Abstract: Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini enjoys worldwide recognition as a new star in literature firmament for his two novels the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. After the 9.11, the world focused on Afghanistan, but only on its negative images of war, drug smuggling, refugees, the Taliban and terrorism. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini shows us the abundant and century-long cultural heritages of Afghanistan, and also the promising gender relationship with equality and harmony. This paper will analyze the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, via approaches of text perusal and detailed analysis. The two ordinary Afghan women who struggle against the patriarchal oppression sparkle with precious spirits of their adherence to hopes and dreams, and their brave revolt against destiny. The novel thinks positively of “sisterhood” in its contribution to the awakening of Mariam’s female consciousness and to way to female liberation. This paper also discusses two possible means of achieving gender harmony: one is the subversion of traditional male image; the other is true love between man and women.
Key words: A Thousand Splendid Suns；patriarchal oppression； female consciousness；gender harmony
