Tragic Hero: The Legacy of Mariam

Mariam started out as a lowly girl who lived in a kolba (hut) with her outcast mother. They were both cast away because Mariam was an illegitimate child of the wealthy man, Jalil, who didn’t want to spoil his reputation. “Nana had been one of the housekeepers. Until her belly began to swell” (Hosseini 6) Because of Jalil’s decision to outcast Nana and Mariam, Nana has bitter feelings towards anything associated with Jalil. She knew that the only reason that Jalil kept her alive is because of the baby, Mariam, so she moved as far away as possible from him into a kolba that Jalil built. “His idea of penance” (Hosseini  11).

Although Nana talked about Jalil in a hateful way, Mariam loved her father. Jalil visited his harami (bastard) regularly and Mariam would long for these brief visits. “Finally, on Thursdays, all she could do was sit against the wall, eyes glued to the steam and wait…She always held her breath as she watched him go. She held her breath and, in her head, counted seconds. She pretended that each second that she didn’t breathe, God would grant her another day with Jalil” (Hosseini 20-24). Mariam worshipped Jalil so much that she wished for a trip to the movies from him for her birthday. Of course Nana was unhappy about this. “Of all the daughter I could have had, why did God give me an ungrateful one like you?” (Hosseini 27). Being the teenager that Mariam was, she didn’t listen to Nana and waited for Jalil at the stream, later going into the city to search for him. When she came back unsuccessful, she found Nana hanging in a tree.

Mariam’s fatal flaw shows in this first incident. Being brought up in a modest setting, she was a pretty selfless girl. She didn’t ask for much and was very apologetic for her mother’s suffering. However, she seemed to always question society. When Nana would complain about the pain Mariam caused her in birth “It did not occur to young Mariam to ponder the unfairness of apologizing for the manner of her own birth” (Hosseini  11). When Nana said that Mariam can’t go to school “Be reasonable. Come now. If the girls wants – ” (Hosseini  18). Like all tragic heroes, her questioning eventually gets her killed by the Taliban but, in turn, the country’s balance gets restored.