The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
• It is through literature that we most
intimately enter the hearts and minds
and spirits of other people. And what we
value in this is the difference as well as
the human similarities of others: that
way, as C. S. Lewis put it, we become a
thousand different people and yet
remain ourselves.
-Aidan Chambers
Introduction
• First Afghan novel to be
written in English
• Over 9 million copies sold
worldwide
• Translated into over 25
languages
• Is on the list of “Banned and
Challenged Books”
• Kite Running is a popular
Afghan pastime.
About the Author
• Born in 1965 in Kabul,
Afghanistan
• Moved to the US in 1980
• Graduated from Med
school in 1996
• The Kite Runner is
Hosseini’s first novel,
followed by A Thousand
Splendid Suns and And
The Mountains Echoed
Synopsis
•The Kite Runner opens in Kabul in the
mid-1970s.
•Raised in the same household but
separated by class, Amir and his best
friend Hassan are inseparable until a
tragic event changes their relationship
forever.
•Their intertwined lives and their fates
reflect the eventual tragedy of the world
in which they live.
Time & Place
The story takes place in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and America.
Early 1970s to early 2000’s
A “modern” Bildungsroman novel
waging it’s own valiant war to
emergence as a classic
Afghanistan and the World
Afghanistan and Surroundings
Landscape
Historical Background
Geographically and historically, Afghanistan has been the
central focus for Eurasian civilization activity.
- Central Asia
Afghanistan has been invaded and conquered by several
empires:
•Persian
•Greek
•Arab
•Turk
• Mongol (Under Genghis Khan)
•British
•Soviet
•And most recently by the American troops and her allies, although
the context may be viewed differently.
Ethnic and Religious
Divisions
• Afghanistan is made up of many
different ethnic and religious groupsPashtun, Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara
• People of different races and faiths
• Pashtu and Dari are considered the official
languages of Afghanistan and are spoken
by 85% of the people.
• 30 other minor languages are also spoken
in Afghanistan.
• Islam is the main religion practiced by
Muslims and divided into Sunnis and Shi’as
• Political rather than religious division
Introduction to Afghanistan
• About 99% of the population is Muslim, and of these
Muslims, 84% belong to the Sunni sect.
• A long history of an ethnic hierarchy within
Afghanistan exists. It has created imbalances in
wealth, influence and education within its society.
• Traditionally Pashtuns have dominated the country
because they are the presumed majority of the
population.
• As a result, many of the other ethnic groups have not
had a strong voice within the society.
(Amnesty International USA The Kite Runner Companion Curriculum.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/education/pdf/kiterunnerhigh.pdf Accessed on 17 February 2008)
Tribal System
Hierarchical network of several tribes
-Pashtun: Most numerous and most
powerful (Persian, Sunni Muslim)
Ethnic Groups
• Pashtuns
– Majority ethnic group at 42%
– Highest ethnicity on the social ladder
and dominate governmental bodies
– Pashtu is their native language
– Consist mainly of Sunni Muslims
Ethnic Groups
• Tajiks
– 27% of population
– Second largest ethnic group
– Identified with agriculture and town life
– Mainly inhabit the fertile eastern valleys
– A group that is considered to have low income
and like many Hazaras, they are not the
highest on the social ladder. However, there
are Tajiks that are successful and important
members of the government.
Ethnic Groups
• Hazaras
– 9% of Afghanistan’s population
– Reside mainly in the central
Afghanistan mountain region called
‘Hazarajat’
– Historically, the Hazara seem to have
Mongolian origins.
– Most Hazara are Shia Muslims. The 1%
which are not Muslim are either Hindu,
Sikh or Jewish.
– Hazaras are considered to be on the
lower end of the socio-economic scale.
Historical Timeline
• 1st century: Buddhist Kushans rule
• 3rd century: Kushans defeated by the
Persians. Religion: Zoroastrianism
(Zarathustra)
• 7th century: Muslim Arabs defeat the
Persians
• 1219: Under Genghis Khan, the Mongols
overthrow the Arabs and devastate
Afghanistan
• Safawids ruled in western Afghanistan and
Moguls ruled in eastern (including Kabul)
Uzbeks controlled the north
Afghanistan only emerged as a nation in
1747 under Ahmad Shah. He is known as
the father of Modern Afghanistan.
