Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner depicts the lives of two Afghan boys growing up in the turmoil of invasion, heartbreak, and war. Amir, the protagonist and narrator of the story, is Pashtun and Hassan, a Hazara boy, is Amir's servant with a harelip. Despite being separated by different ethnic and social backgrounds, the boys share a close friendship. However, the afternoon of a kite-fighting tournament in 1975 leads to circumstances neither boy can foresee, an event that traumatizes their lives. Afterwards, Amir struggles to find his place in the world, filled with guilt and regret. When the Russians invade Amir and his father Baba must flee Afghanistan to America. Ultimately Amir realizes that he must return to war-torn Afghanistan to redeem his sins. But Afghanistan has changed and will never be the same again. From a foreign perspective, The Kite Runner allows the reader to better understand the history and injustices of Afghanistan, from the fall of the monarchy and oppression of the Hazaras, to the invasion of the Russians and the supposed control of the Taliban. Many symbolic elements of the story reflect the history of Afghanistan. In particular, the element of storytelling is used by Hosseini to symbolize the oppression of the Hazaras, who are illiterate. The bond between Amir and Hassan is strengthened by their love of stories and literature. Amir reads to Hassan and together they create stories, including one in which they are "Amir and Hassan: Sultans of Kabul". The juxtaposition between Amir and Hassan as characters is a technique used by Hosseini to build the image of injustice in Afghanistan and how the power of stories can bring both harm and healing in times of turmoil. In The Kite Runner, the power of the written word is used with prejudice by Amir against Hassan, but he eventually begins to remedy this by saving Sohrab, Hassan's son, from the clutches of the Taliban. Powerful stories can help people understand how injustice happens, how it can be implemented, and how it can eventually be resolved. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Books and storytelling are integral aspects of Amir and Hassan's lives; serves as a bond between the two boys, but also affirms their differences. Amir, Pashtun and son of Baba, a rich man with a famous name, is literate; can read, write and understand complex words. Hassan is a Hazara and son of Ali, both servants of Baba's house. Unlike Amir, Hassan is illiterate, unable to read and write, a fate decided by the fact that he was born Hazara. “That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali and most Hazaras was decided the moment he was born, perhaps even the moment he was conceived in the inhospitable womb of Sanaubars – after all, what good was the written word to a servant?" (Hosseini 26) However, what Hassan lacks in literacy, he makes up for with natural intelligence, a kind nature, and courage, unlike Amir, who is disrespectful of his position towards Hassan and abuses his master privileges. The creation of stories between Amir and Hassan does not seem to be harmful: imagining themselves as "Amir and Hassan: Sultans of Kabul", Amir's tale of tears turning into pearls, Hassan's dream about the monster in the lake and Amir reading to Hassan of the Shahnamah – but Amir often used the power of the written word against Hassan, ridiculing him for not understanding certain words. It is the power that Amir holds over Hassan that damages their relationship and ultimately leads to Amir's act of cowardice when he does notsaves Hassan from sexual assault. “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: nothing is free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to kill, conquer Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer flashed into my conscious mind before I could counter it: He was just a Hazara, wasn't he? (Hosseini 73) Amir's jealousy of the care his father had given Hassan was the catalyst for his betrayal, and Amir came to believe that Hassan was a worthy sacrifice to gain his father's love. Amir truly believed that Baba preferred Hassan to him as a son. “Self-defense has nothing to do with meanness. You know what always happens when the neighborhood kids tease him? Hassan intervenes and pushes them back. I saw it with my own eyes. And when they come home I tell them: 'How did Hassan get that scratch on his face?' And he says, “He fell.” I tell you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy... If I had not seen the doctor take him out of my wife with my own eyes, I would never have believed that he is my son." (Hosseini 21 – 22) Amir he is considered weak in Baba's eyes, unlike Hassan who is honest in everything he does. Hassan's integrity and courage are what Baba