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.
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
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
When Khaled Hosseini wrote The Kite Runner, he made several important choices involving narration. He chose to write the story in first person from a limited point of view. This is a very fitting decision because, writing in the first person adds a sense of intimacy that is crucial to this story; writing from a limited perspective allows the reader to make their own conclusions about what the characters are thinking. The way Hosseini writes The Kite Runner makes it very intimate, and feels like a person telling their life story. If The Kite Runner had been written in third person, or omnisciently, the story would not have impacted readers as much, and would have been too cold and impersonal to create emotional connections with the reader.
The Kite runner is the first novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, published in 2003 by Riverhead Books . It takes place before Afghanistan’s revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. The kite runner is a vivid and engaging story that gives a picture of how long Afghanis struggled to triumph over the forces of violence, forces that threaten them even today. In this novel , four themes have been introduced, first of all Redemption is a way to make up sins committed , secondly, Adversities contribute to a person’s personality , thirdly , Fear can lead to severe mistakes and long term consequences, before last, After pain and struggles come survival and lastly, Friendship is the essence of a bond that seek the best mutually.
Comparatively, ‘The kite runner’, explores the disparity created by differences in cultural backgrounds. This connection manifests in the relationship between Amir and Hassan, though Amir is true to Hassan in private, he feels the need to relate to Hassan according to the prevailing social hierarchy in public. “Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtun’s…not the flat-nosed Hazara’s, these people pollute our homeland. They dirty our blood.” The inclusive language at the beginning of the quote is aimed at the Pashtun’s whereas the negative connotations of ‘pollute’ and ‘dirty’ emphasise the subservient position of the Hazara’s in the Afghani society and thus losing their sense of placement within society. Amir has to face that fact he is disloyal to his relationship with Hassan and begins personal growth. “He’s my servant! Had I really though that?” “Everywhere I turned I saw signs of his loyalty, his goddamn unwavering loyalty.” the absence of conjunction emphasises his thorough regrets that act as a barrier preventing him from
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.
The Kite Runner is a film based on the first novel of Khaled Hosseini, which was published in 2003 and became a bestseller, thus was translated to many different languages and spread around the world, becoming a discussion topic for quite a while. One of the reasons why this book is so rich and attractive is the variety of characters, which are all born in Afghanistan and spent at least most of their childhood there, but at the same time have different views, virtues and experience. And those characters, depending on the generation they belong to, are shaped by particular circumstances, political and historical events.
Throughout the story The Kite Runner an important central theme displayed by the other is the idea that it is important to be able to confront your past mistakes or else those mistakes will torture you for the rest of your life. Many of the main characters came face to face with this idea and each of them dealt with their mistakes in different ways. Despite this, it was made clear that the characters that were able to deal with their problems ended up much better off mentally than those of them that were unable to. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, teachers the reader that confronting past mistakes is better than running from them through Amir’s feelings following his betrayal of Hassan, how Soraya felt after telling Amir about her past, and Amir’s reaction to finding out Baba was Hassan’s father.
Growing up in war torn Afghanistan during the invasion of the Soviets and the awakening rise of the Taliban destined the people of Afghanistan to never truly understand normalcy. The main protagonist of the book Kite Runner, Amir, experiences the detachment from understanding why he feels like a tourist in his own country. Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, explores the difficulties of Amir’s friendships and relationships of himself to be committed to others while struggling with loyalty by using contextual Afghan traditional culture and history to influence the textual meaning of the storyline. Amir’s experiences from the contextual Afghan traditional culture and relationships define his mistakes from the past as they recite you must
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 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.
It is 2001, and Amir has not been in Afghanistan for several years. He is living the life he always imagined, and has finally achieved what many call the “American Dream.” However, a slight homesickness is what allows him to tell a story of his past, and the struggles he faced living in a strict Afghan society, from discrimination of Hazaras, to the oppression of the Taliban. Amir has faced and witnessed things one should never as a child, and makes mistakes which he ends up regretting for little less than half a lifetime. However, with his newfound mindset in America, he sets complications right, and ultimately aids his family in escaping such obstacles one should never face. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, through Amir’s experiences as a child and as an adult, events that have impacted the region can be perceived through the character’s own point of view. From discrimination at childhood, to the Taliban regime as an adult, Amir has faced more than once can imagine, and (in the realistic fictional sense) has lived, and will live on to tell the stories of his ventures to his adopted son.
Because these writings may be new territory for certain readers, this political writing may seem “programmatic, pushing a single cause or concern or party position, or it’s tied into a highly topical situation that doesn’t transfer well out of its own specific time and place” (Foster, 117). However, the core of these examples describe issues that discusses issues with mankind, such as oppressive government - a theme found across literature. Another example includes the class struggle between the Shia Muslims, (known as Hazaras) and the Sunni Muslims (known as Pashtuns) in Afghanistan. From childhood to maturity, Amir notes that many Pashtuns look down upon Hazaras, such as Assef, his teacher, soldiers, and General Taheri. At times, this influences the interactions between Hassan’s family and other Pashtuns. As a result, the Kite Runner discusses an important cultural class struggle, which permeates throughout the span of the novel and points out it’s lack of footing. Since the world has many factors (political, economic, social, cultural, etc.), many political influences find their way into a writer’s work, even when it seems it
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
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