Soraya's Moral Development

This action is already going against Afghanistan’s gender social norms, she is suppose to be a compliant young woman, by taking care of her family and not having to much power to make her own decisions. Soraya is very disturbed by the fact that there is such a double standard in gender roles in Afghanistan explaining that men "go out to nightclubs looking for meat and get their girlfriends pregnant, they have kids out of wedlock and no one says a goddamn thing.” While Soraya makes “one mistake and suddenly everyone is talking nang and namoos, and I have to have my face rubbed in it for the rest of my life" (Hosseini 179). Hosseini portrays this double standard between men and women in this quote, explaining that women are expected much more of than men, if they make one little mistake, it carries with them for the rest of their life. Women are expected to have limited rules which weakens their power, whereas men are able to just live life which strengthens their power. Lastly, Soraya's father, General Taheri, makes her cut all of her hair off in after she forcefully comes home from Virginia. Hair is a symbol of femininity and freedom so when her father makes her cut it all off is conveys the meaning of her loss freedom. Therefore, she loses more power while General Taheri gains more. Finally, Hosseini portrays masculine power over women bringing out the evil in men in The Kite Runner

It affected Amir because he had a high regard on their relationship. “ A boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man that can’t stand up to anything “ . This quote foreshadows how Amir would not stand up neither for himself nor for other people such as Hassan. Indeed Amir have made several mistakes , for instance when he was spectator of his half brother getting sexually assaulted but did not try to rescue him . Amir did not act well but from another perspective he benefited from his bad actions to change into a better person, he learned how to be patient and how to catch up for bad sins. Thereupon, personality can not be toughen without adversities , they made Amir the person that he became, a man who stood up for his dad and who sought the best for Sohrab .

Soraya, daughter of the war hero, General Taheri, was hit especially hard by this gossip, and it traveled with them to Los Angeles. Though she tells Amir about the horrible past she has, Amir still pursues marriage with her, loving her all the same. “How could I, of all people, chastise someone for their past?” This shows a common double standard in the Afghan culture that also exists in our culture, to an extent. “Their sons go out to nightclubs looking for meat and get their girlfriends pregnant, they have kids out of wedlock and no one says a goddamn thing. Oh, they’re just men having fun! I make one mistake and suddenly everyone is talking nang and namoos and I have to have my face rubbed in it for the rest of my life.” To add to the extremity that Afghans see this sin as, after he made Soraya come home, Soraya’s father sat her in a chair, handed her a pair of scissors, and

Amir’s mother, Sofia, dies in childbirth; Amir inherits her love of literature and probably her looks to some extent, but, her being dead, never receives any motherly love or guidance, which could have helped him out of the cowardly hole he later digs himself into. Amir’s father’s best friend and business partner, Rahim Khan, tries to give Amir the motherly love he clearly needs, fostering Amir’s love of writing and steadfastly standing up for him when Amir’s father, Baba, criticizes him, but Rahim Khan does not do enough to instill honesty, courage, and strength of conviction in young Amir. Amir’s best friend, Hassan, a servant a year younger than Amir, is everything Amir is not: athletic, brave, loyal, honest, and kind, inciting jealousy in Amir. Assef, a local bully, poses a real threat to Amir, hating Amir for the crime of befriending a Hazara (oppressed ethnic minority), but Amir is protected by Hassan, allowing young Amir to freeze and not stand up for himself in Assef’s presence. Last, but most importantly, is Amir’s father, Baba, and his views on Amir: he blames Amir for Sofia’s death,

Growing up and living in Afghanistan as a woman has its challenges. Parents choose who can marry you and they choose everything for you. In this book, Laila and Mariam both show the struggles it is to be a girl, and how much disrespect they get in Afghanistan. Both Mariam and Laila are married to the same man, and he is abusive to both of them. They also live under Taliban rule, and the rules that they set are very unfair for women. In Khaled Hosseni’s novel, he has many different themes but the most prevalent one is of woman inequality, and that is shown through multiple accounts of abuse, disrespect, and unfairness.

One of Amir's prime qualities of his personality is being able to redeem himself. Throughout the story, Amir makes horrible decisions like running away as Hassan is raped, and strives for the affection of his father through jealousy. Although he makes a lot of mistakes, Amir proves that he can be a sharpened person towards the end of the story when he tries to adopt Sohrab, Hassan’s son. Amir and Sohrab eventually go to America, and when Amir and Sohrab talked, Amir told him, “I won’t ever get tired of you, Sohrab...Not ever. That’s a promise. You’re my nephew, remember (Hosseini 324)?” Amir greatly redeems himself by taking care of Sohrab

In contrast with this, the most loving relationship between father and son we see is that of Hassan and Sohrab. Hassan, however, is killed, and toward the end of the novel we watch Amir trying to become a substitute father to Sohrab. Their relationship experiences its own strains as Sohrab, who is recovering from the loss of his parents and the abuse he suffered, has trouble opening up to Amir.

