If A Hero Could Change The World ( Don 't Jump Into It )

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.

Completely by different circumstances are the members of the middle generation shaped – Amir, Hassan and Assef. Their childhood covers the transitional part of Afghanistan’s 20-th century history. Of course, the boys are really different in nature, but Soviet occupation is what caused such different roads to be chosen by the three characters. And that huge change in their lives determined who they are going to grow into as adults.

For this assignment the cultural manifestations I selected to discuss as being important to our Unit’s success are Wasta, Deference to authority, and Tendency to seek compromise. Of course understanding all of the cultural manifestations are important to our unit’s success, but each region within the Middle East-North African (MENA) region will have their own variations based upon which branch of Islam is dominant in the region, what that region’s experience has been with the U.S. or a Western presence in general and numerous other factors such as the prevailing socio-economic factors of the region.

Many people growing up in the area felt that war against one another was right and affective. Though they have been devastated by war in the pass, many do not know anything different. It is a cycle, if having war and violence is something child and adults are used to having, then it will always be in their blood, they will always want to try and hurt one another. ”As terrorism becomes normal, it becomes acceptable. It grows into a routine.” For the most part the Arab children felt as though war was more important than then Jewish child. “Nearly all the Arab children, 94 percent, said that

Society is introduced to new situations, ideas, advancements, and technologies that can change lives in the blink of an eye, but also can change a person’s identity. For instance, Nafisi writes about her country’s ideal culture and the way the people have “…become the figment of someone else’s dreams” (296). The Iranian society has fallen under an introduced idea presented by the government, shifting the daily lives of women who live there. In Iran, women do not get to create an identity they can live by, instead they “…had both a real history and a fabricated one. Although they came from different backgrounds, the regime that ruled them had tried to make their personal identities and histories irrelevant. They were never free of the regime’s definition of them as Muslim women” (Nafisi 296). Women in Iran are not allowed to present themselves in a personal and unique style; instead they must wear what society pictures the Muslim woman in. Not only did this idea change the lifestyle of these citizens, but it also made women lose their identity and ability to present their imagination. Nafisi and Sacks concur that imagination plays a major role in building one’s own identity since it provides a person with the ability to put their personal attributions to

Owing to events like the 9/11 attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City in the United States and the Arab Spring in North African and the Middle Eastern countries, there is a growing interest in the West from people who want to know what is happening with the Arab world. Margaret Nydell in the book, Understanding Arabs , provides information to instruct those who want to increase their understanding about the Arab people in general. Nydell describes Arab beliefs, values, and concepts related to friendship, family, social structure, and to many other areas. The text examines the Arab countries based in three regions: North Africa, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula. It gives an updated representation of the Arab world and serves as introductory reading to promote understanding of the cultures represented among Arabs.

In Khaled Hosseini’s iconic book, The Kite Runner, religion and belief are a key factor in the growth and identity of its characters. The book depicts clearly the separation between the Pashtun and Hazaras. The Sunni were considered as true Muslims, therefore superior to the Shiites. Amir and Hassan are prime examples of this, as they witness the effects of social status firsthand. Hassan was constantly bullied and harassed in public; this was not a result of any foul actions nor was it deserved: it was simply because of his blood.

According to Amin Maalouf, “It seems clear that the Arab East still sees the West as a natural enemy. Against that enemy, any hostile action-be it political, military, or based on oil-is considered no more than legitimate vengeance. And there can be no doubt that the schism between these two worlds dates from the Crusades, deeply felt by the Arabs, even today, as an act of rape” (Amin Maalouf). When reflecting on The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, this quote always sticks out as the most powerful piece of Maalouf’s work. As a growing college student this quote brings harsh reality to the world I live in. I believe as you grow through life, you become more and more aware of the world around you through education. In order to

Suleiman’s overall growth from a young boy into a man is entirely different from Western traditions, as he follows Baba, Moosa and others traditions in the story where Libyan society has turned them into ones who fight for respect and dignity, rather than earn it. These arguments created are fully based on situations written by Matar which are observed by myself in an effort to point out the unjustly situations. However, the title of the novel, In the Country of Men, likely gave the readers the impression that most of the story would be based on manhood and what being a man really means in a country like Libya. In the novel, men who have earned the respect of others have solidified their primary status of being in complete and total control, where having some sort of ‘power’ entails commanding all women and children affiliated with him. In the story, women had no choice but to serve the men, seeming almost customary, proving that in this instance, gender domination is evident.

In life, we all come across people in our everyday lives. There are some of those who have had major impacts on us or those who have not at all. Either way, we are affected by them because even the minimum variances between us and other people allows us to gain new perspectives. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, it is set in early 1960s to the early 1980s in Afghanistan. Although it was published 15 years ago, this novel is still read in many english courses due to the valuable knowledge that the novel debriefs about the Afghan people and people’s tendencies in general.

In “A Devil’s Theory Of Islam,” Edward W. Said reviews a book by Judith Miller. In the book, Miller focuses on Islam in the Middle East, and Islam as a threat to the West. Islam since the eighth century was always known as a religion that contains violence and terror. However, Said says that the violence has mostly affected the Middle Eastern countries by dragging them down into poverty. Said says that Islam’s acts affect its citizens, and powerful Islamic countries are under the control of the United States.

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.

Inherited stereotypes of Muslims are dominant; Muslims are treated as savages, and the citizens of Qu’nesh are shown to be backward, illiterate, and ignorant of worldly matters. This representation serves a larger political agenda. Towards the end of the twentieth century, there was a widely shared view that Muslim countries were meant to remain under western tutelage, as much because they were profitable as because they were underdeveloped and in need of Western discipline. Be that as it may, and despite the frequent racism and aggression directed at the Muslim world, Europeans did express a fairly energetic sense of what Islam meant to them. Hence the misrepresentations of Islam – in scholarship, art, literature, music, and public discourse-

As a further means of separating the population into distinct groups, religion acts as a divisionary force between characters and cultures. There are two primary conflicting cultures represented in the novel that are the cause of religious differences: Sunnis versus Shi’ites and secularism versus religious fundamentalism. Similar to the discrimination based on ethnicity, the conflict based on religion is primarily exemplified through Assef and Hassan, who are Sunni and Shi’ite, respectively. As such, any justification for inclusion and exclusion of people not based solely on ethnicity could just be rationalized through differences of religion. With this prevalent culture present, the importance is in the author’s depiction of the “bleak hypocrisies of the Taliban period--the disgusting cruelties performed in the name of righteousness” as stated by David Denby in “Hard Life.” Through the

To start with, I was born in Riyadh, the capital Saudi Arabia to a Hijazi Meccan family with Central Asian Turkic origins from my father’s side. My family had lived in the Hijaz area for five generations, but then moved to Riyadh before I was born due to work. The Hijaz area in Western Arabia was historically a cosmopolitan independent region, due to the ethnic and racial diversity of its population, the Hijazi major cities were relatively more progressive and liberal than the rest of Arabia. In the context of this paper, this is significant for many reasons, as a non-Arab Hijazi boy born in a tribal Wahhabi society that emphasized