The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a novel about a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, named Amir. Amir takes us through his life, starting in the 1960s. He constantly mentions his encounters with one of his father’s servants, named Hassan, and we witness them become friends. However, it is hard for Amir to admit to others that he is friends with Hassan because of their wealth and class differences. When Hassan runs after Amir’s kite one day, a school bully rapes him. Amir watches this ordeal go down but does not rush in to help Hassan because he is afraid of getting bullied for being friends with Hassan. He lives with regret for decades to come, even after he moves to the United States. Hosseini really shows the identity struggles of these characters at different points in their lives, and I think this makes quite a compelling story. 

As a child, Hassan accepts the fact that he will never be independent and successful in his life because he is an illiterate servant. As a member of the poverty-stricken working class, he is not offered the opportunity to receive schooling nor taught how to stick up for himself. Additionally, Hassan’s inadequate income makes him feel reluctant to have a say in situations. In fact, Amir tries to frame Hassan for stealing his money in order to get Hassan fired, and Hassan does not even deny it. Even though Hassan would never steal money, he feels obligated to take the blame since he has nothing to lose. Hassan suffers from more Othering than this in the novel, and another reason for this is because he is a Hazara. His ethnic group is treated as inferior by the Taliban, and he is given no rights. Hazaras are falsely accused of everything so that the Taliban has an excuse to execute them, and Hassan is no exception. He lacks the mental and physical power necessary to survive, making him the submissive Other in de Beauvoir’s theory as he feels worthless.

Although Amir grew up with a lot of money and was handed everything, he still has many problems beneath the surface. He is torn because he finds true freedom with Hassan, but he is judged for feeling like this. Also, when he moves to America, he has practically nothing and must work from the ground up. As an immigrant, he has to work harder for the same outcome as non-immigrants. His identity is different as he doesn’t receive the praise that he used to receive in Afghanistan. This experience makes Amir realize what it is like to be the Other; he does not have an emphasis placed on him and feels a sense of rejection in turn. I think the story comes full circle by showing that polar opposite people often experience the same struggles. This novel highlights the importance of empathy, and I hope it teaches other readers to understand that people have issues behind closed doors that should be acknowledged.

A few weeks ago, a regional campus affiliated with the University of Michigan posted a message on its Instagram story that invoked many reactions in regards to the bias against people of color. Someone in an Ohio State Snapchat story sent out a screenshot of this post, and the contents are attached below this paragraph. The post asks white individuals to meet up and talk about how their daily lives and encounters look, but it does not allow other races to attend this “diversity and inclusion” event. It sweeps people of color and their unpleasant experiences under the rug by not allowing them a say, and this is essentially segregation. The Caucasian people’s experiences are not representative of the way other races live because Caucasian people are rarely racially profiled; they do not usually have to walk around in fear of being harassed, and they will become even more ignorant of their surroundings from an event where they cannot hear all perspectives.

I think that this post illustrates the danger of a single story because without hearing several perspectives, white students will look past the fact that other students are harassed and humiliated for reasons that cannot be validated. If the school was actually trying to “include” individuals and right this wrong, then it would present the gathering to people of any race. By doing so, no one would be alienated, and white students could learn about their privilege and use it to make progress. However, it is difficult for a lot of white students to feel empathy when they only hear the “bright side” to a story. Most of the people who would have attended this meeting have never been treated poorly because of their skin color, and they would not understand the insecurities that others face when leaving their homes. 

I think that this instance also connects to Spivak’s theory of the subaltern. Spivak discusses how the subaltern is a person who is at the bottom of the social chain and has their opinions completely disregarded. In this case, the people of color who attend this school are treated as the subaltern because they are not given the opportunity to impact policy decisions that would greatly affect them. Minorities here are not being provided equality of outcome because they have to work extra hard to make their voices heard and to receive the same respect as their fellow peers. It seems like the school does not care about different races being allies with one another, but instead only finds an interest in what a portion of its students have to say. Also, the fact that this happened at a college is concerning because colleges are where the majority of people can finally express who they are. However, the limitations set on people of color detract from this overarching objective across the country.

I have linked a TED Talk below that describes the systemic issue of minorities being excluded in educational institutions. 

Here is a link to this TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7w2Gv7ueOc&feature=emb_title

Works Referenced

Miller, Joshua Rhett. University of Michigan-Dearborn Apologizes for Segregated Virtual ‘Cafes’. New York Post, 10 Sept. 2020, nypost.com/2020/09/10/university-of-michigan-dearborn-apologizes-for-segregated-virtual-cafes/.

This week’s reading by Chinua Achebe addresses many of the imperfections that resulted when Britain colonized Nigeria. Things Fall Apart discusses how the natives of Nigeria were treated as the “other” by Britain and were pawns of a larger play. Achebe lived in Nigeria while it was colonized by Britain and he had first-hand experience with the changes that took place, including how Nigerians of high status eventually became commoners with little to no control over decisions.

In the novel, Achebe talks about how Britain manipulates the Igbo people to its own advantage by turning them against their own values; Britain gave the people what they wanted to hear and promised them a better life if they obeyed certain ideals, but Britain did not hold up its end of the bargain. In fact, Obierika, a member of the Igbo tribe, claims that the white men from Britain “‘came quietly and peaceably’” but ultimately “‘put a knife on the things that held [Nigerians] together’” (Achebe 161). Instead of compromising with the Nigerians, the British changed nearly all societal norms. They decided who received land, what religion should be practiced, and how people should be dealt with if they did not conform. Achebe went to a school in Nigeria that was formed by the British, and “[it] provided a cognitive dissonance he had to work through” as he was led to believe that “‘the white man was good and reasonable and smart and courageous’” (Garner). Britain selfishly controlled the Igbo people rather than working for them, and it did not put the money it made from import taxes towards improving the well-being of Nigerians. This is not out of the blue considering that Britain also had too much power over America, hence why the Declaration of Independence was made. Americans suffered under British rule and felt that they were boxed out of all decisions, so they started a revolution. They were alienated as they had little control over life, liberty, and property, and the government under Britain was not representative of the people in America and Nigeria.  

It seems as though the abuse of power has always been a recurring problem, and this topic has made me consider many questions. Are those granted power the most deserving of it, or do they just look like they could fit the part the best? Also, are corruption and manipulation necessary to win over people? Issues like this are relevant in America too, and an example of this has to deal with corruption in politics and education. For instance, schools in Texas have been criticized for using history textbooks that downplay the era of slavery and the terrible treatment of African Americans. This state “adopted new, more conservative learning standards” in 2010, hence the reason why those textbook changes were enforced (Isensee). Texas has so many students relative to other states, and a large percentage of them will follow the ideas written in the textbook, as intended (Isensee). However, this is controversial because students will go to college with different views on how some people were treated. Texas seems to be doing something similar to what Britain did to Nigerian schools, and this demonstrates how manipulation is used in everyday life (especially in educational institutions). As a result, people across the world are brainwashed without even knowing.

Works Referenced

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Clipper, 2010.

Garner, Dwight. Bearing Witness, With Words. The New York Times, 22 Mar. 2013,

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/books/chinua-achebe-examined-colonialism-and-masculinity.html

Isensee, Laura. “How Textbooks Can Teach Different Versions Of History.” NprEd, NPR, 13

July 2015, www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/07/13/421744763/how-textbooks-can-teach-different-versions-of-history.

“The Colonial Era (1882-1960).” Religious Literacy Project, Harvard Divinity School,

https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/for-educators/country-profiles/nigeria/colonial-era-1882-1960