Power In The Kite Runner

Modern day society has been ravaged by the damaging effects of racism, sexism, and violence. Though he did not first-handedly experience these oppressions, Khaled Hosseini, a realist author from Kabul, Afghanistan, emphasizes the troubles of society in his works. After temporarily moving from Kabul to Paris, Hosseini’s family heard about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in addition to the start of a war in their homeland. Instead of returning to the unstable conditions in Afghanistan, Hosseini moved to America. Though far away from the problems at home, Hosseini was still aware of the tyrannical rule the Taliban had over Afghanistan, and the class divide happening between the Pashtuns and Hazaras. In his world-renowned novel, The Kite

Greatly valued by the Pashtuns, power, though a negative value, has elevated their social status, placing them at a superior position than the Hazaras. In fact, many Hazaras work as servants for the Pashtuns, shown by Hassan and his father. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the country took a turn for the worst, as many Afghans had to face restriction of rights and fear of execution every day. When discussing this negative value, Hosseini utilizes imagery to depict the major effects that greed and authority had on the characters of this novel. To emphasize the tyrannical power that the Taliban had over Afghanistan, Hosseini uses lucid imagery to depict the haunting images of “a man, desperate to feed his children, trying to sell an artificial leg in the market; an adulterous couple stoned to death in a stadium during halftime of a football match” (Hower). By painting this horrifying picture, Hosseini leaves a lasting impression on the reader of the alarming effects of despotism in society. The desire for power is representative of the destructiveness of society as a whole, since the Taliban’s power symbolizes that of tyranny. They limit the rights of many Afghans (especially women), they execute people for fun, and use children as sex slaves. In fact, the restriction of rights by the Taliban is what inspired Hosseini to write this novel. In an interview, Hosseini stated that the Taliban “banned the sport of kite flying, which struck a personal chord for [him], since [he] grew up in Kabul with all [his] cousins and friends flying kites” (Hosseini). Thus, Hosseini presents his dissenting views of the Taliban through the parallel events that occur in the