Husband-to-wife aggression in A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini

Abstract

The theme of the study was in-depth study of husband to wife aggression from A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. In this study, Rasheed's aggression was taken as the central attention, and intended to reveal aftermath of his cruel behaviour towards his wives. The study applied psychological approach to explore/explain husband to wife aggression in the novel. The researcher applied the theory of aggression in regards to the kinds of aggression that Rasheed commits on his wives. The findings of the study indicate that Rasheed is both psychologically and physically aggressive towards his wives. The recorded psychological aggressions are keeping silent towards Mariam, using harsh tone to Mariam, faulting Mariam's cooking, hurting Mariam to marry Laila, undervaluing Mariam in front of Laila, unjust faulting towards Mariam when Laila gets problems, etc. Rasheed's physical aggressions are i) physically insulting Mariam after repeatedly faulting her cooking, ii) severely punishing both Mariam and Laila over leaving the house, and iii) being more abusive towards his wives Laila and Mariam as well as daughter Aziza.