Important Quotes

. 'Harami'- Nana to a 5 year old Mariam

. 'An ugly loathsome thing'- what a Harami is

.' Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman.'- Nana to Mariam

.'Endure'- Nana to Mariam

. 'Two kilometers outside of Herat '- description of the Kolba

. '' I'll die if you go''- Nana to Mariam

. ' A solitary eleventh pebble'- Symbolic view of Mariam

. 'she was the walking embodiment of their shame'

.' his nails were yellow-brown, like the inside of a rotting apple'- First description of Rasheed

. ' I used to worship you... Don't come, I wont see you''- Mariam to Jalil

. '' I expect you to start behaving like a wife''- Rasheed to Mariam, a week after marriage

. 'Sky-blue burqa'

. 'The padded headpiece felt tight and heavy on her skull'- the burqa is physically oppressive as well as oppressive for women in the lower class/ during the reign of the Taliban

. 'She no longer worried that people knew, with a single galce, all the shameful secrets of her past'- description of the comfort Mariam finds in the burqa

.' After 4 years of marriage, Mariam could clearly see how much a woman could tolerate when she was afraid'- Mariam about the abuse of Rasheed

. 'Leaving Mariam to spit out pebbles, blood, and the fragment of two broken molars.'- The sickening abuse of Rasheed, forcing Mariam to chew pebbles

. 'his reclusive wife'- Laila about Mariam, she has faded into the background of her perspective into Rasheed's reclusive wife

. 'The walls of Mammy's room were covered with pictures of Ahmad and Noor'

. '' Marriage can wait, education cannot''- Hakim to Laila

. ''Women have always had it hard in this country''- Hakim to Laila

. ''sometimes Laila wondered why Mammy had even bothered having her''

. 'They had overshadowed her in life. They would obliterate her in death'- Laila about the memory of Ahmad and Noor

. ''Tariq, who was like an extension of her''- Laila's relationship with Tariq

. 'What she was witnessing was no less than a courtship'- Mariam, Rasheed trying to court Laila to convince her to marry him

.' Laila already saw the sacrifices a mother had to make'- Laila on the discovery of her pregnancy with Tariq's child- comparable to the view of Mariam later on in the novel

. 'she is a dehati.., a harami.. you on the other hand would be a Benz''- Rasheed comparing Mariam and Laila and objectifying them- casual objecitfication in the crumbling patriachal society

. ' I also ask that you wear a burqa... so many lewd men in this town'- Rasheed gaining control of Laila

. 'You can be imprisoned for running away'- Police officer to Laila after Mariam and Laila attempt to run away

. ' What a man does in his home is his own business''- same as the previous point.

. 'Laila didn't see the punch coming'

. 'There was a sound now like a wooden club repeatedly slapping a side of beef'- Laila listening to Rasheed beating Mariam

. The arrival of the Taliban creates an even more toxic environment for violence and sickening abuse to take place within the domestic setting 'You will stay in your homes at all times'- The strict Sharia Laws

.' Laila hit him hard... his hand around her throat.. slammed against the wall... barrel of a gun'- Laila hits Rasheed after he tries to make Aziza a beggar, as a result Rasheed lifts Laila off her feet and shoves the barrel of a gun in her mouth

.' Mariam regretted her foolish, youthful pride'- Mariam after finding out that Jalil has passed

.'' I'm your mother. If it kills me, I'll come to see you''- Laila to Aziza after putting her in an orphanage- power of motherly love

. 'A young Talib beat Laila with a radio antenna'- Laila attempting to see Aziza, breaking the law by going outside alone

.' What harmful thing had she wilfully done to this man to warrant his malice, his continual assualts, the relish with which he tormented her?'- Mariam's change in perspective of her marriage with Rasheed, just before she kills him

. ' He'd taken so much from her in 27 years of marriage. She would not watch him take Laila too'- Mariam

. Mariam became 'kind of a celebrity' in prison- Mariam embodies the courage to take action, she is respected in prison by the women

. 'she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back'-Mariam's last thoughts before her death/execution 

. 'This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings'- Mariam's last thoughts- good to use on the theme of marriage and social status

.' I'll follow you to the end of the world, Laila'- Tariq to Laila after she wants to go back to Kabul after fleeing with the children

. 'I never deserved you'... 'Weak heart... weak man'- Jalil's letter to Mariam, opened by Laila- explaining how he loved Mariam and regrets the way he treated her. He leaves an inhertience (recognition of fatherhood) and a video of pinoccio, the film Mariam never saw as a child