Theme Of Culture In The Kite Runner

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 The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini purposely utilizes setting to play a pivotal role in the portrayal of an important focus when narrating a post 9/11 Afghan and American novel. The author’s deliberate incorporation of Afghan and American settings over a 3-decade time frame successfully illustrates the differences and similarities between Eastern culture and Western culture, as well as highlighting the harm each culture cultivates. The emphasis placed upon the discrimination of Hazaras by the Pashtuns not only informs the readers of the socio-economic relations in Afghanistan but also addresses a parallelism of harm towards Afghanis from Americans. Hosseini breaks down post 9/11 stereotypes by showing that a person's socio-economic class or ethnic group does not determine their ability to form friendships, feel guilt and seek redemption. Khaled Hosseini rehumanizes a culture which has been demonized by the generalizations of many individual Americans and many Hollywood films. He does this by developing universal themes which demonstrate that Afghans and Americans

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.

“A widespread mythological and literary motif is the one of two brothers, who hate or are in conflict with each other and which sometimes even ends in the murder of one of those brothers.”

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

In this society not everyone is equal and, for this essay in particular, it is important to know that the different ethnic races aren’t equal as well. In The Kite Runner, there are two different ethnic groups: the Hazaras and the Pushtans. The Hazaras originate from Asia and for this reason, the general conception is that Hazaras don’t have the true Afghan blood in their veins. They are often seen as servants in households. This plays a role in Amir’s conception of the world around him and, in particular, in Amir’s view on Hassan, his best

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

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

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

In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, he depicts the oppression the Hazara people face in Afghanistan through his main characters, Ali and Hassan. His vivid illustration of the demeaning behavior towards the Hazara people (Ali) set the underlying tone of this novel.

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.

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.

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.