Social Hierarchy In The Kite Runner

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slaves allowing them to have their liberty and not be ‘owned’ by any other person. This also freed the women from slavery to men and allowed them to be ‘independent’.
Social hierarchy is shown in both texts through setting. In The Kite Runner, Hazaras such as Hassan and Ali have to live in a “mud hut”, whereas Amir and Baba live in the “most beautiful house in the Wazir Akbar Kahan district”, the word “beautiful” has a positive connotation suggesting that Baba is wealthy. Hassan and Ali are “Hazaras” which during the time the novel was written, they were seen as less superior therefore, resulting in them living in poorer conditions compared to the “Pashtuns” such as Amir and Baba who were able to live in a house which would be seen as better …show more content…

Similarly, in Wide Sargasso Sea social hierarchy is shown through setting. Antoinette mid-way through the novel lives in a shared house with characters such as Tia, compared to Rochester, who lives in England alone. Antoinette is a white creole and therefore can’t fully identify with either the black characters or the white characters. This makes her seem less superior hence living in poorer conditions than Rochester which suggest that Antoinette suffers due to her ethnicity.
Additionally, in The Kite Runner Hazaras are used as slaves rather than being treated as ordinary citizens in a mainstream profession. Throughout the novel, Amir, a Pashtun, denies the friendship of Hassan, a Hazara, despite the fact they grew up together as “brothers” due to the racial expectations that have been imposed on them by society. As Amir says “but he’s not my friend …he’s my servant”, the ellipses used here shows the marginalisation between the two races. Amir is embarrassed to call Hassan his “friend” even though deep down he knows that that’s what they are to each other. Hassan and Ali are employed by Baba to serve both him and Amir. Hassan is loyal to Amir throughout the novel even when Amir isn’t loyal to him, “I just watched”. Amir is at war with himself throughout the novel, we