In A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) by Khaled Hosseini filial relationship becomes a structural principle in the sense that it is the one recurrent motif upon which the plot is based. From which it follows that the characters frequently move in and out of filial relationships. Mariam, an illegitimate child and Laila born very much within wedlock are the two female protagonists. Mariam fails to understand the love her mother Nana has for her and gels with her father Jalil. Laila yearns for her mother Fariba's attention and love, but in vain. The female figure, Laila, marginalized by almost all the male figures (for all practical purposes) throughout the novel, wins a ubiquitous presence for Mariam that the apparently more successful Laila accords her willingly and gratefully. My paper will be a study of this self-promotion achieved by Mariam in Hosseini's novel