Khaled Hosseini wrote the novel The Kite Runner depicting events that may have taken place in Afghanistan beginning in the 1970’s. This novel is deemed historical fiction since the story being told is made up, however the characters and events taken place may have been real during that time period. Hosseini gives vivid examples of Afghan customs and beliefs, the ideas of racism and religion, and the struggles many people faced during the turmoil in Afghanistan.
The author of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. In 1980 his family was going to return to Kabul. However, there was an awful communist rebellion and the invasion of the Soviet Army occurred. Since this occurred his family was granted political
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This group tried to abolish religious and traditional customs which caused many reform groups to be created. Since the reform groups were so large in numbers the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan in 1979 and remained there for ten years. This is seen in the novel The Kite Runner when Amir and his father fled to America (Hosseini, 2017). Soviet Troops finally withdrew in 1989, but remained in control for the next three years. In 1992 the Soviet Union collapsed and Afghanistan became an Islamic …show more content…
Later on it is discovered he is also Amir’s half-brother, they share the same father. Neither Amir nor Hassan knew the truth growing up since it would have ruined Baba’s reputation. Hassan is a loyal friend to Amir which is shown by his constant actions of defense of Amir. Hassan is characterized as brave, selflessness, and intelligent. Society looks down upon Hassan because of his poor ethnic Hazara background, he is viewed as an inferior and is the victim of racism repeatedly. The events that occur early on in the novel, especially Hassan’s rape represent an early catalyst in the story. Hassan’s character plays a major role throughout The Kite Runner even though his presence is heavily in the beginning of the novel.
Assef is the novels antagonist that represents the turmoil occurring in Afghanistan. He is Hassan’s and his son Sohrab’s rapist. He is an extreme racist who wishes to execute all Hazaras in Afghanistan because of their heritage and ethnicity. Hitler is his role model and plans to mimic the Holocaust genocide. Assef’s character starts to form when he was a child and enjoyed harming others now as an adult he is incapable of remorse and continues his violent ways. He targets those he views inferior and lack authority, those who he deems
Throughout the thought provoking and eye opening narrative, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini provides a vivid and in depth story told through the eyes of a privileged young narrator who is forced to come of age in the capital of Afghanistan. As a story told from a different cultural perspective,culture and morals in this society are different from foreign beliefs. A reader will not fully comprehend The Kite Runner without discerning the differences between social classes and understanding the importance of honor in the Afghanistan culture.
He made a sweeping, grandiose gesture with his hands. " Afghanistan for Pashtuns, I say. That's my vision." (40) Assef rapes Hassan went they are children and later Hassan’s son Sohrab. He also stones people to death for fun and people see him as a hero for it.
Hosseini’s purpose of writing the Kite Runner was to teach the readers the different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. The main character, Amir, is a Pashtun and Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, then there are Hazara’s that the Pashtuns do not get along with. Hazara’s are not welcomed by the Pashtuns because they are different social classes.
Hassan and Amir were close, but were not “friends”. There was once a kite fighting tournament that Amir won and Hassan was the kite runner. Hassan went after the last kite and while returning to Amir from capturing the kite, Hassan ran into a known bully, Assef. Amir was looking for Hassan. When Amir finds Hassan, he sees Assef with him.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a story about a young boy named Amir that begins in 1975 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As a child, he mistreats his servant, Hassan, who is like a brother to him. After failing to intervene in Hassan 's rape, Amir lives with guilt until his late thirties when he is presented with a chance at redemption. Amir 's father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, called from Pakistan to summon Amir to him. Upon his arrival, Amir learns that Hassan is his illegitimate half-brother. Hassan had been killed and his son had become an orphan. Amir then goes to drastic lengths to find and retrieve Hassan 's son, Sohrab. During this time Amir faces the guilt of his past and finds peace with himself while saving Sohrab
“His people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence-forces that continue to threaten them even today” (Hower). Khaled Hosseini’s novels have brought many of his readers a different perspective of Afghanistan. Many people after reading Hosseini’s books start to notice this place more and have sympathy feelings rather negative views about it. Usually people believe the media’s information that conveys about Afghanistan as a poverty place but does not specify why they live in this conditions and how those states affect their everyday life. In the two novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Khaled Hosseini wrote the political events that happen in Afghanistan and show how those events affected Afghans’ lives in order to show his personal values of political events and humanitarianism. Khaled Hosseini uses his and other Afghan’s personal experience to send out his mission statement to his readers. Hosseini said that his message was to get his readers be a part of “the mission of [his] foundation to reach out and help people who are exactly like the characters in [his] books” (Wrenn). Across the globe, people started to give a helping hand when they start to read Hosseini’s novels.
Khaled Hosseini uses setting as an important element of The Kite Runner. In many ways his characters relate to the place they are in. The novel is divided into three main settings: Kabul, Afghanistan 1963-1981, Fremont, California, and Kabul, Afghanistan 2001. Although Kabul is technically the same place, the changes it overwent between 1981 and 2001 were so extreme that it is essentially a whole new place. The setting of the novel is essential to Amir’s development and choices.
