How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
For the last two years, Laila had received the awal numra certificate, given yearly to the top-ranked student in each grade. She said nothing of these things to Hasina, though, whose own father was an ill-tempered taxi driver who in two or three years would almost certainly give her away. (2.16.57)
There are gender double standards even when girls are allowed to go to school. The reality for many girls, like Giti and Hasina, is that an early arranged marriage is more likely than a college education.
Quote #5
In fact, Babi thought that the one thing the communists had done right […] was in the field of education […] Almost two-thirds of the students at Kabul University were women now, Babi said. (2.18.103)
The Soviet regime is portrayed harshly in A Thousand Splendid Suns, but its view on women's education is a rare bright spot. Even Babi has to give them credit despite the fact that they had fired him from his job as a teacher.
Quote #6
There, men saw it as an insult to their centuries-old tradition, Babi said, to be told by the government—and a godless one at that—that their daughters had to leave home, attend school, and work alongside men. (2.18.108)
Laila is born in Kabul where she has access to education, but many women in Afghanistan don't even get that opportunity. Even worse, the greater access to education for girls afforded by the Soviets prompts a backlash from rural communities.