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Mariam herself, a reoccurring character in the novel, shows the theme of courage through her own personality. Mariam is strong for not only herself in the situations she is put into- such as her marriage with Rasheed, but Mariam is also strong for others, like Laila, but in a respectful manner- such as the amazement Mariam felt when Laila did not scream for so long during her childbirth. Courage is needed throughout the novel, as all the characters go through so much.

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Rasheed himself was a direct representation of the theme of power. Rasheed is a smaller government, in this case. On larger terms, the government is oppressing it's own people and women, and taking away their natural rights. Rasheed himself is a smaller version of this, pushing himself sexually onto Mariam and forcing her to wear a burqa, but contradicting himself by owning pornographic magazines and his own gun- much as the government contradicts and asserts its power by contradicting their own laws.

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The theme of innocence is repeatedly brought up and repeatedly taken away in the novel. Mariam herself as a child was an obvious reflection of innocence, and her illegitimacy was a removal of so. Tariq was innocent, and his empty leg was a removal of so. Laila was innocent, and her mature demeanor as she took care of her mother is a removal of so. Mariam's unborn child is a removal of innocence, and the birth of Laila's child is an introduction of so. Repeatedly throughout the book is innocence given and taken away.

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Throughout the entire book, friendship and strong relationships between people such as Laila and Tariq are very important- which is why the theme of friendship is reoccurring throughout the entire book. Tariq and Laila, Laila and Mariam- both relationships are important in their fight for independence and justice in their country.

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"She'd kicked at his shin, not his artificial but his real one, and he'd playfully whacked the back of her head." (pg 107) Tariq had had his leg blown off in an explosion when he was a young boy, replaced with an artificial leg. Tariq's loss of his leg was a representation of the loss of innocence that most young children in this area of the world had- they lsot their ability to be a true child, had their own childlike manners blown off by the war.

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"Mariam had never before worn a burqa." (pg 72) Rasheed forced Mariam to wear a full burqa when they were around others, something Mariam had never done, and was not used to doing. This burqa Rasheed made her wear was a symbol of not only Rasheed's personal oppression of Mariam as a woman, but the oppression and ownership of women as well, because Rasheed wanted only him to be able to see her full body.

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"Mariam grieved for this baby, this particular child, who had made her so happy for a while." (pg 93) Mariam's unborn child was a representation of Mariam's own illegitimacy. As a child, her own mother called her a bastard child, and blamed her failure on Mariam's existence. It is karma that comes around to Mariam for being a "bastard child", and this karma takes place in the unborn child which she so grieves for.

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"She saw the gun first...[she] made sure to memorize which way it was facing before she picked it up." (pg 82) The gun that Rasheed owned was a symbol of Mariam's fear of her own husband, evident in the way she picked it up, memorized its direction, and handled it. Rasheed owning a gun was a direct sign to Mariam, and a nod to her fear that at any moment, anyone she let her guard down to could kill her instantly.

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"Allah was not spiteful" (pg 94.) In this one short sentence, Mariam is humbling herself and paying her respects for the god Allah for blaming him for taking away her unborn child. Despite her harsh feelings and blame, Mariam puts trust (one of her key character traits) in Allah, and believes that this is all done for a purpose.

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"This shawl, Mariam saw, was a true gift." (pg 76) At this early point in the relationship, Mariam had no trust, and no real emotion towards her new husband. Yet, at the time when Rasheed returned with a scarf for Mariam, you saw her true nature of forgiveness, as she forgives him for all the blame she has put onto him. With this shawl, her feelings of hatred towards this man for taking her away from her family dimishes, and you truly see the feminine touch of forgiveness in her.

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"The Walayat women's prison was a drab, square-shaped building in Shar-e-Nau near Chicken Street." While in the women's prison, Mariam had a flippant attitude, almost. Since none of the women in the prison were incarcerated for violent crimes, Mariam was seen as an otherwordly spirit to the other women, who questioned and interrgated her on her thoughts and crimes- to which Mariam responded with next to no interest. She was out of context, and remained her calm, fighting demeanor in a more reserved manner.

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"The truth was, Laila loved eating meals at Tariq's house as mush as she disliked eating them at hers." (pg. 130)  Laila enjoyed going to Tariq's house immensely, Tariq's parents saw her as their own daughter. She felt loved and happy over at Tariq's house, and was involved with family relation. Her attitude was more lighthearted and loving at his house.

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"The walls of Mammy;s rooms...[s]o it would begin. The obligatory questions, the perfunctory answers. Both pretending." (pgs 122-123) When Laila was in her mother's room, alone with her mother, her attitude is strikingly different than her attitude in the presence of her father, or Tariq. In her mother's room Laila is reserved, and does the minimal amount, only what she is obligated to do.

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"You won't have to." (pg 262) In this small, short, dramatic sentence, you truly can see how brave of an individual Mariam is. She has enough bravery to compensate for everyone around her, and will step up when no one else will.

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"So she sat beside Mammy and dutifully mourned Ahmad and Noor, but, in Laila's heart, her true brother was alive and well." (pg 140) Laila, despite being slightly upset that her mother cannot truly love her as much as she loved her two older brothers, Laila is so secure in her own being and knows she is loved by Tariq so much, that she loves her mother no less for the fault.

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"She was unaccustomed to the Kabuli dialect of his Farsi, and to the underlying layer of Pashto accent, the language of his native Kandahar." (pg. 57) This is the beginning of Miriam's struggle to adapt to Rasheed's home- her new home. She was out of place, out of her element, out of her comfort zone- and this sentence is her realization of so.