The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

People are different in many ways. Ranging from colour of their skin to their ethnic backgrounds. How society copes with these differences is what defines prejudice and discrimination. Racism, social class and ethnicity have become a never ending cycle that begins to shape the opinions of how people treat one another. The novel The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini revolves around a society constructed around two socially diverse ethnic groups the Pashtuns who practice Sunni Islam and the Hazaras who follow Shia Islam. Throughout the novel The Kite Runner, a variety of characters have made decisions that affect the overall outcome of the novel which base around ethnicity, race and social class.

The novel The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is the story of a young, upper class boy by the name of Amir and his friend, a lower class boy named Hassan. While Amir is a Pashtun and a Sunni Muslim, Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi’a muslim, which causes the main conflict between the two. Amir and Hassan learn more and more about their social status, as well as their personal friendships and problems as they grow up in Afghanistan.

“There is a way to be good again”(Hosseini,2). This thought represents the underlying message of the novel The Kite Runner, as author Khaled Hosseini tells a heartbreaking tale of a lifetime spent in the search of redemption for a “past of unatoned sins” (Hosseini, 1). Very often people undergo numerous internal conflicts throughout their lives, and they find that some of their problems change who they are as a person. Most people will not have the courage or the motivation to deal with and fix their problems, however, Khaled Hosseini’s novel inspires people to face and deal with internal conflicts. In the book The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the main character Amir constantly struggles with guilt about his childhood mistakes and he finds it very hard to deal with them. The ending of The Kite Runner appropriately concludes the story because it portrays a journey of redemption for a childhood betrayal and ends with a hopeful message of new beginnings and freedom from past sins.

All human relationships are complicated, there are many instances in the Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, which portrays the complexity of human character. Throughout the book, the Amir is burden with his own guilt from his childhood summer of nineteen seventy-five . As the book progresses the reader is forced to grapple with the meaning if redemption and the true meaning of family. Many readers have often debated whether Amir has actually attained redemption for his actions; however through the latter half of the novel the reader comes to understand that Amir does in fact redeem himself.

According to the new data from UNICEF, fifty seven percent of marriages in Afghanistan involve girls that are under sixteen. In Afghanistan, located in the southern Helmand province, as many as 144 forced marriages were reported. In particular, farmers have been forced to abandon their daughters to the creditor as pay off for his debts. After the daughter is sold, she would be forced into marriage with anyone the creditor chose. This pertained to girls that were six years old or some even younger. These types of marriages were deemed valid in Afghan society and were quite frequent as well. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a man named Amir has an arduous time trying to deal with his past as he moves from Afghanistan to America. The text cites several examples of how some types of marriages were forbidden in Afghanistan. Common marriages are comprised of forced marriages, arranged marriages and love marriages in Afghan society.

“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, is the complex story about a father and a son who struggle to find common ground. They are from Kabul during a time where danger was everywhere. Amir was a conflicted boy trying to find his place and purpose. He believed his father; Baba disliked him because his birth was the reason his mother passed. While Amir’s father favored the son of their family servant, Hassan. Amir’s friendship with Hassan was genuine until a tragic event Amir witnessed of Hassan and Amir did not step into help. Amir’s father once told him he needed to learn to stand up to people. That crime against Hassan changed Amir for the worse, something he could never let go of throughout his life. These are the main characters of the

sin and forget about it. Amir then faced the long bumpy road to redemption. Khaled Hosseini’s

The human body is built to attack infections, cuts, bruises, or bacterial cells as a way to repair the damages caused. The human mind will not repair the damages by itself; it usually needs an outside source to heal. One outside source that could heal a mind is the act of forgiveness. It can put a guilty conscience at peace. In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir’s body could fix itself after the physical injuries Assef caused, but his mind took years to heal from guilt, if it ever did. Amir wished for his absolution, but it took decades to find it. “...it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out...I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (1). Amir mishandled finding forgiveness in his childhood by treating Hassan and Ali badly, attempting to remove them from his house, demanding Hassan to throw a pomegranate at him and then as an adult, he found relief by being beaten by Assef and having a sudden realization of tranquility.

