The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan, about a young boy named Amir who feels that he must win the kite tournament in order to redeem himself to his father. Because his mother died while giving birth to Amir he feels somehow responsible for his mother’s death. His servant is his best friend, Hassan, who runs the kite for him. Amir feels as though he is not acknowledged or accepted by his father, therefore not feeling a sense of belonging when Baba (father) shows his love toward Hassan.

This motivates Amir to not do anything about Hassan’s rape which later leaves him with guilt. Those who do not belong may commit acts that are not within their desire in order to belong. For example, after Hassan was raped Amir lied to his father saying that Hassan stole his watch and money from him causing them to be kicked out of their house as servants. Amir’s thoughts were that once Hassan had left, Baba’s love would be pointed toward him only, hence giving him a deeper sense of belonging to his father.

Hassan on the other hand felt as though he belonged to the Afghan home of Baba and Amir even as a servant as he is treated with the same respect as the members of the family. However being Hazara’s, a minority ethnic group, Hassan would not have felt a sense of belonging on the macro scale for the reason that his rape was motivated due to the ethnic group he is from i. e. the minority in Afghanistan who are continuously discriminated against. After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan the country became a war-zone causing Amir and Baba to flee the country leaving all the memories and reminiscences in their country.

Connections are shown with several of Skrzynecki’s poems, for example, St Patricks College. In St Patricks College it is signified that the poet has been at his school “for eight years” however he has still formed no sense of belonging. This connects with the relationship that Amir has with his father, Baba. Baba has raised Amir on his own for almost a decade however Amir feels as though Baba does not love him causing him to feel an insignificant amount of belonging

Physical geography has a major Influence to the story. The themes of geography that mainly pertain to the story are Place, Human/ Environmental Interactions, and Movement. Place can have physical and human characteristics. The physical geography of Afghanistan changed after the wars and the Taliban attacks. For example, before in the “old days the wind swept through the irrigated plains around Islamabad where farmers grew sugar cane and the sweetness impregnated the air. ” Now there were narrow road and dries up gutters. In Kabul when Hosannas and Emir were young boys, they used to run up hills surrounded by Poplar and Pomegranate trees.

Treetops could be seen poking from behind the houses as they played. Now most of the trees were gone used as wood for lumber to keep Taliban from hiding. Where before you could fins street vendors and restaurants, now there are only dusty roads, abandoned buildings, and beggars. The number of beggars and orphaned children increased after the wars. The change in this geographical sense changed the way of life of the Afghan’s because now they were homeless because their houses were taken over by “guest” as the referred to the Taliban.

They were left without Jobs, ways of growing crops and providing for their families. The war left omen and children husbandly and fatherless. Another theme of geography that pertains is movement. Because of the war, people were forced to relocate. Those that had money fled from Afghanistan. Babe and Emir left from Kabul dictatorial and into a foreign country, America, in hope of a better future. In Afghanistan they were the aristocratic class and In America they became the working class.

The following ethnic groups represented In Kite Runner are Afghans. Pakistanis, Arabs, Palestinian, Iranians, Russians, and Germans. The major ethnic groups represented are the Afghans’ divided into two major groups, the Hazard’s and the Pushpins, and the Pakistanis. The Hazard’s are outsiders according to other Afghans because of their Mongolia indigenous people of eastern and southeast Asia and Arctic region. They are also considered outsiders because the Hazard’s are Shiite Muslims In a mostly Sunnis Muslim nation.

The Pushpins are the dominant ethnic group In Afghanistan accounting for more than half of the population. The Pushpins are Sunnis Muslims in a Sunnis Muslim Nation. The majority of Pakistanis practice Islam. Islam governs their personal, legal, political and economic parts of their life. Pakistanis live in a hierarchical society and are respect because of age and position. There are many examples of their conflicts during the course of the novel. One example Is when Hosannas finds his mother’s history book and starts reading it.

In the book he finds an inure chapter about the Hazards and how they were persecuted and oppressed by the Pushpins. When he takes it to his teacher, he replies, “That’s the one thing Shih’s people do well, passing themselves as martyrs. ” This show how they differ and how they dislike each other. Another example is when the teacher ells Emir, that Iranians are “grinning smooth talkers who patted you on the back with one hand and picked your pocket with the other. ” This shows how they dislike each other even though the Iranians, Like the Hazards, are Shih’s Muslims.

Another example with me in Mazda… We left them out for the dogs… ” This shows that the Taliban could not put away their differences and they had so much hatred that they believed the Hazards were as significant as animals. The novel faithfully matches the reality of its time. Throughout the book, it mentions dates important to the plot but also events that happened in reality. For example, it leaked about King Mohammad Sahara Shah being sent away to Italy and being overthrown by his cousin Mohammad Doodad Khan in 1973.

When further research was done, it proved to be correct with actual events. Another example of this was when the book mentions that the Taliban took over and massacred the Hazard’s in 1998. After further studies, it proved to be accurate with the real events. Another factual event illustrated in the novel was when it mentions the United States boycotting the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980. After research, it is proven that the facts given in the novel match the events that actually occurred.