Television (Magnavox)

The Magnavox television set enters the household of Rasheed, Laila, and Mariam as a symbol of Rasheed's indulgent favoritism toward his son Zalmai and a direct violation of Taliban law. Rasheed brings it home one evening in the fall of 1999, announcing that he bought it on the black market. When Laila asks if it was purchased with yet another loan, he dismisses her concern and declares, "This is Zalmai's TV." The set becomes a point of contention: Aziza, Laila's daughter, reaches for it and is sharply rebuked, while Zalmai is allowed to press his palms to the blank screen, an act Rasheed watches with pride. The television thus materializes the unequal distribution of affection and resources within the household, with Rasheed reserving luxury for his son while the family struggles under drought and poverty.

The Television as a Contraband Object Under Taliban Rule

The Taliban had banned television outright, publicly gouging videotapes and stringing the ribbons on fence posts, and hanging satellite dishes from lampposts. Yet Rasheed insists that banned items can still be found in underground bazaars, and he promises to procure cartoon videos for Zalmai. The television's very presence in the house is an act of defiance, but one that carries constant risk. The threat of Taliban raids—sometimes monthly, sometimes weekly—forces the family to hide the set. In a scene that underscores the absurdity and terror of their situation, Laila and Mariam dig a hole behind the toolshed in the sun-baked, drought-hardened ground to bury the television. They wrap it in a plastic sheet and lower it into the earth, patting the dirt to conceal the spot. The act is a desperate measure to preserve a small pleasure in a life stripped of nearly all comforts, and it mirrors the burial of other hopes and losses in the novel.

Secret Viewings and the "Titanic" Phenomenon

Despite the danger, the television is unearthed repeatedly during the summer of 2000, when "Titanic fever" grips Kabul. After curfew, with the lights out and quilts pinned over the windows, Laila, Mariam, and the children watch pirated copies of the film smuggled from Pakistan. The ritual becomes a rare moment of shared joy and escape. Aziza insists on being Jack, Mariam reluctantly plays Rose, and Zalmai is assigned the role of the iceberg. The film's story of doomed love and class transgression resonates deeply in a society where women's lives are brutally restricted. Laila later reflects on the phenomenon, saying, "Everybody wants Jack to rescue them from disaster. But there is no Jack. Jack is not coming back. Jack is dead." The television, in these moments, is not merely a device but a portal to a world of romance, freedom, and possibility that stands in stark contrast to the grim reality of Taliban rule.

The Fire, the Sale, and the Final Loss

The television's role shifts from a source of clandestine pleasure to a marker of the family's unraveling when a fire destroys Rasheed's shoe shop. With his business gone and the family plunged into hunger, Rasheed sells everything. Zalmai throws a "wicked tantrum" when the television is sold, his fury a measure of how much the object had come to represent his father's love and the family's last vestige of normalcy. The sale of the Magnavox is part of a broader liquidation that includes Mariam's and Laila's belongings, Aziza's toys, and even Rasheed's wedding ring. The television's disappearance from the household signals the final collapse of any pretense of stability, leaving the family to face starvation and the agonizing decision to send Aziza to an orphanage. The object that once brought them together in secret viewings of Titanic becomes another casualty of the war and poverty that systematically strip them of everything.