How Does Hosseini Use Violence In The Kite Runner

Introduction: Khaled Hosseini’s recurrence of violence in his novel, “The Kite Runner”, follows a time of two wars in Kabul, Afghanistan: the Soviet-Afghan War and the reign of the Taliban. The violence resulting from these two conflicts, beginning in 1979 and continuing to the present, is a reflection of events that have taken place in the country. The predominant religion of Afghanistan is Islam, which is divided amongst the predominant Sunni Pashtun and minority Shi’a Hazara Muslims. In an Islamic country with values supposedly representing peace, Afghanis and their families experience constant violence and fear daily. Hosseini uses violence in the instance of discrimination, rape, and death to express the extent in which the misinterpreted

Throughout the beginning of the novel, it’s evident that Hassan has always been devoted and loyal to Amir as a friend and his servant. Being his servant already indicates his role in society and his relationship with Amir, which can be observed through Amir’s discriminatory actions towards Hassan. Because Hassan wasn’t able to read, he constantly asked Amir to read him stories that carried his imagination far away from the harsh reality he faced. This was difficult, however, as Hassan never actually escaped. Amir would often tease Hassan for not understanding a word to “expose his ignorance”, which often led to the misuse of the word on Hassan’s behalf as Amir would explain a fake definition to him (Hosseini 28). Not only would Amir essentially ridicule Hassan, but he would often think “What does he know, that illiterate Hazara? He’ll never be anything but a cook.”, indicating his superiority over Hassan (Hosseini 34). This mindset is particularly due to the influence of “the prejudice he witnesses in Afghan society towards Hazaras”, which explains why their relationship is heavily conflicted on Amir’s end (Nazeer et al. 747). Even when the relationship is entirely pure in Hassan’s eyes, Amir feels the need to assert his dominance due to his ethnic background. In any instance where he feels threatened by Hassan or

The relationships between Amir, Hassan, and Sohrab are each bound together by violence in some form, typically rooting from ethnic differences between Hassan and Sohrab from Amir and Afghan society in general. The novel portrayed each relationship differently, but connected them together to symbolize important, meaningful concepts of forgiveness, hope, and redemption. The purpose of the recurring theme of violence is to connect the negative expression of Islam to the concepts revealed by the familial relationships within the novel. The Qur’an doesn’t condone violence of any kind, yet it is still seen in typical Afghan society and the primary relationships in “The Kite Runner”. Hosseini’s purpose was to demonstrate that even in the misuse of the Qur’an, a book containing God’s words, there is still forgiveness, hope, and redemption to be found in one’s relationships and Allah