The Importance Of Honor In The Kite Runner

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Throughout the thought provoking and eye opening narrative, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini provides a vivid and in depth story told through the eyes of a privileged young narrator who is forced to come of age in the capital of Afghanistan. As a story told from a different cultural perspective,culture and morals in this society are different from foreign beliefs. A reader will not fully comprehend The Kite Runner without discerning the differences between social classes and understanding the importance of honor in the Afghanistan culture. An aspect crucial to understanding The Kite Runner is the Pashtuns contemptuous treatment towards the Hazaras based upon the immense social differences between these two ethnic groups. Hassan, one of the …show more content…

Throughout The Kite Runner, honor is tested when characters are involuntarily placed in conflictive situations. Baba, father of Amir, even in the presence of death, remained honorable. This is shown when the Roussi officer wanted half an hour with the married women in the back of the truck. Baba said, “Tell him ( the Roussi) I’ll take 1000 of his bullets before I let this indecency take place” ( Hosseini, 2005, pg. 166). Baba is willing to take a bullet for a woman who is a complete stranger. This honorable act caused the young woman’s husband to stand and kiss Baba’s hand, a gesture of gratitude, respect and devotion. In contrast, Amir did the opposite of Baba's actions and allowed indecency to take place by choosing not to intervene when Hassan was raped. Amir states, “...the real reason I was running, was because Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini, 2005, pg.77). This quote shows that Amir acted dishonorably and displayed a lack of integrity because he was jealous of the attention that his father was giving Hassan. Also, unlike his father, Amir put his safety first, and his cowardice exhibits that his level of honor was not as selfless as Baba’s. Without recognizing a character's moral beliefs and their level of honor in the Afghanistan

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