Amir and Hassan’s relationship is a recurring theme throughout the novel. In the ethnic caste system, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. Pashtuns are placed in a much higher caste than Hazaras, therefore Hazaras are treated as servants to the Pashtuns. Every morning, Hassan prepares Amir’s breakfast, makes his clothes and cleans his room for him. In the annual kite tournament, at least two people must work together in order to properly maneuver the kite, one to lead the kite, and another to feed the kite’s glass string. Hassan’s role is the latter. His role is to feed the kite’s string for Amir and run after any fallen kites. The glass string attached to the kite is dangerous as it is coated with shards of glass and leaves bloody marks and cuts on the hands. Although Hassan catches the fallen kites, he must always bring it back to Amir. One winter, when Hassan and Amir were waiting under a tree for the kite to come to them, Hassan asks Amir “Would I ever lie to you, Amir agha?” (Ho...
Amir is a man who is haunted by the demons of his past. This is first shown in the opening lines of the novel “I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but 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.” (Hosseini pg.#) These opening lines of the novel foreshadow what is yet to come. You can see that Amir looking back at the past with an attempt to justify why he is the man he is today. In the winter of 1975 it was the final round of the Kite Running tournament when Hassan choice to run the last kite for Amir. In doing so Hassan is corner by Assef and his gang who question Hassan’s loyalty to Amir. They give Hassan the choice to give them the kite in exchange to do no harm to him or to...
Amir is, to be put bluntly, a coward. He is led by his unstable emotions towards what he thinks will plug his emotional holes and steps over his friends and family in the process. When he sought after Baba’s invisible love, Amir allowed Hassan to be raped in an alleyway just so that the blue kite, his trophy that would win his father’s heart, could be left untouched. In the end, he felt empty and unfulfilled with the weight of his conscience on his shoulders comparable to Atlas’ burden. Unable to get over his fruitless betrayal, he lashes out and throws pomegranates at Hassan before stuffing money and a watch under his loyal friend’s pathetic excuse for a bed, framing Hassan for theft and directly causing the departure of both servants from his household. Even after moving to America, finding a loving wife, and creating a career for himself in writing, he still feels hollow when thinking of his childhood in Afghanistan. Many years later, he is alerted of Hassan’s death and sets out on a frenzied chase to find his friend’s orphaned son. He feels that he can somehow ease his regrets from all of those years ago if he takes in Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He finds Sohrab as a child sex slave for Assef, who coincidentally was the one to rape Hassan all of those years ago. After nearly dying in his attempt to take back Sohrab, he learns that he can take the damaged child back to the states with him. Sadly, Hassan’s son is so
Kite Runner depicts the story of Amir, a boy living in Afghanistan, and his journey throughout life. He experiences periods of happiness, sorrow, and confusion as he matures. Amir is shocked by atrocities and blessed by beneficial relationships both in his homeland and the United States. Reviewers have chosen sides and waged a war of words against one another over the notoriety of the book. Many critics of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, argue that the novel would not have reached a lofty level of success if the U.S. had not had recent dealings with the Middle East, yet other critics accurately relate the novel’s success to its internal aspects.
Throughout his childhood, Amir conforms to society and treats his Hazara servants poorly, but he questions the morality of such treatment. When Amir’s childhood bully, Assef, confronts him, Amir thinks to himself that Hassan works only as a servant for him, and that they have no friendship. Afterward, he thinks, “Why did I only play with Hassan when no one else was around?” (41). Hosseini uses a series of rhetorical questions to accentuate how Amir questions his beliefs about his relationship with Hassan....
Amir, the main character and narrator in the Kite Runner, belongs to a wealthy family in which his father is a powerful businessman. Amir is also a part of the dominant Pashtun ethnic group and Sunni religious group. Amir in the Kite Runner tells the story of his friendship with Hassan. Hassan and his father, Ali, are Amir’s servants. Hassan on the contrary is a low-caste ethnic Hazara and belongs to the minority Shi’it religious faith. This provides many of the Afghan’s who are different such as Sunni’s, who make up 85% of the Muslim faith, to persecute people like Hassan for their religion.
In both of his novels, Hosseini has both protagonists and antagonists originating from Afghanistan. He depicts the flaws of the broad generalizations many people believe due to a lack of information or insight into the concerning situations occurring in Afghanistan. As awareness about the indecencies taking place in Afghanistan increases, hopefully more individuals will take action to aide those being oppressed and help solve the turmoil occurring due to the presence of the Taliban. Works Cited Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner.
In The Kite Runner, many characters were portrayed differently than in the movie. These differences among character appearances changed some aspects of the movie. In the novel Amir and Hassan were much older than in the movie, which made things feel off. The first thing I noticed was how Hassan did not have a cleft lip like in the watching the movie feel off. The cleft lip was something that was important because it was something that symbolizes Hassan 's social status, because his father couldn 't afford to fix it. Hassan is a very loyal character who often takes the blame in both the movie and novel. When Hassan and Amir get in trouble Hassan takes the blame, or when Amir hides the watch in his room to get him kicked out of his house Hassan said that he stole it. In when novel Ali has a condition called Polio, which makes him walk with a limp whereas in the movie he doesn 't have this condition and walks normally. Assef in the novel is a blonde haired boy with blue eyes with a German background. He is someone who is very harsh, demanding, which mades him seem very threatening. He wore brass knuckles which mades him seem very