admires, and according to Amir, Baba does not love him because he is a coward , described as a 10th century epic about ancient Persian heroes, features the story of "Rostam and Sohrab". It is the favorite story of Amir and Hassan. It follows the story of Rostam, a warrior, who mortally wounds his nemesis, Sohrab , in battle only to discover that Sohrab is his son, Amir and Hassan's fate symbolically reflects the tragedy of "Rostam and Sohrab". and then finding out that they were brothers, Amir believes that his cowardice and actions against Hassan were what led to his death, not being hit in the back of the head by a bullet. the Taliban: “I follow the barrel in its ascending arc. I see that face behind the plume of smoke swirling from the muzzle. I'm the man in the herringbone vest.” (Hosseini 221) However, an opportunity for redemption and healing presents itself to Amir, saving Sohrab, Hassan's son, from the clutches of the Taliban. Sohrab, a symbol of all the terrible things that have happened to the characters and to Afghanistan, creates an image of hope. Therefore, the power of stories ultimately brings harm to Hassan; Amir abuses his literacy skills due to Hassan's illiterate status and Amir's jealous nature over Hassan's sense of wisdom. The healing of this injustice is brought about through Sohrab, whom Hassan named from the Persian tale of "Rostam and Sohrab", when Amir saves him to atone for his sins against Hassan. The use of language is crucial in every story; develops tone and style and decides the narrative point of view. In The Kite Runner, Hosseini uses a first-person narrative to develop Amir's personal story, his tone is attributable to his personal characteristics. The combined use of English and the Fari language allows the reader to connect on a more personal level with Amir, giving a sense of heritage to his character. “If the story had been about anyone else, it would have been dismissed as laaf, that Afghan tendency to exaggerate…” (Hosseini 12) As a child Amir's tone is lyrical, illustrating the naivety of youth, and develops a darker tone and morbid sense of self-evaluation as he becomes an adult, "sometimes my whole childhood feels like one long, lazy summer day with Hassan, chasing each other through the tangles of trees in my father's backyard, playing hide and seek, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians..."(Hosseini 24) The sense of freedom that Amir felt as a child with Hassan conveys the concept of innocence that they both had. However, after Hassan is attacked, their innocence and sense of naivety is stolen. The style of the text is structured according to the genre of the bildungsroman – the development from childhood to adulthood of a character whose personality is shaped by an experience. The Kite Runner is formed using a three-part structure, starting with Amir's childhood, then his experience in America, and his return to America. Afghanistan. As a narrator, Amir provides the reader with personal insight into several events and characters. However, he has limited understanding and forms a biased perspective as a character, “and that's typical of people who think seriously about everything they say. They think everyone else does too. (Hosseini 51) According to Amir, Hassan is honest, but he believes he uses it selfishly with other people's expectations. As an adult narrator, Amir becomes more mature but remains cowardly in his actions towards Hassan. His change in tone, less portentous and more thoughtful, gives his character a sense of growth from when he was a child. “We have both sinned and betrayed. But Baba had found a way to make good out of his remorse.” (Hosseini 278) After saving Sohrab from the Taliban, Amir visualizes more of his father in him than he saw as a child and discovers more about himself personally. Overall, Amir's use of language and the role of narrator demonstrates that heartbreaking issues like war cannot be appreciated until they are made personal. The story can be intertwined with other stories, and the story can also inevitably become its own story. While reading The Kite Runner, this notion is acknowledged by the mention of Amir and Hassan's mothers, who are dead and estranged, respectively. Amir, who has a troubled relationship with Baba, has similar character traits to his mother, who died in childbirth. He believes he killed his mother and that Baba blames him. Amir often avoided his father by reading his mother's books. “This is how I escaped my father's detachment, in my dead mother's books.” (Hosseini 19) However, Amir's love for literature and becoming a writer is what brings healing to his and Baba's relationship, as Baba realizes that writing stories helps Amir connect with people, especially Soraya who he later marries, and becomes proud of it. "'Liar.' I lifted Baba's blanket. 