Content Waring: Mentions of rape
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a story that follows Amir through numerous points in his life. The book starts off in Kabul, Afghanistan, where Amir and his father Baba live in a nice house with two servants, Ali, and his son Hassan. Being a part of a minority group, Hassan faces daily challenges and one day is raped by Assef, who is a part of the Afghan majority group called the Pashtun, as Amir watches. The rest of the plot deals with Amir managing his guilt towards his lack of intervention in the assault and is heavily influenced by the events that occurred in Afghanistan from the 1970’s to the early 2000s. The story explores many topics that have been discussed through the semester, such as the Master-Slave relationship, colonialism, subalterns, and immigration.
The Master-Slave relationship that is present in Afghanistan between the Pashtun and the Hazara is what drives the plot of the story. Hassan being a part of the minority group is the reason he was targeted by Assef. The Pashtun majority group had all the power, and that power was only further legitimized when the Monarchy was toppled in Afghanistan. The new regime allows for the Hazara to be viewed as second class citizens, and Assef takes advantage of this. When the Soviets invade Kabul, Amir and his father are forced to escape Afghanistan for America, where they then get to experience the feeling of being a minority. As immigrants, they move to an Afghan community, but still need to adapt to many of the customs and cultures of the United States. While the Soviet invasion makes Amir an immigrant, it results in the Hassan and the Hazara becoming subaltern. The Soviets in this case serve as the colonizers, and because they have more power, they become the masters to the Pashtun slaves. The Hazara are then left voiceless, and when the Soviets leave and the Taliban takes over, their oppression gets worse. The reader finds out later in the story that during the Taliban takeover, Hassan and his wife are killed, and their son is taken by the Taliban.
I think Hosseini wants the reader to understand the dangers of legitimizing oppressive power, and how it affects all those who reside in the area. Amir and Baba, once wealthy and powerful Afghan citizens, become immigrants through changes in the power dynamic, while Hassan goes from oppressed to deceased because of it. The work inspires conversations about ethnic identity as well as systemic injustices, and how to recognize when you’re unknowingly participating in said injustices.