A Thousand Splendid Suns

The Relationship between Mariam and Laila

Mariam is a harami, a child born out of wedlock, whom after her mother’s death is abandoned by her dad, who marries her off to Rasheed. Her childless marriage to Rasheed forces her into a life of oppression and violence, until Laila enters her life and provides her with some hope. 

Laila lives down the road together with her parents, who eventually dies when a bomb strikes down right outside their house. Laila is taken care of by Mariam and her husband Rasheed, who later on marries her as well.

To begin with, the two of them have a relationship characterized by conflict and disagreement. Mariam would be angry because she’s feeling threatened by the humble new girl, who seems to be replacing her as Rasheed’s wife, making her a servant in a house were she’d lived alone for years. But not long after Laila enters her life, there becomes an understanding between them that blossom into a mother-daughter like relationship. 

When Laila had her first baby, a mutual friendship developed between Mariam and the child, Aziza. Needless to say, Aziza is the one bringing the two women together. Neither of them had the greatest relationship with their mothers, but they complete each other like the pieces of a puzzle, leading to a turning point in their lives. Mariam became the caring mother Laila never had, and Laila and her child became the source of love Mariam never had experienced in her life.

Mariam and Laila stands up for each other like real friends do, both knowing that they can’t achieve freedom without the help of each other.

Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on the 6th of January, 1955. He is an English comedian, screenwriter an actor. Atkinson is famous for the sitcoms Blackadder and Mr. Bean, and in 2005 he was amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever, in a poll of fellow comedians.

Atkinson, the youngest of three brothers, was born in Consett, County Durham, England. He began his career as actor in 1983, with a supporting part in the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again, and a leading role in Dead on Time. After that he has appeared in several movies, e.g. Rat Race (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002) and Love Actually (2003).

His most famous creation, perhaps the character most people think about when hearing his name, is Mr. Bean, who first appeared on New Years Day in 1990. The character described as "a child in a grown man's body" has been in both TV-series and different movies. It's a character it's impossible to not fall in love with!

Videoblog - Invisible People

When I first heard some of the stories told by homeless people from different parts of the USA, as well as watching some episodes of "Skid Row", I was truly shocked, but at the same time amazed about how optimistic many of them were. I also started to think about how much we, especially here in Norway, take for granted. I'm sure that lots of people have experienced bad things during their life, but when you see these videos you realize that you have never truly experienced the desperation of homelessness. And I'm very lucky that I haven't.


The different stories tells us that there's so many homeless people living in the states, and their life is a struggle. And the fact that homeless people is looked upon as invisible is, unfortunately, true. We see them often, but we just ignore them and walk by, thinking that they don't exist, so we don't have to care about them or doing anything with the problem. Several of the homeless people also says that they've had to go to the hospital, paying lots of money, and afterwards they get problems with paying their bills and they see no other way than living on the streets. 


On the other hand, the different stories tells us about the personality of people living in the USA. Even though they're homeless, they're optimistic, hoping, and not at least working, for a better future. It shows us that Americans are hard-working people. After reading and extraction from Magasinet I saw that even though they've had a hard life, or having a hard life, they really loves their own country and they can't imagine a better place to live. The national pride, patriotism, is really strong.


The inventor of this website is a living example that proofs that everyone can break out of their lives as a homeless person, get a job and a place to live. Once he was one of many persons that lived on the street, but he managed to change his life for the better. Today, 3.5 millions in the USA are homeless. It's an increasing problem for the community, as well as it develops into a problem for those who's homeless. Something needs to be done to this, but it's guaranteed that not everyone would be satisfied with what has to be done about it. So how are we supposed to get more people off the streets?

Crash

Today we, my class and I, watched a movie named Crash down in the auditorium – a movie about multiculturalism in the USA. Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles, and in the end we get to know how all stories end, and that some of them relate to each other. I think it was a very good directed movie, with excellent actors. All in all it was very interesting and exciting to watch.  I would absolutely recommend you to watch it!

How to behave when stationed in your mentor business

How to behave when stationed in your mentor business

When stationed in your mentor business it’s important that you’re polite with your mentor, as well as the rest of the business. You must listen to what your mentor has to say, and not at least, show interest for the business, that way, you’ll have a lot more fun. You must also do what your mentor says, and simply show good manners!

How not to behave when stationed in your mentor business

When stationed in your mentor business you must not be rude against your mentor, or others working in the business. You should not be walking around, not doing what your mentor tells you. If you act like this, you’ll not have any great benefits of your visit.