Analysis Of The Kite Runner And A Thousand Splendid Suns

The Kite Runner is the first novel of Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, whose closest friend is Hassan, a young Hazara servant. Novel turns around these two characters and Baba, Amir’s father, by telling their tragic stories, guilt and redemption that are woven throughout the novel. Even in the difficult moments, characters build up to their guilt and later on to their redemption. Their sins and faults alter the lives of innocent people. First, Amir and Baba fail to take action on the path to justice for Ali and Hassan. Moreover, Amir and Baba continue to build up their guilt due to their decisions and actions. Although Amir builds up more guilt than Baba throughout the novel, he eventually succeeds in the road to redemption unlike his father. After all, Amir and Baba have many chances to fix their atonements but Baba chooses not to and Amir does. Baba uses his wealth to cover up his sins but never atone himself while Amir decides to stand up and save Sohrab and finally finds peace. Amir and Baba’s reaction to sins essentially indicate their peace of mind and how they react to guilt and injustice.

One major theme that is evident in The Kite Runner is that scars are reminders of life’s pain and regret, and, though you can ease the regret and the scars will fade, neither will completely go away. We all have regrets and always will, but though it will be a long hard process we can lessen them through redemption. The majority of The Kite Runner is about the narrator and protagonist, Amir. Almost all of the characters in The Kite Runner have scars, whether they are physical or emotional. Baba has scars all down his back from fighting a bear, but he also has emotional scars from not being able to admit that Hassan was also his son. Hassan is born with a cleft lip, but for his birthday Baba pays for it to be fixed, which left a small scar above his mouth. Hassan also has emotional scars from being raped. The reader is probably shown the emotional scars of Amir the most. Amir has emotional scars because he feels that he killed his mother, and also because his father emotionally neglects him. In the end of the novel, Amir receives many physical scars from getting beaten up by Assef, when rescuing Sohrab. Though scars will never go away and are a reminder of the past, not all scars are bad.

As children both Mariam and Laila suffered from mental abuse from their parents. In Mariam's life, her father was ashamed of her because she was a harami and her mother saw her as a burden. Her mother would make her feel like she was less than a person by calling Mariam a bastard, when she did Mariam “..understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she...was an illegitimate person who could never have legitimate claim over things...such as love, family, home, acceptance.."(Hosseini, 4). This was something that has affected Mariam throughout the novel. It was until Aziza came into her life and made her realize that what she was told when she was little was incorrect. This use of diction made the reader realize how heartbreaking it was for Mariam to hear those words from her mother. Laila on the other hand was severely neglected. After being bullied by the neighborhood kids after her mother once again forgot to pick her up from school; Laila believed that people "Shouldn't be allowed to have new children if they'd already given away all their love to their old ones..." (Hosseini, 119) Laila’s mother, Fariba's love for her two oldest boys always put Laila's needs and attention on the end of the list of many things she as a mother should have done. Hosseini's use of diction let the reader know how Laila felt her mother’s neglect more as a child whenever she would want her

Violence, war, discrimination, and poverty: these issues have long been a part of Afghanistan’s history. Even though things in Afghanistan are getting better, war fills the country, and women and children have to learn to endure abuse, caused by men and the Taliban; they also learn to endure poverty. Considering this, it is no wonder why Afghanistan is in the terrible position it is in now. Many Afghan cities like Kabul are filled with things like violence and discrimination, and the book A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini takes place in Kabul. This book follows the lives of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, as they suffer pain and discrimination received from the Taliban and their

Laila is aware of the rejection and neglect that baby Aziza will be given when she is born and Rasheed finds out she is not his daughter. To make sure that Aziza is protected from what is coming to her, Laila endures going through a painful night of Rasheed on top of her to make him think that Aziza is his own. “Later, when she was sure that he was asleep, Laila quietly reached beneath the mattress for the knife she has hidden there earlier. With it, she punctured the pad of her index finger. Then she lifted the blanket and let her finger bleed on the sheets where they had lain together” (Khaled, 220). Laila makes the choice to go through a painful night with Rasheed, in order to protect baby Aziza from his horrors and neglect. In the meantime, Rasheed has a breakdown after all the built up anger and irritation, and takes it all out on Laila by pinning her down and strangling her. Near to death, Mariam makes the decision to act quick and kill him, before he kills her: “I’ve killed our husband. I’ve deprived your son of his father. It isn’t right that I run. I can’t. Even if they never catch us, I’ll never...I’ll never escape your son’s grief. How do I look at him? How do I ever bring myself to look at him Laila jo” (Khaled, 358). Mariam made a hard decision to act quick

Two of the three young ladies, Kiara Rucker and Faith Gordon talked about his give up. Kiara expressed, " If it wasn't for Zaevion, we would've been shot." Faith likewise said that when the shooting finished, she disclosed to him that he could get up, yet he didn't. "I went upstairs, and when I returned to ensure that it was genuine, I saw that he had become shot in the head."

