Gender, trauma, and adaptive behavior in conflict settings: Insights from A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini portrays women’s lives shaped by war, patriarchy, and structural violence. This review examines the novel through a social-behavioral lens to analyze how human behavior is shaped by social environments, gendered power relations, and prolonged exposure to trauma. Drawing on ecological systems theory, feminist theory, trauma-informed perspectives, and the concept of structural violence, the review analyzes the experiences of Mariam and Laila to show how psychological functioning, relationships, and coping strategies are shaped within oppressive and conflict-affected contexts. Thematic analysis identifies gendered oppression, domestic violence, cumulative trauma, female bonding, resilience, and moral agency as central analytic themes. Rather than interpreting women’s behaviors as passive or pathological, the review reframes endurance, compliance, caregiving, and sacrifice as contextually adaptive responses to constrained environments. The analysis further demonstrates the protective role of relational support in fostering resilience and ethical decision-making under conditions of extreme adversity. While acknowledging the limitations of literary narratives as representations of lived reality, this review demonstrates how such texts can enrich understanding of human behavior within complex social systems. The analysis has implications for trauma-informed mental health practice, social work, and policy interventions addressing gender-based violence and structural inequality in conflict-affected settings.