A Study Of Trauma And Healing In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini is a talented Afghan-born American writer of contemporary America.Since 2003,with the successive publication of his full-length novels including The Kite Runner,A Thousand Splendid Suns,And the Mountains Echoed,Hosseini received multiple literary awards,and became a well-known young writer from a novice one.Khaled Hosseini describes warmth and cruelty,beauty and suffering that Afghans experienced with plain language in his literary works,reveals the mysterious and little-known side of Afghanistan,and clearly shows his sympathy and concern for the traumatic experience of Afghans,especially in his first novel The Kite Runner.Based on the studies of Khaled Hosseini conducted by experts and scholars at home and abroad in recent years,this thesis applies trauma theory to give a close reading of The Kite Runner,attempting to examine psychological and cultural trauma suffered by different characters in the novel from the following three aspects: traumatic symptoms,traumatic causes and trauma healing.This thesis consists of five parts.The first part is introduction that focuses on the background information of the author and his debut novel The Kite Runner,and summarizes the research status and methods of the novel both at home and abroad.In addition,this part gives a brief overview to psychological trauma theory and cultural trauma theory,which provides theoretical support for the body of the thesis.The first chapter analyzes various types of symptoms of psychological trauma and cultural trauma experienced by different characters in the novel.Symptoms of psychological trauma are mainly represented in Amir's disconnection from others and community,reexperience and avoidance,and the silence of Hassan and Sohrab.Symptoms of cultural trauma are mainly manifested in the gender oppression suffered by Afghan women,racial discrimination sustained by Hazaras and the identity crisis of the protagonist Amir.The second chapter delves into the causes of psychological trauma and cultural trauma.Amir's psychological trauma is caused by the lack of love and the witness of Hassan's rape,while the psychological trauma of Hassan and Sohrab comes from physical injury.Cultural trauma results from three aspects: patriarchy and religious oppression,ethnical and religious conflicts,and the dilemma of cultural identity.Chapter Three probes into the ways of trauma healing profoundly.Through reestablishing the connection with the outside world and reconstructing the integration of the past and the present,Amir gradually gets out of the trauma and successfully frees himself from the identity dilemma.And meanwhile,he endeavors to help Sohrab reconstruct his cultural identity.Soraya,by the telling of trauma,strives to break away from the shackles of trauma,rebuilds harmonious relations with the people around her,and leads a new life.The last part is the conclusion,which points out that though trauma is horrible,with the aid of some effective methods,victims can recover from the trauma,get out of the dilemma of self-isolation and self-loss,break the shackles of spiritual slavery,and reconstruct themselves,hopefully contributing to the readers' further thinking of healing traumas.