The major characters` response towards repressive and ideological structures that sanction violence against women in Khaled Hosseini`s A Thousand Splendid Suns - USD Repository

  

THE MAJOR CHARACTERS’ RESPONSE TOWARDS

REPRESSIVE AND IDEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES THAT

SANCTION VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

  

IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

  AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  

DIBSON WILLIANSYAH

044214034

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

  

THE MAJOR CHARACTERS’ RESPONSE TOWARDS

REPRESSIVE AND IDEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES THAT

SANCTION VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

  

IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

  AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  

DIBSON WILLIANSYAH

044214034

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

  

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN

AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Dibson Williansyah Nomor Mahasiswa : 044214034

  Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

  

THE MAJOR CHARACTERS’ RESPONSE TOWARDS REPRESSIVE

AND IDEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES THAT SANCTION VIOLENCE

AGAINST WOMEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S A THOUSAND SPLENDID

  

SUNS

  beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 31 Juli 2010 Yang menyatakan (Dibson Williansyah)

  

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

  I honestly declare that the thesis, which I wrote, does not contain the works or parts of the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.

  st

  Yogyakarta, 31 July, 2010 The writer

  Dibson Williansyah

  

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms

of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure

in heart. ~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

  

When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations: bright sun,

blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on. This helps

me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the

mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by

the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away

from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart. ~Diane

Ackerman

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.

  

~John F. Kennedy

After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable. A memory of

motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they

seem to go. You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles

that change and grow.

~H.G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance

  

All creatures who have ever walked have wished that they might fly.

With high wheelers a flesh and blood man can hitch wings to his feet.

  

~Karl Kron, Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle

  

I dedicate this thesis to my parents, big family,

friends, teachers, and my aunty

for her backup in anything, thank you all.

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to express my highest gratitude to my lord, my Guidance, Teacher, Brother, and lover: ALLOH S.W.T, who always accompanies and gives me strength and blessing so that I can finish this thesis. “My Lord! You are the one’.

  My sincere gratitude goes to Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum., my advisor, for her guidance, patience, kindness, advice and assistance in completing this thesis. My sincere gratitude also goes to J. Harris Hermansyah Setiajid,

  

S.S., M.Hum., my co advisor, for giving me some advices to make my thesis

better.

  The best and my greatest gratitude, the best gift given by God, my beloved family: my mom, Sri Dwiarti, for her love and patience. “Thanks mum for raising me from I was still a baby alone”. For my father, Sungkono Mukiman. “Rest in peace dad”. My greatest gratitude also goes to my aunty, CH. Sri Supartini,

  

B.A., thanks for the support, and taking care of me and all of my family. To my

  big sister, Dora Wildayanti A.Ma., my brother, Doni Wilman Saputra, my sister-in law, Santi, and my nephew, Bimo and Abimanyu, thanks for their love and support.

  I am grateful to my all of best friends: ride bro Moson Comrade “The

  

Bike”, ”thanks for the ride bro”, Feme “Bagyo”, Jojo “Ojon”, Patrick

“Patimura”, Edward “Sutet”, Ucok “Kribo”, Martha “Eneng’, Tita

  

“Garang”, Nanang “Tuyul’, Riski “Highwind”, Bobi “The Walker”, Budi

“Mesum”, Itonk “Simbah”, Ronny Nababan, Jati, Soni “juragan”, Siswanto,

Corry ‘Panda”, Eka “Genius”, Dita “ndut”,Dita “Kacamata”, Amel “Cici”,

Tini “Red Death”, Sisca, Rani, Luthfi, Adisti, Nelly, my biking friends; Ignas,

Sarput, Helmi, Bli, and many others that I could not mention one by one down

  here, for their support, assistance and true-friendship, ”thanks guys, I’m not the last man standing anymore”. Also for my relatives in Tanjung Pinang, Jakarta and others city, thanks for the guidance and support from the beginning to the end of my study.

