Laila's subversion of gender role expectations may prevent her from being Rasheed's victim, but it also limits her sense of sisterhood and kinship with Mariam. She's the one taking advantage of Rasheed, even though he thinks it's the other way around. Thus she is able to, in a small way, subvert gender expectations.

Laila has always been independent and willful, and her decision to marry Rasheed demonstrates that. Laila does not see her options as limited by her gender so much as by her new role as a mother. That night, after she and Rasheed have intercourse, she grabs the knife she's hidden under the mattress and pricks her finger to sully the sheets, just to perpetuate Rasheed's belief that he married a virgin.Ĭhapter 30 builds on the themes explored in Chapter 29 by providing a fuller picture of the limitations Laila faces in her life. Laila feels incredibly guilty for her choices and cannot look Mariam in the face during the wedding ceremony. While Laila had every intention of fleeing Kabul prior to discovering her pregnancy, she knows the only way to support the child is to marry Rasheed. Laila rushes the ceremony because she knows that the constant nausea she feels is because she's pregnant she knows if she and Rasheed do not consummate the marriage soon, Rasheed will figure out that Tariq is the baby's father. Laila insists that she doesn't want a dress or any fuss but just wants to get married as quickly as possible. When Rasheed brings Laila a wedding band, she is horrified to learn that he purchased it by selling Mariam's old band.

Under a thousand splendid suns