Inherited Wounds: Trauma, Silence and Healing in Khaled Hosseini’s Novels

Khaled Hosseini’s novels is a profound reflection on the transmission of trauma across generations, families and cultures. This study examines how The Kite Runner and And the Mountains Echoed build intergenerational tales of tragedy and redemption. The challenging connection between Baba and Amir in The Kite Runner reveals how secrecy and guilt create emotional legacies that shape identity and moral consciousness. Meanwhile, And the Mountains Echoed explores this topic across generations showing how Abdullah and Pari's loss and separation rebound through their descendants, creating a network of silent sorrow and memory. The study compares biological heredity to cultural and psychological transmission, highlighting that Hosseini's concept of legacy includes inherited stories, silences and moral debts. Confession, empathy and narrative restoration stop the cycles of suffering, redefining trauma as a shared inheritance that can be acknowledged and healed. This perspective frames Hosseini's works as meditations on memory, compassion and the moral need to restore across generations.