The Kite Runner is a famous and powerful novel, it’s sold over 9 million copies worldwide, it was translated into over 25 languages and it’s the first afghan book to be written in English. Although even with all that fame, the book placed itself in the ALA top 10 book banned in 2008, the main reason is for the over-use of social discrimination in the plot. Yet, throughout the novel, some messages couldn’t have been conveyed without discrimination. Furthermore, the different type of social discrimination experienced against afghan women develops a real image of their social inequality in their society. Despite the facts, the discriminatory relation between certain characters develops their characterization. Therefore, it is important to keep …show more content…
Thus, when Assef finds Amir and Hassan hanging out he says, “Your part of the problem, Amir. If idiots like [you] and your father didn’t take [these] people in, [we’d] be rid of [them].” (Hosseini, 45). This quote has a strict and disgusted tone; therefore, it helps the readers in having a deeper point of view on Assef personality. The authors purpose was to foreshadow his evil sense of authority level on others. To add, as Amir is watching Hassan getting raped he runs away and thinks, “…the real reason [I] was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world.” (Hosseini, 139). The tone of this quote was unstable and frightened. It represents the Pashtuns during the reign of the Taliban’s because they could have interfered, but all they did was to stay behind the curtains and let the wrong happen. This author stylistic choice was to emphasize the weakness and selfishness that the young Amir’s character, was confronted with himself. To continue with my facts, in Hassan’s letter he writes about Sohrab and says, “Rahim Khan sahib and I have taught him how to read so he does not grow up stupid like his father” (Hosseini,228). This passage symbolizes the political climate in Afghanistan 1990’s, Hassan represents the Hazaras, because even if they were persecuted by the rest of Afghanistan they …show more content…
For example, as Amir is talking about Jamila he reveals that “[she] never sing in public had been one of the general’s conditions when [they] had married” (Hosseini, 186). This quote was used to represent how materialistic women were treated, they didn’t even have the right to express themselves, they were expected to follow everything. The authors purpose was to show that in most Muslim traditions, men had control over everything even an essential of life. Your right express yourself. To add to my example, as Amir is describing Soraya he says “…a slim-hipped beauty with velvety coal black hair… [She] had thick black eye-browns that touched in the middle like the arched wings of a flying bird…” (Hosseini, 148). The author used the imagery to compare the afghan woman’s position in the past American and Afghanistan society. In the 1990’s after the Taliban ruled, women’s in Afghanistan without a burka or a hijab were sent to jail, killed or even punished. It was basically a sin. Although, even if the 1990’s was still a fight for women’s right in the Afghan-American society, the superiors were more open minded in their fashion statement. Soraya says, "Their sons go out to nightclubs looking for meat and get their girlfriends pregnant, [they] have kids out of wedlock... Oh, they 're just men having fun! [I] make one mistake… and
In the narrative Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, discrimination pushes characters to do various things to gain acceptance from their peers and superiors. Amir feels he needs to be accepted by Baba as a son and by Hassan as a friend as well as Hassan wants to be accepted by Amir as a genuine friend. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, discrimination is a constant reminder of our flaws. The discrimination performed in Kite Runner is what creates the theme of the search for acceptance of those flaws.
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.
In the novel The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir, Hassan, and Baba are influenced by their culture. The Afghanistan culture steers their relationship with others and their personal decisions as a result of their prejudices and ethnicity.
The way our friends treat us in the face of adversity and in social situations is more revealing of a person’s character than the way they treats us when alone. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, ethnic tensions, nationality, and betrayal become the catalyst that drives and fuels Amir, Assef, and other characters to embark on their particular acts of cruelty. Serving as a way to illustrate the loss of rectitude and humanity, cruelty reveals how easily people can lose their morals in critical circumstances. Through Amir, Assef, and the Taliban’s actions, cruelty displays the truth of a person’s character, uncovering the origin of their cruelty. Amir’s cruelty spurs from his external environment and need for love from his father, choosing
Throughout an individual's life, many of one’s moral decisions are made based on their experience in race, ethnicity and social class. In Afghanistan, many individuals are judged based on their cultural backgrounds and hierarchy, which has led to the diversity of their own kind. Throughout the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini focus on two types of castes: Pashtuns and Hazaras. Pashtuns are considered as the majority race and ethnic group in Afghanistan, while the Hazaras are viewed as the weakest and poorest race in Afghanistan, so they are easily insulted by Pashtuns. In this world, race, ethnicity and social class influences us to make the decisions individuals make. This is evident in the novel The Kite Runner
On his journey to save Sohrab, Amir discovers that a Taliban official took him from the orphanage. When meeting with that Taliban official, who turns out to be his childhood nemesis Assef, Amir is placed in a situation where he is forced to choose between fleeing from the enemy and saving Hassan’s son. The structure of this scenario is analogous to one earlier in the book when Amir had to choose between saving Hassan by standing up for him and repairing the relationship with his father by bringing the blue kite back. The author uses the similar setting with Assef and the similarities in characterization of father and son in order to provide Amir with the opportunity to make the choice to stand up for what he believes in. When Amir allowed Hass...
Hassan is a Hazara boy, this being an ethnic group that is looked down upon by Pashtun citizens of Kabul. “In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.” (Hosseini 25). Throughout his childhood, Amir is put down regularly by neighborhood kids for befriending Hassan because of his ethnic background. Amir realizes that no matter what he may do, or no matter how Hassan may try to alter the situation, Hassan would always be too different for people to accept.
