A Thousand Splendid Suns: Part I: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

Mariam rides a bus home from the doctor’s, where she learned that she’s pregnant. Rasheed is in an excellent mood and is convinced that it’s a boy. He points out the window where the first snow of the year is falling, and Mariam wonders if the first snowfall is so enthralling because it’s a new, pure beginning before being trampled and growing corrupted.

The next day Mariam finds Rasheed building a crib that the baby, which he continues to refer to as a “he.” Mariam is anxious about this expectation, especially when Rasheed buys a boy’s winter coat and worries about boys’ reckless behavior.

The next night, Rasheed invites friends over to celebrate. Mariam cooks and cleans all day. She sits upstairs as the men laugh and eat below and thinks about how far she’s traveled to get to where she is now. She is thrilled to think of this baby—a true mark of belonging for her and Rasheed—and knows she no longer needs to play pebble games and mimic love. When she thinks of the baby, the grief and loneliness of her life seem to fade. She recalls a prayer from the Koran that Mullah Faizullah had taught her, and prays that God not take away this good fortune.

Following that night, Mariam attends a women’s hamam, where she is scrubbing herself when, suddenly, there is blood and pain. Fariba rushes over to take care of her. She takes another bus ride with Rasheed, who is no longer in a good mood. Once they arrive home, he fumes that “God’s will” is no kind of answer from a doctor. It’s snowing hard, and Mariam remembers how Nana said that each snowflake is the sigh of a woman suffering somewhere in the world.