The Kite Runner Analysis

804 Words2 Pages

"The Great Gatsby" and "The Kite Runner" are two stories from different periods of time, parts of the world , and social situations . At first glance , these two novels are completely different but with a closer look, one would find more similarities then what holds the eye. Both "The Kite Runner" and "The Great Gatsby" depicts bias and unfaithful behaviours such as racism, adultery and the idea of social class superiority which is still in our current society. Tom Bunchan from "The Great Gatsby", Baba and Assef from "The Kite Runner" are examples of how bias and unfaithful behaviors are still socially accepted.
In "The Great Gatsby", Tom Bunchan, displays significant racism through two of his quotes. "…Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white."(138) Through this conversation, the characters' fail to recognize Tom comparison; that marriage between a black and white is compared to adultery as if both scenarios were on the same level. None of the characters stated the inappropriateness of his comment, therefore, agreeing that this is acceptable. The quote "It's up to us who are the dominant race to watch out for these other races will have control of things."(18) shows that Tom genuinely believes Caucasians are the dominant race, and again no one stands up to him. In "The Kite Runner" Baba quoted "I don't care where he was born; he's Roussi," Baba said, grimacing like it was a dirty word. "His parents were Roussi, his grandparents were ...

... middle of paper ...

...ys will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His people pollute our homeland, our "watan." They dirty our blood."(43). Assef believes that because he is a Pashtun, he is superior to Hassan because he is a Hazara. When Assef said this in the novel , he was only eleven years old, but the society already taught him that he was greater than Hazaras', simply because of his ethnicity. Both novels show social class superiority.
In conclusion, both "The Great Gatsby" and "The Kite Runner" incorporated mature themes into their writing. In both novels characters feel that it is acceptable to be racist, commit adultery and look down on others while having no one stand up to them. Both authors used the characters' reaction to show bias and unjustifiable behaviors are still accepted.

Open Document