'What is this?' I said, but as soon as I picked up the leather-bound book, I realized… “I can't believe you can write like this,” said Soraya Baba pulled her head off the pillow. “I have I'm encouraged. I hope you don't mind." I handed the notebook back to Soraya and left the room. Baba hated when I cried. (Hosseini 159) When Amir discovers that Baba has read one of his stories, he accepts that despite his harshness of character, Baba finally appreciates and loves him for who he is. References to Sanaubar, Hassan's mother, are described as folk legends or fairy tales, as if she existed and then no longer existed after being doomed with a dishonorable reputation. “While my mother died of hemorrhage during childbirth, Hassan lost his blood less than a week after his birth. He lost her to a fate that most Afghans considered far worse than death: She ran away with a clan of traveling singers and dancers. (Hosseini 6) Sanaubar's stories cause harm to Hassan, especially when he is bombarded by soldiers who claim to have "taken" her. Sanaubar's misdeeds are eventually exonerated by Hassan when she returns years later as an older woman seeking forgiveness and caring forSohrab. In The Kite Runner, the role and integrity of women are represented through stories from the past, including Soraya, Amir's wife. , who had run away with an Afghan man years earlier. Hosseini uses it as a means to express the injustice of male domination over women. Soraya expresses this injustice: “their children go to nightclubs to look for meat and get their friends pregnant, they have children out of wedlock and no one says a thing. Oh, they are just men who have nang and namoos [pride and honor], and I have to have my face stuffed in for the rest of my life.” (Hosseini 164) The injustice towards women in The Kite Runner is not completely resolved. In the end, Soraya and Amir get married despite his past. Amir believes he cannot judge her for her sins, “and in the end the question that always came back to me was this: How could I, of all people, chastise someone for their past?... I suspected that in many ways Soraya Taheri was a better person than me. Courage was just one of them. (Hosseini 151 – 152) Amir's past experiences in Afghanistan ultimately lead him to admire Soraya rather than despise her; his honesty and courage of his situation ironically reflect his cowardice in his actions towards Hassan. A feminist perspective of Soraya's courage and honesty, compared to Amir's cowardice, could be perceived as empowering for Afghan women. Her genuine attitude towards her past, and her marrying Amir because of his admiration for it, is healing for her. When Baba and Amir flee to America, their lives change and Baba longs for what he was: his status as a rich man and an honorable reputation in Afghanistan. “I look at him from across the table… the smells of the gas station – dust, sweat and petrol – on his clothes… He missed the sugarcane fields of Jalalabad and the gardens of Paghman. He missed people coming in and out of his house, he missed walking down the crowded corridors of Shor Bazaar and greeting people who knew him and his father, knew his grandfather, people who shared ancestors with him, whose past was intertwined with his his. (Hosseini 119 – 120) Baba continues to feel a strong sense of cultural heritage and connection to Afghanistan; America took this past away from him. However, America offers Amir hope and a new beginning. Therefore, stories from the past can create justice for some, but injustice for many. Even before the Russian invasion, Afghanistan was an oppressed country. The Pashtun-Hazara divide is highlighted in The Kite Runner by Amir and Hassan's friendship, the brotherhood between Baba and Ali, and the abuse both Ali and Hassan receive in public. Hazaras have Mongolian traits and both Ali and Hassan are insulted for this, especially Ali. “They chased him down the street and laughed at him when he limped by. Some had taken to calling him Babalu, or Boogeyman. 'Hey, Babalu, who did you eat today... Who did you eat, flat-nosed Babalu?'” (Hosseini 8) Ali had been a victim of polio at a young age and walked with a stiff leg. People often create stories to provide answers to problems and ethical questions. In The Kite Runner, Hosseini addresses this issue through Amir's guilt over Hassan's fate, telling himself that Hassan was an appropriate sacrifice. While rescuing Sohrab from the Taliban, Amir is beaten and ironically it is through this that he finds healing for what he did to Hassan. “Another rib broke, this time further down. The funniest thing was that, for the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace. I laughed because I saw that, in some.