Societal Expectations In 'The Kite Runner'

Extenuating circumstances are situations that have been given to oneself where there are special factors needed that make a situation unusual or more difficult. These situations often test morals and beliefs of the people included. Often, it changes who a person becomes and one’s principles and priorities. Extenuating circumstances such as societal and family expectations change who a person becomes. Societal expectations greatly influence who a person becomes because it teaches “societal norms” such as how to behave, who to follow, how to communicate, and what to believe. “Normal” is different for every society which often challenges one’s beliefs and who they want to be. In The Kite Runner, Amir is a boy growing up in Afghanistan who doesn’t fit the stereotypical afghan male and throughout the story, he is called weak

He says, “In the end I ran. I ran because I was a coward.” (Hossesini 22). As the story continues, Amir grows tired of hearing people call him weak and underestimating him, so later, when he is put into a situation with extenuating circumstances, he lives up to the societal expectations by standing up to a powerful man who bullied him throughout his childhood. In Amir’s case, society shaped him into a man he naturally couldn’t be and gave him redemption, but his wasn’t the case for the Mirabal sisters. In the Time of Butterflies, girls were expected to marry wealthy men and serve their husbands, however, the second oldest Mirabal sister, Minerva, wasn’t a girl who liked being told what to do and she didn’t want to live up to societal expectations. She was told, “the university is no place for women these days.” (Alvarez 99). She didn’t support