It makes the atrocities faced by women in the afghan society more human and how women's very existence is undermined. For instance both the women are beaten and held captive, till their spirit is broken and they are dying of starvation. .
"You try this again and I will find you. I swear on the Prophet's name that I will find you. And, when I do, there isn't a court in this godforsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do."(Hosseini 163).
The oppression faced by women in Afghanistan is associated with a world dominated by males, and is particularly linked to Islamic fundamentalism as espoused by the Taliban. According to Farhoumand-Sims (652): Women in Afghanistan who continue to experience limitations to their rights, freedoms, opportunities, and safety in a highly militarized, volatile, and culturally patriarchal context. In Afghanistan therefore, in addition to a focus on women's effective and active participation, and perhaps as a precursor for it, here needs to be a discussion and consensus on the causes and processes of women's disempowerment, and the different ways in which diverse women are oppressed.
For the two women, the arrival of Taliban in Kabul, was not first instance of suppression, it was rather final nail that set them off on the path of their ideal for gender equality. Nana's role in the book is as a mentor to Mariam who tries to instill in her values and self-belief. Because of her status in the household, she tell, Marium"The children of strangers get ice cream. What do you get, Mariam? Stories of ice cream" (Hosseini 7). Within the feministic discourse, the severity and harshness of Nana's words are there to raise the level of awareness and perceptions in a male dominated society. According to the feminist Ann Ferguson who also criticizes the patriarchal beliefs of women belonging to the lower classes. She calls women a gender classified on the basis of sex that overlaps social economic and racial boundaries (365).