Ethnic Violence In The Kite Runner

Identity continues to be a major cause for many wars, both within and without a country. History has proven that conflicts within the borders mostly involve people with very little difference between them. Most of civil wars in nations often start as ethnicity feuds and end up to full scale wars. In the chapter, The Narcissism of Minor Differences, Blok argues that it is often the small differences that lead up to prolonged struggles (p115, 2000). Somalia is an example of a nation where majority of its people share the same cultural and religious background but for a third decade now, members

In his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini depicts his homeland Afghanistan as a host to many different cultures and classes, such as Pashtun and Hazara, Sunni and Shiite, with this dichotomy of beliefs and attributes being powerful enough to shape diverse, sometimes negative relationships amongst the characters of the novel and their behavior to each other, as well as establish that individual’s identity. Each person interprets the impact of the role of belief and social status differently, while all living in the same setting, adding to their complexity and depth as a character in the novel with many different figures tied together by the same geographical and cultural conditions.

In every great piece on literature there always ends up being a scene with some sort of violence. In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini there are a couple of points that include violence that help carry the plot and contribute to the overall meaning of t there are a couple of points that include violence that help carry the plot and contribute to the overall meaning of the work. There are two scenes in particular that really show this concept such as Hassan’s rape and the fight between Armir, Assef and Sohrab. Both scenes are not just there for show, they carry the story along and show what the characters personalities and how they contribute to the plot.

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, he depicts the oppression the Hazara people face in Afghanistan through his main characters, Ali and Hassan. His vivid illustration of the demeaning behavior towards the Hazara people (Ali) set the underlying tone of this novel.

In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini purposely utilizes setting to play a pivotal role in the portrayal of an important focus when narrating a post 9/11 Afghan and American novel. The author’s deliberate incorporation of Afghan and American settings over a 3-decade time frame successfully illustrates the differences and similarities between Eastern culture and Western culture, as well as highlighting the harm each culture cultivates. The emphasis placed upon the discrimination of Hazaras by the Pashtuns not only informs the readers of the socio-economic relations in Afghanistan but also addresses a parallelism of harm towards Afghanis from Americans. Hosseini breaks down post 9/11 stereotypes by showing that a person's socio-economic class or ethnic group does not determine their ability to form friendships, feel guilt and seek redemption. Khaled Hosseini rehumanizes a culture which has been demonized by the generalizations of many individual Americans and many Hollywood films. He does this by developing universal themes which demonstrate that Afghans and Americans

War is not a common phenomenon anymore after the post cold war era. According a research conducted on active armed conflict across the world at the Uppsala University in Sweden, of all the 101 active armed conflicted between the late 80s and mid 90s, only six were actually between two different states (Solenberg &Wallensteen, 1997). These statistics clearly indicates that the conflict in today's world is more internal and ethnic based.

One of the most dangerous global issues today is the growth of separatism. There are variety causes of separatism in many countries.

​In the novel, “The Kite Runner”, written by Khaled Hosseini, was taken place in Afghanistan during the 1970’s to the year of 2002. Many historical events happened during this time period and Hosseini portrayed it into his novel. Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan, was a free, living area for many Afghanistan families to enjoy the life they were given. Until one day, Afghanistan was then taken over and attacked. In the novel, Amir, the protagonist, must redeem himself and the history behind his actions because of his past decisions and make himself good again for the Afghanistan people.

Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, takes place in Afghanistan during two different wars. The first war takes place from the nineteen seventies until nineteen eighty-eight, but a part of it has rolled into present day, two thousand fourteen. This war originally involved Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, but is now a civil war in Afghanistan (“The Afghan War”). In 1978, “Afghanistan changed forever,” (Hosseini 34). The power in Afghanistan was overthrown and handed to Marxist-Leninist political parties until the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in 1979 (“The Afghan War”). The Soviet War with Afghanistan was responsible for ripping apart families and the country of Afghanistan. During this time, 4.3 million Afghan citizens

People fight for their own rights and what they believed in, though, one of the groups

In Afghanistan, there is a divide between the Pashtuns and the Hazaras; the Pashtuns are upper class citizens who are treated with respect while the Hazaras are lower class, minority citizens who are treated poorly. Because of the contrasting history of the two groups, their responses to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul were complete opposites. The Pashtuns “danced on [the] street,” (Hosseini 200) while the Hazaras cried “God help the Hazaras now” (Hosseini 213). The conflict between the Pashtuns and Hazaras in “The Kite Runner” directly reflects the real life issues in Afghanistan starting in the late 70’s and continuing on past 2001.

Habitants of the Middle East fear for their lives, even by just being an innocent bystander. There, violence occurs daily and harms people both physically and emotionally. Although the novel is fiction it is written partly from the author of the Kite Runner’s author, Khaled Hosseini’s experience. In this case, the setting takes place in Afghanistan since Hosseini lived there during his childhood. The novel starts off as very easy-going and narrates Amir’s enjoyable childhood with his best friend Hassan, who is also his servant. However, both Amir’s and Hassan’s lives take a dark turn when they are both emotionally and physically damaged both directly and by their own country. Khaled Hosseini uses techniques such as symbolism and setting to

Back in the time before the Taliban, Afghanistan was split up into many different cultural and ethnic groups, each of which had their own background. In The Kite Runner, Hassan was from the Hazara group and Amir was from the Pashtun group. Normally, these two groups were on polar opposite sides of the scale when it came to social status, where in most cases Hazaras tended to be servants to the Pashtuns. It is true that Hassan was born into a servant family that worked for Amir and his father, but these two boys did not seem to let the stereotypical ways of the Afghan ethnic groups stop their friendship from blooming, although there were some points where the friendship was a bit shaky.

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.

incomprehensible extent. In Afghanistan, Hazaras–the ethnic minority–have experienced ethnic discrimination by Pashtuns–the ethnic majority–because of a revolt dating back to the 18th century.Another form of discrimination in Afghanistan arises from the distinct religious groups–Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims. Shi’ite Muslims correspond with the Hazara ethnic group, but the Sunni Muslims correspond with the Pashtun ethnic group. This discrimination affects every age group in Afghanistan, and affects each of those individuals, “mental and physical health” (Pascoe). In his 2003 novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini exposes and discusses the ethnic and religious discrimination found in past and present day Afghanistan. By creating tense situations that originate, whether consciously or subconsciously within the characters, the author uses these conflicts to illustrate the impacts that stem from the masculine stereotypes associated with Afghan culture, the dire need for a father’s approval, and the on­going effects of a child’s jealousy. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses these intense conflicts to develop characters’ relationships and forces the reader to consider how the main character’s loss of innocence stems from a need of approval and ethnic and religious discrimination.