the kite runner

Khaled Hosseini's 2003 novel The Kite Runner should be considered an important work of its time and place. The 324 page book, published by Riverhead Books, tells the narrative of two families of intertwined misfortunes across the borders of Afghanistan and America. I initially had read this text on the advice of a friend. An extremely popular and critically acclaimed work of its year, I read it with great interest and found that a number of its themes are extremely compelling and worthy of critical evaluation. In particular, I selected the work for its themes of friendship and betrayal, which emerge the relationship between Amir and Hassan. That this personal story is delivered before the inhospitable backdrop of Afghanistan would make it a particularly suitable choice for its relevance to current events. The fact that Hosseini's work was a bestseller is indicative of the interest of mainstream audiences in such a subject matter. There is a clear cultural undercurrent disposing people to interest and education about Afghanistan and its people. The main characters of the story are initially Amir and Hassan, whose class distinctions in a caste-driven Afghanistan cause them to run afoul of an aggressive and psychologically sick boy names Assef. When Amir witnesses his best friend raped by Assef, he hides in a bush out of fear. The guilt of this cowardice causes him to frame his friend of theft and have him ejected from his father's house. The story revolves on the guilt suffered by Amir upon escaping Afghanistan to California and his efforts at achieving reconciliation through Hassan's son Sohrab. Sohrab is another important character in the narrative. As Hassan's son, he remains the only link to a man who had been killed for standing up against Taliban aggression. For Amir, this is the only way to redemption. The boy, he learns, is living in an orphanage in the Taliban afflicted Afghanistan. In resolution, Amir determines to travel to Kabul to bring the boy back to America and adopt him. Another character of importance is Amir's wife Soraya, who serves as a source of support and comfort to the guilt-ridden man. The story revolves primarily on Amir's response to his actions both during a childhood in Afghanistan and an adulthood in America. In both contexts, he is afflicted by a sense of his own shortcomings. There is no small degree of jealousy on his part for the gifted and virtuous Hassan. Though he had loved his friend like a brother, he had also sensed some degree of competition to which he could never live up to. This is an undercurrent in the plot which takes place across countries are periods of character experience. The text proves itself to be rather compelling, both for its unflinching detail concerning the lifestyle and deconstruction thereof in Afghanistan. Indeed, we may excuse Amir as a product of his surroundings. The guilt and shame that he carries with him to a new life in America might well be present in some incarnation in any individual who has experienced conflict and breakdown thusly. Ultimately, I would find that its credible references to the historical and current conflicts Afghanistan would help to make the personal story more compelling. The reverse can likewise be said. The personal connection offered in the conflict and resolution between Amir and Sohrab helps to drive home the realities of a war which continues to be waged even today in a devastated Afghanistan. the main ones and thier roles in the story.