  Dibson Williansyah

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ......................................................................................................... i

APPROVAL PAGE .............................................................................................. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................................ iii

LEMBAR PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH...........................v

MOTTO PAGE.....................................................................................................vi

DEDICATION PAGE.........................................................................................vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................x

ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... xii

ABSTRAK .......................................................................................................... xiii

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 A. Background of the Study ......................................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ............................................................................... 2 C. Objectives of the study ............................................................................ 3 D. Definition of Terms ................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .............................................................. 5 A. Review of Related Studies ...................................................................... 5 B. Review of Related Theories .................................................................... 8

  1. Character and Characterization ......................................................... 8

  2. Violence Against Women ............................................................... 10

  3. Ideological and Repressive Structures ............................................ 12

  4. Factors That Perpetuate Violence Against Women ........................ 15

  C. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 16

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 17 A. Object of the Study ................................................................................ 17 B. Approach of the Study ........................................................................... 18 C. Method of the Study .............................................................................. 19 CHAPTER IV ........................................................................................................ 21 A. The Violence Experienced by the Major Characters ............................. 21

  1. Mariam ............................................................................................ 21

  2. Laila ................................................................................................. 25

  3. Rasheed ........................................................................................... 28

  4. Hakim .............................................................................................. 30

  B. The Structures that Sanction Violence against Women ........................ 33

  1. Repressive Structures ...................................................................... 34

  a. Government ............................................................................ 34

  2. Ideological Structures ...................................................................... 45

  a. Religion .................................................................................. 46

  b. Family .................................................................................... 50

  C. The Characters’ Response to the Structures that Sanction Violence against Women ......................................................................................

  55

  1. Mariam’s Response ......................................................................... 56

  2. Laila’s Response ............................................................................. 64

  3. Rasheed’s Response ........................................................................ 72

  4. Hakim’s Response ........................................................................... 79

  CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 83 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................. 86

  

ABSTRACT

  DIBSON WILLIANSYAH (2010). The Major Characters’ Response Toward

  

Repressive and Ideological Structures That Sanction Violence Against

Women in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. Yogyakarta:

  Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  This study analyzes the novel by Khaled Hossesini entitled A Thousand

  

Splendid Suns . This novel was chosen because it describes a unique society that

  has not often been discussed in English Literature, namely Afghanistan. The topic was chosen because it relates violence, an important issue, with both men and women. The writer was interested in examining the relation between violence, men and women in Afghan society.

  Three problems are formulated to discuss in this study, namely how violence against women is experienced by the major characters in the novel, what are the structures that sanction violence against women, and how the major characters respond to the structures that sanction violence against women.

  This study uses Abrams, Murphy, and Little’s theories of character and characterization, Hawke’s theory of violence against women, Althusser’s theory of the repressive and ideological structures, and Heise’s theory of factors that perpetuate violence against women. This study applies library research as the method and Gender Studies as the approach. Gender Studies is chosen because this study analyzes both male and female characters’ experience in their society.

  There are three results. First, there are four major characters in the novel, Mariam, Laila, Rasheed, and Hakim. Mariam is a victim of violence against women her whole life, since the pre-birth to the elderly phase. Laila is not a victim of violence until the early adolescence phase, but she becomes a victim from the late adolescence to the adulthood phase. Rasheed is a perpetrator of violence in his family. Hakim is a man who is not a perpetrator of violence. Secondly, violence against women is sanctioned by the repressive and ideological structures. Repressive structures include the government, the law court, and the police, while the ideological structures in the novel include the religion and family. Lastly, the major characters respond differently to the structures that sanction violence against women. Mariam responds passively to both structures. Laila responds to the repressive and ideological structures by to rebel to it. She is not easily influenced by the ideological structures, and as soon as the repressive structures are replaced, she is free from their influence. Rasheed responds to the repressive and ideological structures by using them to do violence against women.

  Hakim responds to those structures by refusing to use them to do violence against women; in Hakim’s hands, the ideological structures lose some of the power to sanction the violence. In conclusion, repressive structures are more powerful to make the major characters obey them, but the ideological structures have more

  

ABSTRAK

  DIBSON WILLIANSYAH (2010).The Major Characters’ Response Toward

  

Repressive and Ideological Structures That Sanction Violence Against

Women in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. Yogyakarta: Jurusan

  Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Studi ini menganalisis novel karya Khaled Hosseini yang berjudul A

  

Thousand Splendid Suns . Novel ini dipilih karena menggambarkan suatu

masyarakat yang unik, yang belum banyak diangkat dalam bidang sastra Inggris.

