How Does Hosseini Present His Struggles In The Kite Runner

Raised in an affluent neighborhood in Afghanistan, the poor and the wealthy worked for survival, and the educated lived alongside the uneducated. In this ordinary, tranquil setting, change suddenly grasps the lives of individuals. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, the protagonist, Amir, must endure the changes that abruptly unravel in his neighborhood. As the novel unfolds, Amir introduces the readers to his profound interest in literature, the escalating tensions among the different political parties as well as the harassment of his brother Hassan. Later in the novel, he draws the reader's attention to the transformation Afghanistan undergoes, from economic oppression to the physical devastation, by constantly contrasting the past

to the present. Through the perspective of this innocent, young boy, the author offers deep insights into his personal childhood in pre-war Afghanistan, his struggle living in a new environment as a refugee, and the post war struggles of his home country.

Back in Afghanistan, Hosseini’s mother was a practicing high school teacher, which mirrors Hosseini’s and Amir’s fondness for literature and outstanding grasp of language. As a student, Hosseini admired reading novels in bookstores, particularly translated Western novels, classic Persian literature, and poetry, which serves as a template for Amir, who also enjoys “translat[ed]” novels, such as “Ivanhoe” (“Khaled Hosseini Interview” 1);(Hosseini 88). In addition to Amir’s passion for reading intricate novels, he “recite[d] dozens of verses” from poems, such as “Khayyan, Hafez” and “Masnawi” at the age 11 (Hosseini 19). Reading and reciting such a complex, translated literature at a young age exemplifies Hosseini and Amir’s distinct connection; however, their excellent ability in multiple languages further illustrates their connection. For Hosseini, his intelligence is not only depicted through the literature he masters, but also through the various languages he proved proficiency in: Pashtun, Dari, French, and English (“Khaled Hosseini Interview” 1). Having to learn multiple languages was a major key to survival for Hosseini since he moved many times. Similarly, when Amir’s father, Baba argues with the Nguyen family, Amir proves his excellent control of language by compromising with them in English, a new language for Amir (Hosseini 128). Through these profound connections, Hosseini reveals his fervor for literature and his understanding of language.

Besides Hosseini’s fondness for literature, his country’s political struggle influences the setting of the novel.

Although before war Afghanistan seemed to be a relatively peaceful country, Hosseini saw the small political struggles underlying this tranquility. Leading to his incorporation of the mass shooting in the novel, this political instability in Afghanistan eventually caused the overthrow of King Zahir Shah, marking the beginning of the civil war, which Hosseini later describes as “a whole new country” (“Khaled Hosseini Interview” 1). In order to inform the readers about the horrific events, he dramatizes the scene of the overthrow in his novel by describing the gunfire as “a rapid staccato,” which evokes the reader's senses (Hosseini 35). Amir further explains that these “bombs and gunfire” are “foreign” to his generation of Afghan children, which signifies a major transformation in Afghanistan (Hosseini 36). Likewise, during an interview, Hosseini claimed that Afghanistan was a “peaceful and quiet” era while in retrospect “a time of polarization” in terms of politics. For Hosseini, noticing the shift from tranquility to violence greatly shaped his view towards Afghanistan, which he emphasizes through the eyes of

Amir.

In addition to Hosseini’s realization of Afghanistan’s struggles, Hosseini had personal struggles he faced daily. Particularly, Hosseini experienced immense isolation, which influenced him to fictionalize his past events through Hassan, who also experiences isolation, both physical and emotional. Hosseini describes his devastating feelings as “alienating,” which sufficiently illustrates his severe conditions; but, he goes further by explaining that he was “completely ignored” to the point of existing on the “periphery of high‑school culture” ((“Khaled Hosseini: ‘If I Could’ ” 1). To express his struggles to full potential, Hosseini has Amir face similar, if not worse, situations, which is depicted through the derogative term the neighborhood boys calls Amir: “pollution in Afghanistan” and “mice-eating, flat-nosed, load carrying donkeys” (Hosseini 9);(Hosseini 40). Due to Hassan’s unfortunate fate of being born to a poor family, he must encounter these verbal abuses, which not only conveys the message that bullying is unethical, but also illustrates the undesirable circumstances that Hosseini faced. Moreover, Hosseini successfully explains an ineffable portion of his childhood through his vivid descriptions of Hassan’s harassment.

Unfortunately, Hassan not only experiences these severe bullying from the neighborhood boys, but also his own blood-related brother, Amir, who continuously mocks him, which further proves Hosseini’s personal isolation.

Although Hosseini does not elucidate whether he has felt isolated from his family, by emphasizing Hassan’s conflicts with Amir, he highlights the degree of isolation he felt as a young, innocent boy. Through this, Hosseini claims that isolation from neighborhood boys is incomparable to the bullying one faces from a family member. This is particularly evident when Amir intentionally “teases” and “exposes [Hassan’s] ignorance” while reading a sophisticated novel to him (Hosseini 28). Hosseini effectively conveys his message that although Amir and Hassan are cousins, there is a mist of separation that co-exists between them because of their religious status. These incessant harassment present in Hassan’s life reflects the portion of Hosseini’s life as a pariah in America, which was an inevitable misfortune due to his Afghan descent. For example, Hosseini was called a “terrorist,” which Hosseini passively dismissed by acknowledging his fate from the “inscrutable Afghan resignation” (Jones 1). Encountering such difficulties at a young age, Hosseini decides to dedicate a large portion of the novel illustrating the scenes through

Hassan.

