The Kite Runner

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The Kite Runner

Reading for leisure provides valuable insight into the author’s imagination or prior experience giving the reader a different perspective on a certain topic or culture. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, we are introduced into a world of privilege in Afghanistan for the main character, Amir, combated with his best friend and half brother Hassan, their lowly Hazara servant. The two boys were raised together but being a Hazara is seen as an inferior race to many of the other more privileged Afghan boys, in particular a vile aggressive boy named Assef. The novel gets its name from a leisure activity known as kite fighting in Afghanistan in which Amir takes part as the main fighter while Hassan is his kite runner. Amir loves the kite fighting tournament as it is one of the only ways he is able to make his father, Baba, proud of him. Baba is a strong, wealthy, well respected man in the community and he wishes that Amir was interested in sports and in becoming a strong, popular man rather than always reading and writing stories by himself or with Hassan. Anyway, on the day of the tournament, Hassan is running to get the last kite when he is confronted by Assef and his two friends who proceed to viciously rape Hassan in the alley. When Amir goes to look for Hassan, he sees everything but is too much of a coward to stick up for his friend even though his friend had many times before and is then forced to live with that guilt for the rest of his life. Amir gets Hassan and his father to leave their servitude and go find another job, much to the dismay of Baba, and then Baba and Amir are forced to flea to Pakistan and later California as the Russians invade Afghanistan. Amir and Baba are forced to live a poverty stric...

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... previous country they might have been part of the elite or empowered class. It is scary to think about if I was forced to flea to another country, especially to one in the Middle East or somewhere not so globally integrated where I would lose my status and privilege. Through reading this novel, I feel like I have a better understanding of Afghanistan’s culture and history, and I feel like I have a newfound respect for some of the immigrants living in our country.

In conclusion, The Kite Runner is a story of love, war, and ultimately redemption. It is a prime example of how leisure reading can provide insights and concepts in different cultures and lifestyles while broadening the readers’ ideas about diversity. I really enjoyed the story and feel like I learned a lot about people and how the culture one is raised in has a tremendous affect on who that person becomes.

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