With this in mind one can see how maintaining family connection in Afghanistan is the best way to reach success. Men and women have different roles within these households as well. Ultimately their actions bring honor or shame onto their family based off of these roles, for instance while men work to provide income, women receive great honor through being a good wife and mother (Fluri, 2011). These methods gaining honor or shame often stem from their Muslim religion which carries over into their social lives. Afghan women typically wore long baggy clothing such as burqas as they are modest and provided them with a sense of spatial privacy (Fluri, 2011). They also wore their clothing such as a hijab is seen necessary as a sign of respect to their god as the people around them (Fluri, 2011). They also also hold power within the household through social networking for her family, giving her the responsibility to extend the family contacts through this manner and control who the family is associated with (Fluri, 2011). Women would traditionally gather in places void of men forming their own social sphere to better themselves and their families(Schütte,2014). Women even sometimes marry for the sake of creating a permanent connection to another family. All of these concepts are completely foreign to westerners as we don’t socialize in this manner, but even if we don’t except their social norms, that doesn’t give us a right to critique it.

The relationship that grows between Sohrab and Amir reveals a method for Amir to diminish his guilt from his childhood because of how much of Hassan he sees in Sohrab. For starters, their physical characteristics are intensely similar. Amir notices that “the resemblance was breathtaking,” (279) during his first-time meeting Sohrab when he is trying to free Sohrab from Assef’s control. Being able to actually see Hassan, Amir’s childhood best friend, in this boy allows for Amir to feel as if he’s

Soraya's father is very similar to Baba in his traditional culture ways, and believes that having a family, a blood family, is very important. “‘I’ll say one more thing’ he said. I could tell he was getting revved up; we were about to get one of the general’s little speeches. ‘Take Amir jan, here. We all knew his father, I know who his grandfather was in Kabul and his Great-grandfather before him, I could sit here and trace generations of his ancestors for you if you asked. That’s why when his father— God give him peace — came khastegari, I didn't hesitate. And believe me, his father wouldn't have agreed to ask for your hand if he didn’t know whose descendant you were. Blood is a powerful thin, sachem, and when you adopt, you don't know whose blood your bringing into your house.” This part of the culture makes it hard for Amir to come to grips with the thought of adoption and this divides him and his wife because they both want a child but to get one they would go against the cultural ideals of themselves and their parents. This connects back to his struggle for masculinity because in the eyes of himself and his culture a man should be able to raise his own family, and he doesn't see adopting a kid as his own until after he meets Hassans

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.

In The Kite Runner men and women have roles to play in Afghan society. Men are universally portrayed as physically and emotionally strong. Women as submissive, dependent,and pure. This fits with stereotypes in the world because stereotypically men are viewed superior sex. Examples of characters who are positively shown for there gender specific roles are Baba and Soraya's mother Khala Jamila. Baba obviously is physically strong and does show few emotions his interest and bravery make him the epitome of the Afghan male. Khala Jamila is very submissive to the general and has even given up singing to appease her husband. Characters who don’t fit the mold like Amir and Soraya are in a negative light. Soraya has a rebellious spirit and has to keep

The role women play in this novel demonstrates a significant part in how Afghanistan is portrayed. The first most important part of a woman’s life shown in The Kite Runner is her reputation. The level of respect they get is dependant on their reputation of being a proper woman. Maintaining a good social status for Afghan women is a lifelong restriction because when they do something against the role of a good woman, their reputation is tarnished. One example of this shown through the reputation of Soraya Taheri in the novel. Soraya runs

Amir attains happiness through many of his accomplishments, one of these accomplishments is the marriage between him and his love, Soraya, which gives him happiness through companionship and trust. Companionship is a major factor in people’s happiness level. This is evident in today’s society as people in isolation suffer from low happiness levels. Therefore, Amir attains happiness through the companionship he gains from his marriage. Amir’s attainment of happiness through his marriage is evident when he states: “‘I’m so happy I don’t know what to say.’” (Hosseini 173) when Soraya’s father approves their marriage. Marriage also gives Amir happiness through the trust he gains from it. The trust Amir has for Soraya is apparent when he states: “’No, Soraya. Not even close… Nothing you said changes anything. I want us to marry.’” (Hosseini

The story is based on the life and journey undertaken by Amir, the protagonist. Hosseini expresses essential ideas in his novel through the themes of redemption/atonement, the relationship between father and son and lastly, the theme of degradation/discrimination. The author expresses these themes through the setting and characterization. Hosseini presents characters from different social status in Afghanistan and how this affected their childhood. Amir despite coming from a privileged class had to work hard for his atonement by going back to Afghanistan to face his demons as well as to mend his relationship with his father who had rejected him since his birth. On the other hand, Hassan, from the minority class suffered because of his social status after he was abused and mistreated by those in power. The Kite Runner is a story about two boys who grew up in different worlds because of the presence of various social classes in