack. By choosing to become a wife, she ensured the child would have a home with enough food and other necessities needed, as long as Rasheed did not find out. This action shows Laila is maturing and turning into not only a wife, but a new mother as well. By choosing the option that was for the better of her child, it shows Laila is becoming more responsible and