Suicide and Song
This chapter declares that women "have no right to meet, to love, or to choose" their husband. Women are just objects to their husband, like a property. It then goes into old poetry showing that some women do rebel against the injustice they are put in through song and poems about forbidden love, sex, and other topics.
The Business Trip
Sultan takes a trip to Pakistan in the search for a printer, and has to visit relatives since he is in the area. While visiting the relatives and talking about new developments in their lives, a brother of Sultan asks for Belqisa's hand in marriage (Sultan's daughter). Sultan also visits Sharifa and they gossip about Saliqa, neither liking what a problem she has become. The author makes Sultan to seem a little more preoccupied with himself than religion, as he does not like to give money. The chapter ends with him on his journey back to his second wife, thinking about how much he appreciates Sharifas experience.
Do You Want to Make Me Sad?
This chapter is about Sultan and his mother marrying off two of his sisters. One is sold for 100 dollars, the other is given for free as she is considered useless with a disability. Shakila had many previous suitors, but they all fell through. She has many worries about her future husband, but there is nothing she can do. After she meets her fiancée with a cold encounter, she says she does not know if she is in love and is worried about her future.
The author seems to paint a picture of a broken society that is deep in male dominate tradition. She seems to talk down to the men, making them seem selfish and brutal. Again, the past of the country was included in the writing, as it is important to show how war-torn and desperate the society is. The author did include a few poems, showing that women are not mindless robots. It seems like she writes with a skeptical mind, although not necessarily telling it bluntly all the time.
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