  Topik ini dipilih karena berhubungan dengan kekerasan, sebuah isu penting, dengan pria maupun wanita. Penulis tertarik untuk meneliti hubungan antara kekerasan, pria dan wanita dalam masyarakat Afghanistan.

  Tiga permasalahan dibahas dalam studi ini, yaitu bagaimana kekerasan terhadap wanita dialami oleh tokoh-tokoh utama novel ini, struktur-struktur apa saja yang memungkinkan adanya kekerasan terhadap wanita, serta bagaimana respon tokoh-tokoh utama terhadap tersebut.

  Studi ini menggunakan teori karakter Abrams, Murphy, dan Little, teori kekerasan terhadap wanita oleh Hawke, teori struktur represif dan ideologis Althusser, serta teori faktor yang meneruskan kekerasan terhadap wanita oleh Heise. Studi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka dan pendekatan Studi Gender. Pendekatan ini dipilih karena studi ini meneliti baik pengalaman pria maupun wanita dalam masyarakat mereka.

  Ada tiga hasil analisa.Pertama, tokoh utama dalam novel ini ialah Mariam, Laila, Rasheed, dan Hakim.Mariam adalah korban kekerasan sepanjang hidupnya, sejak tahap pra-lahir sampai usia lanjut.Laila bukanlah korban kekerasan sampai tahap remaja awal, tapi sejak tahap remaja akhir sampai dewasa. Rasheed merupakan pelaku kekerasan terhadap wanita.Hakim bukan pria pelaku kekerasan.Kedua, kekerasan terhadap wanita dimungkinkan oleh struktur-struktur represif dan ideologis.Struktur represif mencakup struktur pemerintah, hukum,dan polisi,sedangkan struktur ideologis mencakup struktur agama dan keluarga.Yang terakhir,para tokoh utama menanggapi struktur-struktur tersebut dengan cara berbeda. Mariam menanggapi struktur-struktur tersebut secara pasif, karena ia selalu berada di bawah pengaruh struktur ideologis.Laila menanggapi struktur- struktur tersebut dengan memberontak. Ia tidak mudah dipengaruhi struktur ideologis, dan mudah bebas dari pengaruh struktur represif. Rasheed menanggapi struktur represif dan ideologis dengan memanfaatkan struktur-struktur tersebut untuk membenarkan tindak kekerasannya terhadap wanita. Hakim menanggapi struktur represif dan ideologis dengan menolak menggunakannya untuk melakukan kekeraasan;di tangannya,struktur ideologis kehilangan kekuatannya untuk mendukung kekerasan terhadap wanita. Kesimpulannya, struktur represif lebih kuat memaksa para tokoh utama mematuhi struktur-struktur tersebut,namun

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature always reflects human life. Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literature even regard literature as representing human life. Literature is the reflection of human feeling toward his life. It is closely

  related to human experience through which we can learn the image of human beings that is expressed in the written way. It can also be defined as the work of arts which represents human life (1956: 94). As shown in the quotation above, literature is very close to human life, so human beings can learn a lot from literature. Some chief aspects that can be learned from literature is about human beings and the society. According to Langland in Society

  

in the Novel , the society in a literary work is “not only a concept and a construct

  in fiction, but also in life” (1984: 6). The society is revealed through human relationships, the characters’ patterned interactions, and their common expectations of one another (Langland, 1984: 6).

  One of the literary works which reveal about human life and society is a novel written by Afghan writer Khaled Hosseini, entitled A Thousand Splendid

  

Suns . This novel shows the life of people in Afghanistan, who must experience

  war and change of regimes in their government. As depicted in the novel, in Afghan society, there is so much violence against women. The female characters in this novel constantly experience violence, whether by their own partner, family, and even other people, which is clearly against humanity.

  A lot of studies have been dedicated to discuss women’s subordination to men or women as the victim of patriarchy, with the focus on feminism. Men are often generalized as the oppressors, while women are the victims. However, real life is comprised of both men and women living and working together. Therefore, it will be better to pay equal attention to the men’s and the women’s side. After closer examination, not all men participate in violence against women, as depicted in the novel. Some men even oppose violence against women. The fact that violence against women still strongly happens although some men do not participate in it becomes an interesting point to study.

  In this study, the writer will discuss Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns by analyzing both male and female characters in the novel. The writer seeks to analyze the structures that sanction violence against women and their influence on the characters in the novel, in order to discover how violence against women is maintained. By examining this literary work and this topic, it is hoped that the readers will understand more about the society and human life.