The rest of the crowd rolled their eyes at the terrible pun. Even Zaelith, once she finally began to find her breath again. She recovered just in time to lose her breath in a startled squeek when a pair of hands grabbed her arms from behind, forcibly pulling her back on her feet. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed her assailant to be the mustachioed innkeeper, his paternal countenence twisted with lustful intentions. Even as her unwilling host recoiled in horror, Zaelith reasserted her control over the body and offered the portly old man a mischevious smile, playfully sticking out her tongue

“So let’s say this is Zephyr running around terrorizing the town and supposedly kill two people what are we supposed to do?” Zay asked. “What are you getting at?” Todrick implied as he shifted through his parents drawers grabbing anything that he knew was silver. “Well I mean what if he’s gone?” Todrick stopped what he was doing and looked at Zay. He didn’t know what to say as it wasn’t something he had thought about. “I mean I know it’s a scary thought but come on Tod, he killed two people. Even if we somehow managed to get him back he did things that’ll get him put up.” Zay continued. “I see where you’re coming from but we have to at least try to save him. It’s the least i owe him for turning him into this and then abandoning him.”

Miriam's mom died, she was given up by her dad ever since she was born even although she does get weekly visits from him. Miriam was also put into an arranged marriage by her father even though she was only 15. Rasheed, Miriam's husband, was very abusive and forceful to her. She also was never able to have children even though she became pregnant 7 times, all ending up in miscarriages. Laila experienced a good childhood, she had friends and a good family. Soon all her friends either moved away or died. Laila and her family were going to move away from Afghanistan until their home was struck by a rocket, her mom and dad both died in the house while she was rescued by Rasheed who cared for her wounds. She was than convinced that he would be the safest person to be with, so then they married. Soon she became pregnant with Tariq's baby but had to act like it was Rasheed's. Miriam and Laila were both abused by Rasheed if they did anything wrong. They both experienced difficult lives. The driver states "the story of our country, one invader after another... we're like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing." Miriam and Laila are like the Buddhas, they are constantly receiving bad things one after the other. Miriam and Laila slowly falling apart, yet still holding their will. They both show how much they've gone through but what they are still trying to get to. Afghanistan has

Khaled Hosseini’s novels, The Kite Runner (year), and A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) both explore the idea that a significant individual can inspire a course of action, which may result in a change of self.

Ultimately, Mariam and Laila attempt to escape, but fail, which in turn infuriates Rasheed even more. These two women then work together and protect each other, and in due course, kill Rasheed during one of his “ritual” beatings. In the end, Mariam is killed for murdering her husband, and Laila, with her children, Aziza and Zalmai, finds Tariq and marries him; then, together they start their own family. Throughout the course of the story, not only was a passionate, well-written story presented, but also a clear picture of what Afghan culture and its aspects are really like.

“Vogel, vogel, no…” she cried, reaching out for Marya to hug her. She landed in front of Reesa, feeling concerned and confused. Reesa had cried in the past, she was a young girl after all, but never like this. Never sobbing or shaky breaths. Something was very wrong. Marya morphed back into a human to comfort

Friendship is the most important relationship in ones life. In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns and the movie The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the main characters all relay on strong friendships to get through tough times. In The Kite Runner, Amir only has his one friend Hassan to lean on, but he cuts him off due to his guilt for not being able to help Hassan during his time of need. Mariam, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, goes through many misfortunes in her life, but by opening up to Laila’s friendship she allows herself happiness. In both the book, and the movie, the theme friendship is shown through the uses of loyalty, sacrifice, and honor. Loyalty is one of the hardest traits to find in people.

Throughout Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, the reader observes many injustices committed due to the presence of the Taliban and cultural conflict in Afghanistan. One of the most concerning issues in Afghanistan is the mistreatment and inequality that women face on a daily basis due to Taliban mandates. Women in Afghanistan are treated as inferior beings to men and are unable to stand up for themselves due the laws the Taliban enforces. Hosseini uses the wives of Amir and Hassan, Soraya and Farzana, to represent the injustices to which women in Afghanistan are subjected.

Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.