Individual Trauma and Inter-generational Trauma in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns

Abstract

The aim of this paper presentation is to shed light on the trauma experienced by an individual and intergenerational trauma through Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. Critically analyzing the characters in the novel, this research paper unravel the intricate layers of personal suffering and transmission of trauma across generations. Intergenerational trauma can happen when a parent experiences the trauma as a child and the cycle of trauma impacts their parenting. In the novel, both the heroines undergo very distressing or oppressive events and their emotional and behavioral reactions ripple through the generations  of the family.  Many characters in the novel feel traumatized individually. Especially, the female characters in the novel have become the victims of the violent society. This research paper also highlights how an individual suffers through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This traumatic disorder affects the people who have survived through a dangerous event in their life and the recurrence of the event going in their mind makes them feel traumatized. The research concludes by summing up the traumatic events in the novel, which may lead to psychopathological disturbances by affecting the personal and social lives of
individuals.