B. Problem Formulation

  In order to guide and limit the subjects under discussion, the research questions are formulated as follows:

1. How is violence against women experienced by major characters in

  Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns? 2. What are the structures that sanction violence against women depicted in

  3. How do the major characters respond to the structures that sanction violence against women?

  C. Objectives of the Study

  This study aims to answer the questions in the problem formulation. The first objective of the study is to discover how violence against women is experienced or done by the major characters in the novel. The second objective is to identify the structures that sanction violence against women in the novel.

  Lastly, the third objective is to discover how the major characters respond to the structures that sanction violence against women.

  D. Definition of Terms 1. Violence against Women

  According to the Innocenti Digest issued by UNICEF in June 2000, The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (in Hawke, 2000: 3).

2. Repressive Structures

  As discussed by Barry in Beginning Theory, Louis Althusser defines repressive structures as institutions which maintain state power and operate by external force, such as the law courts, prisons, the police force, and the army (Barry, 2002: 164).

3. Ideological Structures

  As discussed by Barry, ideological structures are “groupings as political parties, schools, the media, churches, the family, and art which foster an ideology

• – a set of ideas and attitudes – which is sympathetic to the aims of the state and the political status quo” (2002: 164). Ideological structures work by seeming to secure the internal consent of its citizens.

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies This section discusses two studies which discuss Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns . The first study is a review of the book by Natasha Walter, which was published in British newspaper The Guardian on May 19,

  2007, and the second study is an article by Michiko Kakutani, which was published in The New York Times on May 29, 2007.

  In her review entitled “Behind the Veil”, Walter describes A Thousand

  

Splendid Suns as the “female counterpart” of Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite

Runner (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/may/19/featuresreviews.

  guardianreview21). While The Kite Runner tells about two Afghan boys’ struggle for decent lives in the middle of wars in Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns tells about the lives of two women, Mariam and Laila, in Afghan society.

  First Hosseini describes Mariam’s sufferings as a poor illegitimate child with no education. After her mother dies, her father marries her off to a man called Rasheed, who forces her to always obey him and often hits her. Then, in contrast, Hosseini describes Laila’s life as a young girl from a liberal family, with a father who supports her education and a “respectful and intelligent boyfriend” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/may/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview2 1). After a rocket attack kills Laila’s family, she is forced to be Rasheed’s second wife for survival. Laila and Mariam eventually become close friends as fellow victims of Rasheed’s violence.

  The women's only hope of affection or solidarity is with one another, and they survive not just physically but also emotionally by putting their faith in each other and in their love for Laila's children (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/may/19/featuresreviews.guardianr eview21).

  Walter praises Hosseini for his carefulness in describing the political and domestic worlds, equating the book to a history lesson as much as a fiction.

  Besides describing the political background of the story, from Soviet occupation to the Mujahideen that turns from heroes to oppressors with many internal conflicts, Hosseini also describes a society where women are valued only for reproduction. Through the story, he wants to show “how behind every silent burqa in Afghanistan is an individual with a hidden history” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/may/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview2 1). Walter concludes that Hosseini does not challenge the usual western view of Afghanistan, but enriches it by adding greater knowledge and understanding to it, and makes the Afghans come alive as loving, feeling individuals.

  Meanwhile, in her article entitled “A Woman’s Lot in Kabul, Lower Than a House Cat’s”, Kakutani describes Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns as a novel dealing with the plight of women in Afghanistan, especially the “poor, uneducated women who have to endure the hardships of life, the slights of men, the disdain of society” (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/books/29kaku.html).

  In this article, the characters, plot, and setting in the novel are both praised and-white characters” with the simplicity of fairy tale or fable characters, such as “a very villainous villain” and “an almost saintly best friend” who makes big sacrifice for the protagonist (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/books/ 29kaku.html). However, the characters can successfully conjure readers’ sympathy from the circumstances they face, such as unhappy families, abusive marriages, oppressive governments and repressive cultural condition.

  Similarly, Kakutani also criticizes some parts of the plot, describing them as “soap-opera-ish events” and “embarrassingly hokey scenes that feel as if they were lifted from a B movie”, such as the quick succession of misfortunes experienced by Mariam and Laila’s tragic turn of fate, but there are also “genuinely heart-wrenching scenes that help redeem the overall story” (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/books/29kaku.html).

