The Background of the Research
convince women that they have full potential to be equal with men. It is very influential in building women‟s mindset and changing their traditional
behavioral pattern. Educated women know their rights and are aware that they have to claim them. It also has ripple effects that will pass through generation,
in which educated women will make educated children. On the contrary, uneducated woman are more vulnerable to discrimination due to their archaic
mindset. If a woman is educated and has an open and modern mindset, she will be
able not only to defend her own right, but also to inspire other women. A bond growing among women, which is called sisterhood, can encourage and turn
weak women into brave ones. Through sisterhood, women can inspire and convince each other that they can make a difference and make the world a
better place. Women who have gained courage then will be brave to choose a different path: fighting instead of enduring evil and cruelty men made.
The different ways of thinking of women in a patriarchal society result in different attitudes in facing discriminations: some women show negative
attitudes by accepting the discrimination and some others have positive attitudes by struggling against the discrimination. Women‟s attitudes towards
the discrimination they face are important because it will affect their lives forever. Gender discrimination is something bad and if women have negative
attitudes, the situation will be worse. On the contrary, if they have positive attitudes, they will be able to be free from discrimination and form better
future both for themselves and for their generations. However, in a patriarchal society, most women accept the discrimination instead of struggling against it.
The attitude of women to accept the discrimination later brings gender discrimination into a culture‟s conscious ideology. To reject this false
ideology, people implant a new one that opposes the masculine authority and power in many ways, one of which is by means of words in literature.
Through literature, people can smuggle ideology related to the most serious problems which the human race faces such as discrimination in an indirect,
oblique, even casual manner. For many years people who are concerned with discrimination have implanted their thought about it, which is not only gender
discrimination but also race and class discrimination, in literature. In essence, literature plays an important role in implanting ideology.
Concerning gender discrimination, since decades ago, many people have created literature about women‟s lives. In many areas and culture they give
the insight of human beings in society by complaining about gender discrimination.
Those literary works which reveal women‟s lives are worth reading, for it can broaden people‟s knowledge about gender discrimination so
that people can have a deeper level of thought and more concern about it. Moreover, it can inspire the discriminated women to challenge gender
discrimination. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is one of those literary
works about women‟s lives in a patriarchal society which can open people‟s eyes that until now many women still face gender discrimination. In the novel,
Hosseini crafts the story of women‟s lives in Afghanistan and how women behave towards it. Through the story of gender discrimination, the
phenomenal A Thousand Splendid Suns, which has been translated into many languages and become best seller in many countries, shows its capacity to
inspire women to stand and fight against the discrimination they face. What is interesting is that the author of the novel, who is a male, has been someone
who stands on women‟ side and curses men‟s behavioral pattern in treating women unfairly.
The novel is a good example of literary work which can convince women to understand their rights and believe in their ability to stand against the
discrimination. The stories about gender discriminations are portrayed through the three female characters of the novel, namely Nana, Mariam and Laila, who
live in a patriarchal society. In this kind of society, whenever a girl was born in a family, they see her as a bad luck and as a burden on the family. Hosseini
is trying to shed some light on the fact that women are suffering from the discrimination based on gender and that women have their own choice either
to stay or fight against the discrimination. Considering this, the researcher is interested in scrutinizing gender discriminations women experience in the
novel along with their attitudes towards the discriminations they face.