Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Throughout History,

¶ … Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Throughout history, armies have marched through the mountains of Afghanistan, sometimes pausing to wage war while other times simply passing through on their way to grander prizes. Most of the stories written about the Khyber Pass portray this region of the world as being hostile and untamed, and for good reason. For modern readers in the West, the manner in which young Afghanis come of age may seem completely alien in many ways, but Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner, makes it clear that people are just people all over the world. To achieve this outcome, the author positions the reader in the midst of Afghan culture by examining the threats as well as the hospitableness that define tribal society, and structures the novel to be a description of what is required to become a man in Afghani society today using various literary tools and techniques such as the morality of silence, atonement, guilt, regret, decision-making, selfishness vs. selflessness, Afghanistan as a changed country, terror/war / fear, responsibility, poverty/inequality, actions and consequences and foreshadowing first-person narrative. This paper provides a review of Khaled Hosseini's first successful novel, The Kite Runner, concerning the foregoing issues and literary elements, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

The manner in which Amir, the protagonist, recalls various events helps to describe the poverty and inequalities that exist in the Afghani society in which he and his friends were raised, but these recollections are typically colored by highly male-oriented and dominated, like Afghan society itself. Indeed, Hosseini writes, "Hassan never talked about his mother, as if she'd never existed" (p. 6). This morality of silence is due in part to the shame associated with his mother's having run off "with a clan of traveling singers and dancers" (p. 6), a fate far worse than death in Afghani culture. In this fashion, Hosseini positions his readers in general and his Western readers in particular to differentiate between the young Amir and the adult Amir by providing his first-hand views and empirical observations to illuminate contemporary culture in this ancient part of the world.

The rural regions of Afghanistan are in marked contrast to the more affluent neighborhood enjoyed by Hassan during his younger years, but religious-based danger lurks at every turn even in these areas. Indeed, Shiite communities in urban Afghanistan are in constant danger of attack by virtue on their religious affiliations in the same fashion as the character in The Kite Runner. Notwithstanding these constant threats, Hosseini also positions the reader with various accounts that highlight the hospitality that is characteristic of Afghani society against these dangers and constant threats. This dichotomous perspective therefore also helps Western readers in particular better understand the real nature of modern urban Afghanistan, despite the truly inhospitable nature of many regions of the country. In fact, Hosseini emphasizes that Hassan lived in "the most beautiful house in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, a new and affluent neighborhood in the northern part of Kabul" (p. 4).

In addition, Hosseini effectively applies foreshadowing first-person narrative to achieve his literary goals in passages such as, "Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975 -- and all that followed -- was already laid in those first words" (p. 11). Finally, Hosseini makes it clear that sin and guilt are the source of regret in Afghani society, and the decision-making processes that lead to atonement must taken into account the religious guidance that is followed by the Afghani people. In this regard, Hosseini writes, "Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?" (p. 17).