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The criticism starts on pg. 332 about half way through starting with "Julie Anne Peters.." Argument- "A decade after M. E. Kerr's straight-up look at lesbian gender roles in Deliver Us from Evie...Peters's book may score lower on social realism than Kerr's... but it packs more heat." Claim-Peters sets another strong-willed butch lesbian in a small town in the Midwest, while maintaining constant dramatic appeal, "The parade of human drama is a bit excessive here..." Evidence-  "Peters translates this [Mike's acceptance] nicely by allowing Mike to introduce herself in the first chapter without mentioning gender at all."  " Her [Mike's] hunger for Xanadu is achingly apparent, and Peters plays this well; Xanadu knows what Mike wants and her responses are unpredictable, to both Mike and the reader."

Although the author summarizes the novel, they add flashes of insight to each character and relate A Thousand Splendid Suns to The Kite Runner. Chua offers her opinions and literary analysis to characters and the theme of the novel.  With support, Chua offers that Rasheed, Jalil, and Hakim all foil one another, "Hosseini has adadmirably conceived him [ Hakim] as a foil to Jalil (who is weak like Babi [Hakim], but selfish) and to Rasheed (who is far from weak, and also selfish)." Each of the men represent a father figure, either to Mariam or Laila, or Laila's children. What they exemplify, which Chua does not touch on, is how a father treats his daughters. In a society where women are second to men, the way a father may dote (or mistreat) his daughter puts a twist on the gender roles in Afghani society.  Chua does touch on one of the main characters with a specific purpose. Mariam, a bastard child, often finds herself at the blunt end of trauma in the book. The author of the essay speculates that because Mariam's mother killed herself, "the defining trauma, then, teaches Mariam that to assert oneself, to dare, to take the initiative is to suffer pain, cause hurt to others, and precipitate tragedy". She accepts the hatred that comes to her from Rasheed and forces herself to live in a hardened bubble she created because she "deserves" to be punished. Mariam faces the challenged many Afghani women find themselves in and handles it much like the others. Although unhappy she remains with Rasheed and only the bravery found within herself inevitably saves Laila, but destroys Mariam's own life. The change in character after her mother dies should not be over looked and in fact Mariam's subservient attitudes should be noted and compared to whether the death of her mother had any effect on her decisions. 

Argument: Women in Dickens novels represent the common worker. Dickens found it important to emphasize that men and their respective mates should be saved from themselves. Main Idea of Argument: In Charles Dicken's Great Expectations Estella is a strong female, taking the lead of the relationship (or lack of) between Pip and herself. As opposed to doing only what she should be doing as a woman in the era. Comparatively, the workers of the era in which the novel was written were oppressed, but still maintained a strong facade. Evidence: 1)"In his portrayal of women in Great Expectations, Dickens saw the world with almost the same unbalanced perspective as does Pip when Magwitch turns him upside down in the churchyard" (Schechner 4). 2) "Crying over lost women, repentant prostitutes, and dying impoverished girls--provided none of these women were wives or political reformers--were causes Dickens loved to champion and did" (Schechner 7). 3)" Dickens wrote as if he believed a woman's place was mostly in the home, doing domestic things and supporting her husband. Mrs. Joe Gargery is an example of what happens when a woman tries to boss a man. Even though Mrs. Joe stays home by the hearth, when she gets too assertive she becomes very unattractive and may even deserve a strong smack on the head" (Schnecher 9). 4) Dickens is unsympathetic with women who socially rebel and who have public causes. Such women become either terrible or ludicrous" (Schnecher 10).

Argument: While often describes as an angry, and early feministic character, Jane Eyre is actually quite shameful in her narration. Claims: Jane Eyre's character is introduced into the story with the exclamation "For shame! For shame!" directed at her. Later, throughout the story, she narrates with the angry and feminist attitude that many critics quote her for, but also with a sense of shame that Charlotte Bronte could probably relate to. Evidence: "This cry 'for shame' suggests that shame constitutes both an introduction of 'Miss Eyre' to the reader and an interpellation of Jane into the contours of gendered interiority and social relations," (Bennett 1).