Internalization In The Kite Runner

In the aftermath of the destructive World War Two, many Asian countries continued to suffer from the repercussions of Western imperialism and colonialism (Mishra, 2012). The desire to enhance living standards stimulates individuals to emigrate to the Western developed countries, particularly, the America. By reshaping individuals’ original personal identity with the application of its unique mechanism of internalization, the process of Americanization aims to generate national interconnectedness and consensus between citizens and immigrants who hold multidimensional and often antithetical viewpoints – that is ‘cultural standardization’ as Pieterse (1996) termed. Despite the gaps between individuals were significantly diminished, the dynamics

Rejecting these mainstream thoughts, this essay argues that a frequent application of Western lens with particular references to American ideologies could be identified throughout the novel, thus presenting a filtered, stereotyped and oversimplified version of reality in favour of American audience. The cardinal objective of this essay, therefore, is to apply new historical criticism theory to scrutinize the methods by which the story is constructed by Hosseini. As of most autobiographical novels, The Kite Runner seeks to merge personal ideological concept and intellectual subjectivity with fictive elements in order to conceptualize the theme of the literature (Anishchenkova, 2014). In other words, Amir and his fictional world could be considered reflections of Hosseini’s personal values and intimate thoughts. In the subsequent paragraphs, their sociocultural perceptions that are generally compatible to American ideologies - in terms of the emphasis of English language, the effort in pursuit of American Dream, and the support to American’s political agenda – will be enumerated