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The Kite Runner Patriarchy Analysis

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Hosseini’s representations of female characters as strong and at the same time disposable can be justified by the setting and their social status. For one thing, patriarchy operates differently in different countries: there are significant differences between patriarchy in the United States and patriarchy in Afghanistan or Iran (Tyson 105). There are even within the borders of a single country some cultural differences that affect women’s experience of patriarchy (105). Hossieni is aware of such differences as he compares in the novel between two types of women: Afghan women who live in the Afghan society and are restricted by its rules, and Afghan women who live in America. He aims to show that traditional gender roles, stereotypical roles, …show more content…

This representation of America as the land of opportunity and freedom maybe the reason behind the criticisms Hosseini got as being biased to America. This attitude is illustrated through Amir who says, ‘For me, America was a place to bury memories’. It was an escape: a new beginning. Perazzo suggests that “It seems that women in this culture are free (within the bounds of their ability) to become members of whatever profession they choose” (7). He gives the example of Soraya, and other female characters, who are to some extent free to choose their career. Soraya, for example, defies the general’s wish of her becoming an attorney, and she insists that “teaching may not pay much, but it’s what I want to do! It’s what I love, and it’s a whole lot better than collecting welfare” (Hosseini 182). She is not silent and obedient like Afghan women in Afghanistan. In addition, Amir’s comments on the clothing of a woman he sees in the American Embassy make it clear that the burqa is part of the norm in Afghanistan, while women in America wear different clothes. He comments, “she wore a beige blouse and black slacks- the first woman I’d seen in weeks dressed in something other than a burqa or shalwar-kameez” (327). This sense of freedom even in the smallest details, presents clearly the difference between silent Afghan women in Afghanistan, and free Afghan women in

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This passage is indicative of their misogynistic society, but this is not limited to the novel. The fact that men often blame women is the root of many discrepancies and injustices against women. In Afghanistan, this manifested itself in male dominance, marital abuse, and extreme oppression. Men were seen as superior in every way, so they were expected to be responsible for many aspects of their wives’ and daughters’ lives, such as the way she dresses, the way she conducts herself, her honor, and her sustenance, among

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1495 Words | 6 Pages

Hosseini portrays how this treatment of women was accepted in Afghani culture because men’s superiority was derived from tradition. He depicts a culture in Afghanistan where wives were seen as mere possessions, so their husbands found fault with them for the inconveniences they experienced. Hosseini demonstrates the mistreatment of women in Afghanistan through the multiple examples he provides where men laid blame with women for circumstances beyond the women’s control or for which were not solely to blame for, just as Nana had warned Mariam that they were prone to do. The first instance in which Nana’s statement rings true is when Nana found out for herself how easily women in Afghanistan could be held completely accountable for things that were not solely their responsibility.

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475 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout history, there has always been a rivalry between the two sexes and in the end the women have always come in second place. Time over time it has been proven difficult for women to hold any type of power that they have wanted except for the tasks that they have been given due to their gender. In society and in their own homes, it has been difficult for women to grow and sustain their power beyond the limits that they have been given. Women have been differentiated from men and have been discriminated with regard to jobs and other types of privileges that they have wanted. Throughout the course of history, they have been denied many freedoms that every man has and they want to be equal to their counterparts.

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1139 Words | 5 Pages

This discrimination has become built into society and effects everyday life. As Pashtuns, Amir and Baba have the opportunities to receive an education and start their own business. While the Hazaras, Hassan and Ali, may only work as servants. This discrimination brought on by social hierarchy causes isolation, violence, and guilt, to those surrounded by it throughout the book. These ideas are caused by discrimination and are explored through Amir’s experiences in the book.

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878 Words | 4 Pages

Equality of genders is a basic human right that all should posses. However, in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, the reader explores Afghanistan’s true nature of extreme gender inequality towards women and how it affects all the characters within the novel. The novel explores how within a marriage, women have unequal rights, undergo major amounts of physical abuse, and are emotionally and mentally tormented by their very own supposedly beloved husbands. A marriage is defined as a union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.