  The best part of this novel is the setting, which describes what daily life is like in Afghanistan, a country which most Americans only know as a place of wars and terrorism. By describing things like Taliban’s beard patrols, who look for beardless men to beat on the streets, hospitals turning away women about to give birth, and “Titanic” fever, when people bury their TV in the backyard and dig it at midnight to watch the movie, Hosseini “succeeds in making the emotional reality of Mariam and Laila’s lives tangible” to the readers (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/books/29kaku.html). According to Kakutani, Hosseini’s excellent portrayal of setting distracts the readers’ attention from the novel’s many flaws.

  The study conducted by the writer in this thesis has some similarities and some differences from the previous studies. As the first similarity, this study as well as Natasha Walter and Michiko Kakutani’s articles examine the major characters closely, especially related to the abuse or violence experienced by the characters. As the second similarity, this study as well as the articles above also discusses the setting or the background of the novel, for example related to the oppressive government. On the other hand, this study also differs from the previous studies in some ways. Firstly, Walter and Kakutani’s articles mostly focus on the female major characters, but this study focuses on both the female and the male major characters. Secondly, Walter and Kakutani’s articles are relatively short and only discuss the intrinsic elements such as characters, plot, and setting briefly without any specific theoretical foundation, but this study discusses the characters and setting in detail, based on Althusser’s theory on repressive and ideological structures. Therefore, this study not only discusses what happens in the novel, but also offers a possible explanation about why or how those things happen in the novel.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Character and Characterization

  Character is defined by Abrams as “the person presented in a dramatic or literary work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are exposed in what they say, e.g. the dialogue, and what they do, e.g. the action” (1981: 20). process in which authors describe the characters in their work, with the aim to “convey to the reader what sort of people [the characters] are” and “make the reader get to know and understand them” (1972: 161).

  Still related to the process of characterization, in Approach to Literature, Little gives an explanation on how to study a character. According to Little, a character can be studied from three main factors, namely his or her basic characteristics, his or her appearance from various points of view, and his or her place in the literary work (1981: 93).

  First, a character’s basic characteristics can be seen from the physical condition and age of the character; the social relationship, which means the personal relationship with other characters or wider social relationship such as class or occupation; and the mental qualities such as the typical ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Second, a character’s appearance from various points of view includes how the character sees himself or herself, how the other characters see him or her, and how he or she develops, or fails to develop, during the course of the story. Lastly, a character’s place in the work includes the treatment of the author, which can be flat or round, static or dynamic, sympathetic or unsympathetic; his or her position in the story, and his or her relation to the theme, for example whether the character embodies something important that the author wants to say (Little, 1981: 93).

  Little says that in a deep character portrayal, the readers will be able to see many complex traits or quality, as well as many motive and desires of the the characters. The characters can only be portrayed deeply in long works, and only one or two characters can be portrayed that way. In short works, characters can only be sketched, and therefore are more static (Little, 1981: 91).

2. Violence against Women

  According to the Innocenti Digest issued by UNICEF in June 2000, The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, which was declared in 1993, defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (in Hawke, 2000: 3).

  According to The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, violence against women includes at least three areas: violence occurring in the family, within the general community, and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State (2000: 3). Violence against women are manifested in four ways: physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse (2000: 3-4).

  Examples of physical abuse are slapping, beating, arm twisting, stabbing, strangling, burning, choking, kicking, threats with an object or weapon, and murder. It also includes traditional practices harmful to women such as female genital mutilation and wife inheritance, which is defined as the practice of passing

  Sexual abuse includes coerced sex through threats, intimidation or physical force, forcing unwanted sexual acts or forcing sex with others.

  Psychological abuse includes behaviour that is intended to intimidate and persecute, and takes the form of threats of abandonment or abuse, confinement to the home, surveillance, threats to take away custody of the children, destruction of objects, isolation, verbal aggression and constant humiliation (Hawke, 2000: 3-4).

  Economic abuse includes acts such as the denial of funds, refusal to

  contribute financially, denial of food and basic needs, and controlling access to health care, employment, and so on (Hawke, 2000: 4).