The Kite Runner “illuminates ethnic tensions, political turmoil and Taliban repression in Afgahnistan through the story of boyhood friendship and betrayal” ('Kite Runner' Shines A Light On Afghan Sport). By intertwining the real life struggles of Afghani people and the characters of this fiction novel, “Hosseini brings us into the politically chaotic but beautiful world of Afghanistan and one man’s journey through guilt and trauma from his childhood” (Pearson 66).
In the book, Hassan and Amir’s social statues are different. Amir is a Pashtun, which is the majority group of Kabul. Amir is well respected because of his father and he doesn’t get verbally abused due to his race. However, Hassan is a Hazara, which is the minority group in Kabul. Hazaras are looked down upon and used as servants. Hassan is verbally and physically abused due to his race. Assef is the antagonist of the book and he tortures Hassan by calling him “flat-nose” and raping him. Race is one of the main themes of separation that shows how social classes are separated due to race. Amir also looks down on Hassan for being a Hazara. In the book, Amir never shows his friendship with Hassan when in public. Hassan is ridiculed thought out the book but remains loyal and friendly to Amir.
It is difficult to face anything in the world when you cannot even face your own reality. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses kites to bring out the major themes of the novel in order to create a truly captivating story of a young boy’s quest to redeem his past mistakes. Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the story and throughout the entire novel, he faces enormous guilt following the horrible incident that happened to his closest friend, Hassan. This incident grows on Amir and fuels his quest for redemption, struggling to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes. In Hosseini’s novel, kites highlight aspects of Afghanistan’s ethnic caste system and emphasizes the story’s major themes of guilt, redemption and freedom.
Even when Amir was nasty and cruel to him, he had always been a faithful, kind soul. He never doubted that Amir was his friend and that he held a special place in his heart. When Hassan got raped, Amir did not help Hassan. There were ultimately two options: step up to the bullies and rescue Hassan, or run away. Even after hearing Assef say how Amir would never do the same for him, about how he would never stand up for him, he still chose to run away and pretend like he did not just witnessed what had happend. There is also scene where Amir is feeling guilty and both the boys are around a pomegranate tree. Amir just starts pelting Hassan with pomegranates and threatens to him to throw one back. He exclaims, “You’re a coward,” (...). And what does Hassan do? He picks up a pomegranate, but instead of hurling it in Amir’s direction, he smashes it on himself and says, “are you satisfied?” (....). There is this constant pressure on Hassan and Amir’s relationship. The Afghan society would not approve of such “friendship.” Both of the boys were good, but Amir was so young when he made the mistakes that it made the reader question whether there was a way for Amir to be morally good again.
Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, grew up in prejudiced Afghanistan during the 1960’s as a middle-class Pashtun living with Hazaras working for his family. His move to America after the Communist Coup proved difficult for his family, especially his father. In his novel, Hosseini writes through a young boy, Amir, very similar to himself, who grows up with his father and two Hazara servants in Afghanistan at the time of the Taliban attacks. Both Amir and his father, Baba, treat their servants, Hassan and Ali, like family. Society, however, does not approve of such relationships between Pashtuns and Hazaras. As Amir hides and watches horrified, another Pashtun boy rapes Hassan. This leads to the continuation of Amir’s internal conflict about the treatment of Hazaras by the public, and also makes him feel guilty and self-conscious throughout his entire life. In addition, Amir strives for affection and attention from his rather indifferent father. Amir’s outward conformity to societal values in his relationships with both Hassan and Baba, as a result of his inner struggle and guilt, contribute greatly to the significance of The Kite Runner.
In the literature, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the idea and representation of justice, and its relationship to that of the treatment of women in Afghan society, the ever-changing politics of Afghanistan, and the desired results of redemption and forgiveness, become illustrated through the novel’s characters and motives. Justice can be defined as the quality of being guided by truth, reason, and fairness. The Kite Runner illustrates the power of influence from an outside power and its effects on society, and the minds and lifestyles of the people. In relationship to the Cheverus High School Grad-at-Grad profile the actions and wrongdoings that take place in the The Kite Runner and in Afghanistan prove to be injustice.
The film The Kite Runner deserves praise because of the filmmakers’ interpretation of major scenes. The most controversial scene of the novel is the rape of Hassan, not because of Amir’s betrayal of his friend, but because Hassan is a child. Children are universally viewed as innocent individuals who require protection, and as a result any violence against children, even fictional, is likely to receive emotionally charged condemnation. Reading the novel, there does not seem to be a favourable way the filmmakers could portray such a scene. However after analysing the film, it can be concluded that Hassan’s rape is handled as well as realistically possible because the sexual assault of a child is directly implied without being mentioned or shown. Another aspect of the film that was handled well was the preface. In the novel, Amir, then in adulthood, states the impact a major event twenty-six years ago had on the rest of his life. This section also includes references to his friend Rahim Khan and the kites flying in Golden Gate Park. In the film similar information is also portrayed because of English subtitles that translate a phone conversation between Amir and Rahim Khan, as well as a scene, which features kites flying in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, in addition to this, the film also expands on the number of allusions by showing Amir’s wife Soraya as well as copies of his published novel. These additional details are appreciated because it allows for connections between the preface and the rest of the plot. The film’s preface is also superior because these new details are not integral to the storyline, and as a result do not ruin it, while the novel’s preface about a life changing event reduced the emotional impact of Hassan’s rape. Although this film should be held in high esteem because of the interpretation of major scenes, it is only one reason why this
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a heart breaking novel. It features events that bring tears to the eyes of its readers, as well as a look into the world outside our own. This book deals with tragic adult themes such as racism and child rape. The story takes place in two different countries, Afghanistan, and later the United States. The novel is in the point of view of the main character Amir and it begins as he recalls events from his childhood in Kabul, Afghanistan in a time on the brink of civil war, when the Afghanistan king is overthrown.