Through Jalil, Mariam feels loved and "[never felt] like a harami". She knows that Jalil has the power and the decision to give her fulfillment. Mariam however, is oblivious to the truth that her relationship with her father is false therefore also gives her false hope because she lacks the experience to know it. Though Nana has been giving her warnings about her father and how "women like [them] endure", Mariam did not heed her mother's constant criticism thus leaving her alone, "a solitary, eleventh pebble" in finding self-fulfillment.
Mariam faces a lot of conflicts that pushes her further away from being fulfilled. One of them is the state of women under the Taliban rule. Women in Afghanistan are considered as properties of men. They are treated lowly and unequal of how men are in those times. Especially a harami a like Mariam, she is stripped away of the freedoms a growing woman need. "It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the street. []If [they] are caught alone on the street, [women] will be beaten and sent home". They are also "forbidden from attending school." This leaves Mariam inexperienced and naive with the world around her. Another conflict Mariam faces in the novel is the brutality she undergoes in her marriage with Rasheed. This is another false relationship which gives her false hope and pushes her further away from her goal of becoming fulfilled. Unable to provide him with children made her worthless in Rasheed's eyes. "She could not give his son back [] she failed him – seven times she failed him – now she is nothing but a burden". Every little thing she does will always seem wrong to Rasheed. "With each disappointment, Rasheed had grown more resentful and nothing she [does pleases] him." He beats her to death, always having "blood on her face and neck". Along with these conflicts, Mariam faces another one with herself.