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560 Words | 3 Pages

Lady of the Flies While reading any novel, watching any movie, or generally just enjoying any sort of story no matter what type of media it is conveyed through, the listener may often ask questions of what could have been. That is to say that they ask themselves what new or different direction the story might go through if one or more certain qualities of the story were to be changed or reversed. One common question, or trope, that comes up is if what if the genders of the main characters were changed from boy to girl, or vice versa? In a novel like Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which contains an all male schoolboy cast, this is bound to be asked.

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1093 Words | 5 Pages

Their needs and desires are ignored and are considered less important than men. When the Talibans came, men’s needs are prioritized while women are left behind. According to Hosseini (2007), “ Women are forbidden from working”(p.298). This shows that men are given the privilege to go to work and earn money to support their families and themselves while girls are debarred from getting a job whether they like it or not as the Talibans think that women are of the weaker sex and are not capable of doing anything that helps contribute to the society. One evidence, according to Hosseini (2007), “ “Go to Rabia Balkhi,” the guard said.

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1587 Words | 7 Pages

The feminist theory is based on finding and exposing negative attitudes toward women in literature. Their goal is to reveal the reality of how women get portrayed in literature due to the fact that most literature presents an inaccurate view of women and are most of the time minimized. In the Catcher in the Rye there is a few female characters such as Sunny, the girls at the club, and Sally who are put in situations that show nothing but stereotypes and puts them in a bad spot throughout the novel. J.D Salinger decides to put some of the female characters in situations that can cause those who read this novel to think bad or leave readers with a bad image of women. This bad image on women is due to the fact that he decided to portray some of

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For instance, when Amir returns to Afghanistan for Sohrab, the character Farid states while lamenting on the current state of the lower class of Afghanistan, “‘That's the real Afghanistan, Agha sahib. That's the Afghanistan I know. You? You've always been a tourist here, you just didn't know it’” (Hosseini 197).

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9983 Words | 40 Pages

Abstract women have been living very miserable lives throughout the history somewhere because of gender differences and somewhere base on lame excuses of religion. They do not have equal rights, freedom, opportunities as men and have been suffering gender-based violence perpetuated towards them in the male dominated society. Afghan women show great strength and resistance in the face of adverse circumstances. They have developed traumatic problems and in reaction to their problems, they have grown very resilience to the Afghan tradition and men harsh treatment. The research entitled “Trauma and Resistance of Afghan Women: A Critical Study of Khaled Hosseini’s Novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, was intended to critically analyze the novel to explore trauma and resistance of Afghan women.

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1076 Words | 5 Pages

The Kite Runner is a book written as fiction yet possibly read as reality; some readers might even question the veracity of the events narrated throughout the story before realizing its categorization as a novel. This comes exclusively due to the story’s evident partial factual basis, even when said facts only reside in the Afghan and American history cited in the book. But how different can readers truly interpret the text? Knowledge of the novel’s internal and external context can help a reader understand more about the book, and hence possibly even find new hidden meaning in passages that were before just fiction; however, the writer’s understanding of his readers might also help him guide said audience towards a specific message. Is the

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

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1495 Words | 6 Pages

The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.

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1539 Words | 7 Pages

This highlights the importance of how these acts of cruelty Mariam and Laila faced; ‘fear of the goat, released in the tiger’s cage’ is what ultimately defines their inner feminist strength, ‘over the years/learned to harden’ which shows that Mariam and Laila’s past indirectly prepares them for The Taliban’s arrival. The Taliban take away the basic rights of Mariam and Laila ‘jewellery is forbidden’, but they fail to do so. Ironically, it is the society itself that gives them the strength and platform to strike back against Rasheed, who is a cruel, male-dominating character who symbolised and reinforced everything the term ‘anti-feminist’ stands

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787 Words | 4 Pages

This thesis consists of Hanif’s portrait of women and their marginalized positions in the society and economic, social and religious pride and prejudices towards women in Pakistani society which is an important theme of his novels. He belongs to those who are proof of that some people can tell the truth more comprehensively and authentically with fiction than facts. In his second novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2012), he discusses the battle and determination of a woman fitting in with minority goes out in a patriarchal society and endures accordingly. In a male dominated society women in Pakistan are in lower position than men , they are always on the periphery, and are subordinated to men and are in debased positions both within the house and outside the house. Alam (2011) shows by her study that women’s unequal positions contrasted with men make them weaker both out in the open and private circles.

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