Laila is totally different from Maria. She was born in a family that is full of love. Her mother is outgoing and Babi is an educated-well and intelligent person. When her two brothers died in the battle, the family changed a lot. Two brothers are the pride of her mother and her mother can’t accept the fact. So when mother is lost in losing her proud sons and is not interested in anything, Laila is responsible for everything in her home. Even though Laila takes good care of her mother, mother can’t take notice of her daughter. So Laila seems to be a mother while her mother seems to be a baby. Besides looking after her mother, Laila has to study and Babi encourages her to be an intelligent girl. To her Babi, she is the whole world. When children can not get to school because of commotion, she has to stay at home and Babi is her teacher. With the help of her Babi, She is an very excellent student and has ambition unlike her aged friends. Babi believes that women should receive good educations and hopes Laila to be a woman who can do something for her country and is wanted by her country.

      While the continuous war shatters their dream, it also makes Laila lose their parents. Compared to others, Laila is very lucky to survive. After coming to a life, she is told that Tariq who is her childhood sweetheart dies in another city. No matter how inconsolable she is, she has no choice but to agree to marry Mariam’s husband in order to protect the baby in her belly. At the beginning of days, she is an enemy to Mariam. Living with a brutal husband for a long time, she and Mariam are no long enemies but are friends. In other words, Mariam seems to be a mother for Laila. When the baby comes into the world, she also brings a lot of happiness to Mariam. Laila and her daughter makes Mariam feel full of love and sunshine. They are in the one boat and often endure what the wicked husband do for them. In order to escape from the horrible cage, Laila plans to flee from it but they fail, in the end. When Tariq appears in front of her, she can’t hide the feeling and emotion any more for him. However, her husband knows that and can’t stand it. In this family battle, without Mariam, Laila’s children are sure to lose their mother. Mariam uses the rest of life to change Laila’s fate totally. Tariq takes Laila and children to another place to live. There they finally lead a normal life like ordinary people in peaceful place. The happy and peaceful life doesn’t make Laila forget Mariam and her country. After Taliban evacuates their hometown, they decides to come back to rebuild their home. With the heritage of Mariam, Laila contributes her energy and attention to building the orphanage. Just like what her Babi says, the country needs Laila and her best friends also say that she is going to be somebody.

     From this story, I think Laila stands for a modern Afghanistan woman while Mariam represents a traditional one. They show us the larger backdrop of recent history of their country.