“There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft... When you tell a lie, you steal someone 's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness... there is no act more wretched than stealing” (Hosseini, 2004). Though this quote by Khaled Hosseini is written concerning a situation in fictional story, The Kite Runner, the words still ring true in our lives. A large portion of our days consists of communication and interactions between one another at work, home, and social groups/events, even though a large part of those interactions are not pure. Lying is becoming more common in individuals of all age groups. In fact, it is estimated that individuals lie 1.65 times per day according to an article written by Gad Saad (2011), but why do we lie so often when we ultimately crave the truth, especially when the truth is a pivotal point in business decisions? In this paper we are going to investigate the types of lies people tell, why they tell them, the repercussions of their actions, and what human resources can do to help diminish this type of communication in the workplace.

The human body is built to attack infections, cuts, bruises, or bacterial cells as a way to repair the damages caused. The human mind, will not repair the damages by itself; it usually needs an outside source to heal. One outside source that could heal a mind is the act of forgiveness. In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir’s body could fix itself after the physical injuries Assef caused, but his mind took years to heal from guilt, if it ever did. It can put a guilty conscience at peace. Amir wished for his absolution, but it took decades to find it. “...it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws it’s way out...I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years” (1). Amir mishandled finding forgiveness in his childhood by treating Hassan and Ali badly, attempting to remove them from his house, demanding Hassan to throw a pomegranate at him and then as an adult, he found relief by being beaten by Assef and a sudden realization of tranquility.

In Islam, the pomegranate tree is a representation of beauty and it is said that those who eat from it will encounter a prosperous future. To contrast, Christians believe that the pomegranate tree embodies traits that are parallel to the end of the world. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini exemplifies the beauty as well as the inelegance of Amir and Hassan’s friendship through the symbol of the pomegranate tree. At the prosperous times of their friendship, the tree being lush and blooming paralleled their lives that were full of promise and companionship. As the novel progressed and their relationship soon diminished, the pomegranate tree was bare and failed to blossom corresponding with their non-existent friendship. The challenges of Amir and Hassan’s friendship contribute to the protagonist’s desire for redemption for the reason that Hassan’s adherence to Amir induces the protagonist’s resentment, Amir’s fear of external judgement creates a tense atmosphere, and finally their friendship is composed of themes that demonstrate their fluctuating relationship.

“People find meaning and redemption in the most unusual human connections.” (Khaled Hosseini) The wise man that spoke these words also wrote the book The Kite Runner. Hosseini wrote this eye opening book to create awareness of what life is like in the Middle East. Since September 11th there has been a lot of prejudices against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent. This book does not only open ones eye to life in the Middle East but it also there was a pernicious act that changes the protagonist and not for the better. How often does one stop and think, "How will this affect everyone else in my life?" Amir is given that opportunity in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of both their lives. In the alley at that time

There are so many factors in this world that contribute to prejudice, there are so many interworking’s in the brain that make prejudice so difficult for psychologists to understand just how the issue becomes such a problem in this world. Prejudice has so many different factors with how one sees in-groups and out-groups, what these individuals are told to believe and how to act, and how cognition can play a role in how a specific individual will divide up their cognitive processes or how their brain will divide up their cognitive process for them. With Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner explains the prevalence of prejudice in Afghanistan between two different groups, the Hazara and Pushtons. Three psychology processes and theories

Plot summary: Amir flashbacks to when he was twelve years old in Afghanistan. He lives with his father, Baba, and has two servants, Ali and Hassan, who are also a father and son duo. The latter two are Hazaras, Afghan’s minority, and as such, are subjected to racial slurs and cruelty. Amir and Hassan are playing when Assef, Kamal, and

Khaled Hosseini once said: “there are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.” Rape in Afghanistan is said to be an “epidemic,” but according to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of the term is “a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.” Rape in this country is viewed as something that is inevitable and cannot be stopped. Usually, rape also involves domestic violence, hence the reason they’re paired together. Contrary to common misconception, men are raped as well as women, especially children of both genders. In the Kite Runner, rape is a topic that is prevalent in and throughout the book. Bacha Bazi is even a part of the Kite Runner.