  Violence against women occurs in various phases throughout women’s life, from pre-birth, infancy, girlhood, adolescence and adulthood, to elderly. Each phase consists of different types of violence (Hawke, 2000: 3). In the pre-birth phase, the types of violence are sex-selective abortion and the effects of battering during pregnancy on birth outcomes. In infancy phase, the types of violence are female infanticide; physical, sexual and psychological abuse. In girlhood, the types of violence are child marriage; female genital mutilation; physical, sexual and psychological abuse; incest; child prostitution and pornography.

  In adolescence and adulthood, the types of violence are dating and courtship violence (for example, acid throwing and date rape), economically coerced sex (for example, school girls having sex with “sugar daddies” in return for school fees); incest; sexual abuse in the workplace; rape; sexual harassment; forced prostitution and pornography; trafficking in women; partner violence; abuse of women with disabilities; and forced pregnancy. Lastly, in the elderly phase, the types of violence are forced “suicide” or homicide of widows for economic reasons; sexual, physical and psychological abuse (Hawke, 2000: 3).

  Despite many efforts to end it, violence against women still prevails in every country, regardless of culture, class, education, income, ethnicity and age.

  One of the reasons is because violence against women is often sanctioned by other institutions in the society, such as cultural or religious institutions. People often misinterpret or even use cultural or religious regulations to justify their violence acts against women. the reality is that violations against women’s human rights are often sanctioned under the garb of cultural practices and norms, or through misinterpretation of religious tenets. Moreover, when the violation takes place within the home, as is very often the case, the abuse is effectively condoned by the tacit silence and the passivity displayed by the state and the law-enforcing machinery (Hawke, 2000: 2). Furthermore, as shown in the quote above, the condition is worsened by the state’s lack of concern to end violence against women.

3. Ideological and Repressive Structures

  Roger Webster in Studying Literary Theory: An Introduction states that at the most simple level, ideology is “a way of legitimating the power of ruling class in society” (1996: 58). It can be applied to class, gender, race, and other areas which involve the reproduction of unequal relations as natural or normal, thus distorting the actual historical conditions. Not only in the field of social studies, economics, or politics, ideology has also become “a crucial concept in literary

  Vincent Leitch in The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism describes Louis Althusser as “one of the most influential and distinctive Marxist thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century” (2001: 1476). In 1971, Althusser wrote an essay entitled “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”, which is regarded as “one of the most important contributions to ideological theory” (Webster, 1996: 59). This essay relates ideology to “how a society reproduces its basic social relations, thereby ensuring its continuing existence”; therefore, ideology is not voluntary but the result of structural factors in society (Leitch, 2001: 1477).

  If a society or state wants to ensure its continuing existence, it must maintain its power and control the citizens. The society or state achieves it through two mechanisms, namely Ideological State Apparatuses (ISA) or ideological structures, and Repressive State Apparatuses (RSA) or repressive structures (Leitch, 2001: 1477). The terms Ideological State Apparatuses and Repressive State Apparatuses are used in Webster and Leitch’s books, while the term ideological structures and repressive structures are used in Barry’s book.

  This study will use the term ideological structures and repressive structures.

  Ideological structures are “civil institutions that have legal standing, including churches, schools, the family, courts, political parties, unions, the media, sports, and the arts” (Leitch, 2001: 1477). While Barry describes ideological structures as groupings as political parties, schools, the media, churches, the family, and art which foster an ideology – a set of ideas and attitudes – which is sympathetic to the aims of the state and the political status quo (2002: 164). As discussed by Webster, ideological structures are “not directly or externally imposed forms of ideological coercion, but arise from within society” (1996: 59).

  They work by seeming to secure the internal consent of its citizens. The form of ideological structures are complex, numerous, and different in every society. As shown in Leitch and Barry’s definition above, the ideological structures include “areas such as religion, education and culture, the media or communications, the various conventions of family life” (Webster, 1996: 59).

  Meanwhile, repressive structures are the opposite of ideological structures. They are the institutions which maintain state power and operate by external force, such as the law courts, prisons, the police force, and the army (Barry, 2002: 164). Webster defines repressive structures as ways in which the state controls people directly through established and institutionalized means such as the police, the armed forces, the government administration, the penal system, and so on (1996: 59).

  However, despite operating by force, these structures are viewed as less powerful than the ideological structures. Althusser says that “dominant social order would not survive if it relied only on force” (Leitch, 2001: 1477).

