An Analysis of Female Characters in A Thousand Splendid Suns from the Perspective of Trauma Theory

Abstract

This paper examines the psychological trauma of Mariam and Laila, the two female protagonists in Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), through a systematic application of Judith Herman's (1992) triphasic recovery model, combined with narratological analysis of the novel's formal techniques. The study proceeds in three analytical steps. First, it identifies three intersecting sources of trauma—patriarchal marital coercion and son preference, Taliban-enforced dress codes and polygynous practices, and wartime family disintegration and maternal-child separation—and maps each source onto specific PTSD symptom clusters (emotional numbing, hyperarousal, and intrusive re-experiencing) as manifested through the novel's narrative devices, including focalized interiority, repetitive imagery, and temporal fragmentation. Second, it traces the protagonists' healing trajectory across Herman's three stages: stabilization through sisterly alliance, mourning via confessional storytelling, and reconnection through reconstructed self-identity. Third, it critically assesses the model's cross-cultural applicability, arguing that in contexts where institutional therapy is absent, relational bonds—specifically sisterhood—function as the primary mechanism of recovery. The analysis reveals that Mariam and Laila exhibit distinct trauma profiles: Mariam's trauma manifests predominantly as emotional constriction and resigned passivity, while Laila's is characterized by hyperarousal and persistent anxiety, differences that shape their respective healing trajectories. The study concludes that trauma recovery in the novel does not entail erasure of painful memories but their integration into a revised life narrative, and that sisterhood—rather than romantic love, state intervention, or religious consolation—constitutes the most effective vehicle for restoring agency among women in patriarchal, war-torn societies. This finding suggests a culturally specific modification to Herman's framework: where physical safety remains perpetually unattainable, the stabilization stage may operate concurrently with mourning rather than preceding it.