Kite Runner Essay

A source for queries is the fact that Hazaras are physically distinctive from the other ethnic groups in Afghanistan” (Justin, 159). “This distinctiveness has also had the effect of making it increasingly difficult for Hazaras to assimilate into majority cultures, either voluntarily or by force (Justin, 159).

It deals with issues such as the Taliban taking over Afghanistan and ethnic discrimination that has been taking place for a long time and that is still going on. “Despite its success, the novel did cause some controversy in Hosseini's home country for its portrayal of the Taliban and Afghan ethnic tensions” (Gale) and in fact was banned from certain areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In his novel Hosseini depicts the Taliban as a force of evil and destruction, that ruins the lives of innocent Afghan people, like Hassan, and destroys people’s homes, families, and lives. The religious influenced law enforced by the Taliban is the reason numerous Afghans were forced to flee their homes, like Amir and Baba, and is also the reason for the mistreatment and murder of many others. Hosseini’s stance on the ultraconservative religious faction is clear and quite controversial. As is another topic that he discusses: ethnic discrimination. Hosseini illustrates this through the relationship of Amir’s family and Hassan’s family. Both socially and religiously, Amir and Baba are of a higher class than Hassan and his father, Ali. As a Pashtun and a Sunni Muslim, Amir is automatically thought of more highly by society and by the church, whereas Hassan as a Hazara and a Shi’a Muslim is of the lower class and is treated poorly by the Afghan people. This type of ethnic discrimination that Hosseini depicts is something that has been going on for years, as Pashtuns remain praised and Hazaras remain persecuted against. Amir only understands the meaning of equality after moving to America where his Pashtun status means nothing to anyone. Hosseini is a strong advocator for equality, and it shines through his writing. However, The Kite Runner also speaks on more than the issues affecting Afghanistan. As Hosseini himself declares, “the novel is really about “finally putting a human face to the Afghans”... Hence the novel

Problems that the Taliban have caused, in real life, have impacted the way that many innocent people in various Arab countries used to live--long ago, life was delectable to many. People lived in a state of tranquility, and could live accompanied by one word: freedom. However, later on, and not long ago, the Taliban created a set of strict, over-the top rules that have not only completely

“There is a way to be good again” (2). This is the line that rolls through Amir's mind over and over throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner. This is the story of a mans struggle to find redemption. The author illustrates with the story of Amir that it is not possible to make wrongs completely right again because its too late to change past. In this novel Hosseini is telling us that redemption is obtainable, and by allowing us to see Amirs thought process throughout the novel, Hosseini shows us that it guilt is the primary motivation for someone who seeks redemption. Hosseini also uses not only the main character, but other secondary characters to show how big of a part that guilt plays in the desire for redemption. In this

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.

In the novel, Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist, Amir, is torn between two truths as he lived associated with different kinds of religious groups in Afghan society: Pashtuns and Hazaras. Each identity played a unique part in Amir’s life. Whether they had a positive or negative effect, both changed his values and beliefs. Individuals also shaped Amir’s character. Baba, Assef, and Hassan were major influences upon Amir’s growth throughout the book; their differences shaped Amir into the man he later became as all three represented a different side of Afghan society.

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a remarkable coming-of-age novel describing and revealing the thoughts and actions of Amir, a compunctious adult in the United States and his memories of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. The novel showcases the simplistic yet powerful ability of guilt to influence decisions and cause conflict which arises between Amir’s childhood friend and half-brother, Hassan; Amir’s father, Baba; and importantly, himself. Difference in class The quest to become “good again” causes a reflection in Amir to atone for his sins and transform into the person of which he chooses to be.

The Kite Runner was written by Khaled Hosseini and published in 2003. It tells the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Hassan, his father’s Hazara servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan’s Monarchy, through the Soviet Military intervention, the exile of Pakistan refugees to America, and the rise of the Taliban. The main theme of this book focuses on guilt and redemption. Throughout the novel, Amir is constantly trying to redeem himself. Early on, Amir strives to redeem himself through his father’s eyes primarily because his mother died giving birth to him, and he feels responsible. The more important part of Amir’s search for

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.

Since the beginning of time, women have had to fight rigorously for basic human rights. In the western stratosphere, those human rights were achieved in the early 20th century, but in a lot of eastern countries the battle for the women is just beginning, or worse hasn't even started. Women in Afghanistan have been subject to heinous circumstances, even though their religion, Islam "demanded that men and women be equal before God,"(Qazi). Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner offers a very insightful view of the governing politics of Afghanistan pre-Taliban regime and during the Taliban regime, and the differing situation of women in both those eras. Based on the book and outside research, it is evident that the situation of women in

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.

On a day to day basis, an individual is faced with an obstacle they must overcome, ultimately defining their morals and values. In the literature perspective, the novel The Kite Runner delivers multiple thematic ideas that portray the struggles of characters in their ordinary lives. Khaled Hosseini, author and physician, released his debut novel The Kite Runner in the year of 2003. This novel is written in the first person narration of Amir, a Pashtun boy that lives with his father whom he addresses as “Baba” in a large estate in Kabul, Afghanistan. Hassan and his father, Ali, are servants that works for Amir’s father

Today, people around the world hear “Afghanistan” and immediately think about terror, destruction and brutality. This did not always used to be the case though. As depicted in Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, Kabul, the capital city of the country, used to be an amazing place with modern ideals, infrastructure and, for the most part, peace. Throughout the novel, however, this narrative begins to change. Afghanistan begins to crumble after the government is overthrown and does not get much better, regardless of how many attempts to reset the government there are. As a result, the story's protagonist Amir is forced to leave his home and flee to America. Later, though, Amir returns to find his homeland even more destroyed and inhospitable. Cruelty throughout Afghanistan not only shapes the country, but the people in it as well.

“You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit” (Edward Said). People often impose their own ideas on others that caused a lot of misunderstanding and harms. This happened often in the colonies, people had to adapt to cultural and religious differences that formed the postcolonialism. It looked at various issues about power, economics, politics, religion, culture and how these elements worked about colonial hegemony. In The Kite Runner, after Amir received the letter sent by Rahim Khan and met him in Pakistan, he returned his hometown- Kabul where had been totally destroyed by Soviet during the war and the Taliban. The freedom fighter group that against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan oppressed, destroyed the colonized population who had the low social status and created lots of mental harms to citizens. Children had least power to reject the injustice of the society and they had no rights to live with their parents in Kabul, the citizens were falling in fear of public punishments and the restrictive laws. Besides, the racial discrimination between Hazaras and Pashtuns had expended wider, Taliban treated Hazaras as slaves and killed them as will. The colonized population had the harmful treatments gave by the Taliban which is an injustice.

The acts of violence that Hassan and his father, Ali recieve contribute to the overall meaning of discrimination. In The Kite Runner some were discriminated against based on their race and religion. The Pashtuns and Sunni Muslims were thought to be above the Hazaras and Shia Muslims. Ali and Hassan were Hazaras and were commonly made fun of by the kids of Kabul. They were also thought of like they did not belong in Afghanistan. The Hazara and Shia culture was taken out of school books and the majority of Pashtuns and Sunni Muslims believed they were more superior than them. Since Ali and Hassan were two hazaras, many children, especially one named Assef, would taunt the two. They would call them both “ Flat-Nose”and would call Ali “flat-nosed Babalu”. “‘Hey, Flat-Nose,’ he said. ‘How is Babalu’”(39). Since the Pashtun and Sunni Muslims felt more superior than the