  There are some differences between the ideological and repressive structures. Firstly, the ideological structures “seem to operate by consensus”; they “appear to be natural and freely chosen, possessing what Althusser calls ‘relative autonomy’ from the state or the ruling class” (Webster, 1996: 59), while the repressive structures do not operate by consensus and clearly are not freely chosen. As discussed by Leitch, the ideological structures “attain their power not by means of explicit coercion or force but through implicit consent realized in accepted ‘practices’” (2001: 1477).

  Secondly, the ideological structures are “far more effective” than coercion in the repressive structures, because “people willingly participate in their own subordination and the maintenance of the status quo” (Webster, 1996: 59-60). Thirdly, unlike the repressive structures, the ideological structures are not unified. Lastly, the ideological structures operate primarily in the private sphere, while repressive structures operate in the public sphere (Leitch, 2001: 1477).

4. Factors that Perpetuate Violence against Women

  According to L. L. Heise in Violence against Women. The Hidden Health

  

Burden , there are many factors that perpetuate domestic violence. They can be

  classified into four main categories, namely cultural, economic, legal, and political factors (Heise, 1994: 46).

  Some examples of cultural factors are gender-specific socialization, cultural definitions of appropriate sex roles, expectations of roles within relationships, belief in the inherent superiority of males, values that give men proprietary rights over women and girls, notion of the family as the private sphere and under male control, customs of marriage for example bride price or dowry, and acceptability of violence as a means to resolve conflict (Heise, 1994: 46).

  Some examples of economic factors are women’s economic dependence on men, limited access to cash and credit, discriminatory laws regarding divorce or widowhood, limited access to employment in formal and informal sectors, limited access to education and training for women (Heise, 1994: 46).

  Some examples of legal factors are lesser legal status of women either by written law and/or by practice, laws regarding divorce, child custody, maintenance and inheritance, legal definitions of rape and domestic abuse, low levels of legal literacy among women, insensitive treatment of women and girls by police and judiciary (Heise, 1994: 46).

  Some examples of political factors are under-representation of women in power, politics, the media and in the legal and medical professions, domestic violence that are not taken seriously, notions of family being private and beyond control of the state, risk of challenge to status quo/religious laws, limited organization of women as a political force, and limited participation of women in organized political system (Heise, 1994: 46).

C. Theoretical Framework

  This part will discuss the contribution of the above theories and reviews in solving the problems. Firstly, Abrams, Murphy, and Little’s theories of character and characterization and Hawke’s theory of violence against women are used to answer the first problem about how violence against women is experienced or done by the major characters. Abrams, Murphy, and Little’s theories are used to discuss the characters’ description, while Hawke’s theory is used to discuss whether the female characters are victims of violence against women and whether

  Secondly, Althusser’s theory of the repressive and ideological structures and Hawke’s theory of violence against women are used to answer the second problem about the structures that sanction violence against women in the novel. Althusser’s theory is used to identify the structures that sanction violence against women, while Hawke’s theory is used to identify the forms of violence.

  Finally, Heise’s theory of factors that perpetuate violence against women is used to answer the third problem about how the major characters respond to violence against women.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The object of this study is a novel entitled A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, which was first released on May, 22 2007. It is Hosseini’s

  second novel, following his debut novel entitled The Kite Runner in 2003. The edition used in this study was published by Riverhead Books in 2007. It consists of 443 pages, which are divided into four parts. The first part focuses on one of the main characters Mariam, the second and fourth parts focus on the other main character, Laila, and the third part focuses on both Mariam and Laila.

  This novel is set in two cities in Afghanistan, namely Kabul and Heart, in the period of three decades since the Soviet invasion era in the 1970s, the Taliban era, to the post-Taliban reconstruction era in the 2000s. The novel is about two women from different backgrounds, Mariam and Laila. Mariam is an illegitimate child who lives in poverty with her mother in a small village outside Herat. After her mother dies, her father marries her off to a shoemaker named Rasheed in Kabul. Rasheed forces Mariam to obey him and often does violence to her. Laila is a daughter of a modern, intellectual family in Kabul. Her father is a teacher who encourages her to get the highest education. Laila also has a boyfriend named Tariq. Neither her father nor her boyfriend ever does violence to her.