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Redemption in The Kite Runner

5 Pages 1264 Words October 2016

In the majority of cultures, there is a constant judgement toward one’s social class, cultural pride, and appearance. These societal beliefs can personally affect many in the sense of their actions. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is told through the perspective of a cowardly protagonist, Amir, and follows his friends, family, and servants, throughout their story in Afghanistan from the mid to late 1900s. Amir’s father, Baba, and servants, Ali with his son Hassan, must not only deal with being amidst the ongoing Afghan war, but also the personal struggles of living in a developing country. Amir must face his past mistakes toward his dear friend Hassan that were swayed by society’s eye, by seeking redemption later in his life. The novel’s message is greatly relied upon social class and cultural bias to show how one’s perception can be quickly manipulated. This theme weaves its way through Amir’s betrayals of Hassan and his effort to redeem himself in the rescue of Hassan’s son.
Amir and his father are considered to be part of the upper-class in Kabul and are seen as “more powerful” because of their nationality, Pashtun. Unlike them, Ali and Hassan are Hazara’s, which are of Asian descent and not considered to be a pure Afghan, which is seen as lower in the social class. While walking through an alley one night, a sociopathic bully named Assef, sees Amir with Hassan, a hazara, and begins to verbally abuse them and threaten to physically hurt them, triggered by their social and cultural difference. “His blue eyes flicked to Hassan. ‘Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His [Hassan’s] people pollute our homeland, our water. They dirty our blood.’ He made a sweeping, grandiose gesture with his hands, ‘Afghanistan for Pashtuns, I say. That’s my vision’” (Hosseini 40). The cultural pride expressed ...

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