The Subversion of Male Unlimitism--an Eco-feminist Reading of A Thousand Splendid Suns

Abstract

Khaled Hosseini is now a world renowned writer famous for his three novels: The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and And the Mountains Echoed. His second book A Thousand Splendid Suns mainly deals with two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, whom in the book are ruthlessly oppressed by male dominators under the patriarchal system, together with the two heroines, nature is another oppressed object in the novel. After years of destruction, nature in Afghanistan is severely destroyed. This paper is divided into four parts. In the introduction part, a brief analysis on the author as well as the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns will be presented. Besides, a brief definition on eco-feminism will also be given; in the second part, the close relationship between nature and women first and the oppression that nature and two heroines have suffered will be exposed; in the third part, the revolt of two heroines against male power will be analyzed respectively; in the fourth part, a conclusion of the whole paper will be offered.