Hosseini’s tragic childhood does not ameliorate; instead, the struggles quickly escalates as he settles in America. Escaping to a new country as refugees with his family, he lived an economically unstable life, which he portrays through Baba and Amir’s industrious life as a refugee. In order to protect the family financially, Hosseini’s parents held multiple, humiliating jobs, such as driving instructor and assembly line worker, which he reveals during an interview. Inspired by his father and mother who managed to support a family of 5 while working full time, Hosseini allots a considerable amount of the novel emphasizing this foreign life. In the novel, Amir and Baba buys their household products in “garage sale,” proving their struggling life; however, Amir goes further by emphasizing that they sold “junk” for a “small profit” to make a living (Hosseini 137);(Hosseini 136). By clearly explaining the unfortunate circumstances he and his father faced, Hosseini describes the full extent of his own family’s deprived financial status. Through Amir’s perspective of economic struggles as a refugee, Hosseini describes his own personal thoughts on these circumstances.

Due to the Hosseini family’s financial instability, they became unnecessarily self-conscious of their surroundings, which is illustrated through the thoughts and actions of Amir and Baba. During an interview, Hosseini stated that his mother was embarrassed of paying with food stamps in groceries, which seems logical since they lived a wealthy life in Afghanistan. Unsurprisingly, Baba expresses the same views towards the “humiliating food stamp,” which he quickly decides to terminate (Hosseini 131). After doing so, he claims that he has alleviated one of Afghan’s “biggest fears,” which mirrors the identical embarrassment Hosseini’s mother expressed in the markets. (Hosseini 131). Both Hosseini and Amir’s family used to be wealthy families in Afghanistan, but after moving to America as refugees, they had to adjust to the undesirable conditions. This lead to a psychological effect where both Hosseini’s family and Amir’s family felt excessively self-conscious of themselves.

For Hosseini, this seeming-to-be-interminable economic struggle left him reminiscing more about his home country, which he illustrates through Amir’s visit in Afghanistan. As Hosseini learned about the disconnected “supply routes,” the “destitute” inhabitants, and the split families, he began to question the existence of humanity (Tripathi 78). Having his hometown replaced with civilians “dressed in shredded burlap rags,” Hosseini seeks writing as a means to cope with this shocking realization (Hosseini 245). Through writing, he manages to reflect on the transformation in Afghanistan, which Amir descriptively narrates. Upon Amir’s arrival, he metaphorically describes the hands of beggars as “mud-caked,” showing the extent of the affliction caused to the civilians (Hosseini 245). But, in order to further highlight the catastrophe, Amir claims that in every corner he saw children “no older than five or six” begging (Hosseini 245). Trying to fully delineate the effects afflicted on Afghans, Hosseini has Amir visit the ruined country, who successfully illustrates the grotesque conditions.

Through Amir’s vivid descriptions of the appalling conditions in Afghanistan, not only does he describe the economic instability and poverty as major epidemics, but also emphasizes the physical destruction. Reading and hearing about the “liberal” loss, including “intellectual life and a functioning bureaucracy,” was an overwhelming shock for Hosseini (Ulin 1). So, in order to fully emphasize the extent of the havoc, he dramatizes the scene where Amir walks down the wretched street. Specifically, he provokes the reader’s senses to convey his message: Afghans’ ears became “accustomed to the whistle of falling shells...the rumble of gunfire” and the Afghans’ eyes became “familiar with the sight of men digging bodies out of piles of rubble” (Hosseini 212). By focusing on these two senses, hearing and sight, he allows the readers to really imagine this appalling scene. Then, Hosseini concisely lists the other observations rather quickly: buildings are “pierced with rocket shells,” while others are completely “obliterated to rubble” (Hosseini 246). The significant portion of the novel Hosseini devotes in illustrating the physical destruction reveals the magnitude of the shock inflicted upon him, consequently describing Hosseini’s personal thoughts about the transformation.

Releasing his ideas on paper, Hosseini sums up his entire past in merely a novel, The Kite Runner. Although this creatively written novel may mean nothing more than a fictional story of Amir, the characters, settings, and plots can be traced back to significant elements in Hosseini’s personal life. Particularly, Hosseini’s pre-war childhood, his struggle living as a refugee, and the post war conditions of Afghanistan serve as a chronological template for this internationally renowned novel. Through this influential novel, Hosseini proves that barriers in our lives are merely temporary obstacles that we must overcome to succeed. Furthermore, by recognizing the flaws of the past, Hosseini works to educate the public of the struggles in Afghanistan as well as provide philanthropic aid to those in need, which reveals his fervor to improve the future (Jones).