The Kite Runner Essay

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini focuses on Amir, an Afghan who struggles with who he is as the result of a traumatic falling out with Hassan, the servant’s kid he had grown up with. After fleeing from Afghanistan and living in the modern-day United States for nearly 30 years after these events, Amir gets the opportunity to atone for his past mistakes. He returns to Afghanistan, going to the city he had grown up in to save Hassan’s son -his half-nephew. The role of ethnicity, class, and religion in the creation of different types of writing helps to emphasize the message the author is trying to share because it uses the emotions of the characters to influence the reader. When I read literature conating these types of themes, I typically

One of the major conflicts in the book is the fact that Amir and Hassan are of completely different ethnicities, classes, and religions. These differences put a strain on their friendship, as Hassan -a Hazara servant- is seen within their society as being less than Amir -a Pashtun. The strain causes Amir to be conflicted and later disintegrate their friendship altogether. The moment that causes Amir and Hassan’s relationship to begin to fracture is when Hassan is assaulted and Amir cowers and runs away rather than helping him. Hence, Amir feels immense guilt every time he is even near Hassan, believing that he deserves to be punished for his lack of action. His emotions fester until Amir finally breaks and attacks Hassan, hoping to get a reaction from him and receive the punishment Amir believes he desrves. “I hit him with another pomegranate, in the shoulder this time. The juice splattered his face. ‘Hit me back!’ I spat. ‘Hit me back, goddamn you!’ I wished he

‘You’re a coward!’” (Hosseini 92). Even though Amir is the one attacking Hassan, it is a reflection of what he believes Hassan should be doing to him for not stopping his assault. Amir’s emotions and internal conflict continue to fester for the majority of the rest of the novel. Even so, it is later revealed that Hassan had never stopped seeing Amir as a friend, even when Amir had lost faith. The commentary from the author in these scenes and how deeply Amir was affected by the shattering of his friendship with Hassan shows how premeditated views of ethnicity, class, and religion can affect relationships between people. These sorts of emotions portrayed by the characters in the plot are largely the backbone of the novel. When reading The Kite Runner, I often found myself having to pause for a moment and consider the events that took place. There were many times I was shocked or upset by how some of the characters thought or were treating one another. The novel depicted brutality and discrimination, the author conveying how preconceived views and opinions of people based on factors like religion, ethnicity, and class can heavily impact actions and