The Power Within From the present day to thousands of years in the past, there has been controversy with women in society. They are stereotyped, judged and looked down upon in many places and times in the world. Whether it be their clothing, manner, beliefs or actions they have been scrutinized and analyzed far more than their male companions. Yet women have still stood tall and strong in the face of opposition. Nothing is more evident than in the novels Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Though each book is written in a different era and continent from each other, both authors have taken a profound look into the lives of women who, in submission of the society they live in, …show more content…

Her darling was about to die, and no salvation.”(Hardy 91). This thought for Tess shows her characters strength and empathy for a small infant who seemed like nothing but a burden to her. She does not try and change her fate, which she thinks is already sealed, but she attempts to help the child who never had a say in why or how it was conceived. In this novel, Tess faces many issues within her life and yet, just when things are going downhill, her baby having just died, with no proper burial, she springs back, independent and strong. This character trait is just one of the many that shows how Tess has a great deal of strength. In Hardy’s novel there often seen a true strength and power in the character traits and development of Tess Durbeyfield, and in this, the theme of inner strength is shown. One hundred and sixteen short years after Hardy’s novel was published, Khaled Hosseini’s book A Thousand Splendid Suns was released for the whole world to see the lives of women and their journey through the ever changing Afghanistan and Middle East. The character of these women, their reactions and reception of the cruel world around them, echoes and contrasts Hardy’s masterpiece as the female characters show the theme of amazing inner strength. One of the protagonists, Laila grows up in the shadow of her brothers who served in the war and died. Because of this, her mother is constantly grieving over them neglecting her daughter to the point of