•Muslim
•Pashtun
• Peaceful rule until 1973 when
Mohammad Daoud joins with
Afghan communist to overthrow his
brother-in-law, the king.
• Afghanistan switches from being a
monarchy to being a republic.
• 5 years later, Daoud and his family
are murdered when the communist
party decides to take over the
government.
Deterioration begins…
• Mid 70s
• Afghanistan is pro-communist and anti-religious
while its neighbors (Iran and Pakistan) are strongly
Islamic.
• 1979
• Soviet Army sets up a government in Kabul
• 1980s: To counter the Soviet
presence, an Islamic jihad was
declared to overthrow the Soviets.
• Mujaheddin factions established
(Afghan warriors)
• To help defeat communism, these
groups were trained and generously
funded by the CIA
• 1989: As a result of the Jihad,
Russia pulls out of Afghanistan
Aftermath
•Russian casualties:
15,000
•Afghan Casualties:
Over 1 million dead
6.2 million escape Afghanistan (now over half
of the world’s refugee population)
Afghanistan is once again reduced to rubble
Recent History
• Could not agree on how to share the
power
• Civil war broke out among them
dividing Afghanistan into several
independent zones
• This civil war resulted in over 10,000
casualties in Kabul alone
The Taliban
• Lack of leadership left room for a group of
Islamic fighters, the Taliban, to successfully
rise to power
• Talib = seeker of knowledge (Taliban is the
plural form)
• Came from Pakistan (and supported by
them)
• Pashtun
• Sunni Muslim
Taliban
• They began by helping rebuild the Afghani
people’s moral (restoring peace and
security)
• Took over as Afghanistan’s government
• Soon began enforcing laws through rigorous
enforcement of what they deemed to be
“Islamic Law”:
-public beating
-flogging
-amputation of hands
-stoning to death
Mazar-i Sharif
August 8, 1997, as vengence for earlier
ethnic conflict, Taliban massacre 8000
Hazaras
• Hundreds suffocated in crates
• Shot in homes and on streets
• Hospital patients killed in their beds
• House to house searches
• Throats slit- “the Halal way”
• Children packed into a crate
News leaks out a year later.
Taliban
• Became internationally famous for
their sadistic repression of women
Taliban Rules for Women
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Complete ban on women's work outside the home, which also applies to female
teachers, engineers and most professionals.
Complete ban on women's activity outside the home unless accompanied by a
mahram (close male relative such as a father, brother or husband).
Ban on women being treated by male doctors.
Ban on women studying at schools, universities or any other educational
institution.
Requirement that women wear a long veil (Burqa), which covers them from head
to toe.
Whipping, beating and verbal abuse of women not clothed in accordance with
Taliban rules, or of women unaccompanied by a mahram.
Public stoning of women accused of having sex outside marriage.
Ban on the use of cosmetics. (Many women with painted nails have had fingers cut
off).
Ban on women laughing loudly. (No stranger should hear a woman's voice).
Ban on women wearing high heel shoes, which would produce sound while walking.
(A man must not hear a woman's footsteps.)
Compulsory painting of all windows, so women can not be seen from outside their
homes.
Ban on the photographing or filming of women. Ban on women's pictures printed in
newspapers and books, or hung on the walls of houses and shops.
Rules for all of Society
•Banned listening to music, watching of movies, television and videos
•Ordered that all people with non-Islamic names change them to Islamic ones.
•Ordered that men not shave or trim their beards
•Ordered that all people attend prayers in mosques five times daily.
•The kite flying has been stopped.
•Ordered all onlookers, while encouraging the sportsmen, to chant Allah-o-Akbar
(God is great) and refrain from clapping.
•Anyone who carries objectionable literature will be executed.
•Anyone who converts from Islam to any other religion will be executed.
•All boy students must wear turbans. They say "No turban, no education.”
• Non-Muslim minorities must distinct badge or stitch a yellow cloth onto their
dress to be differentiated from the majority Muslim population. Just like what
Nazis did with Jews.
•Banned the use of the internet by both ordinary Afghans and foreigners.
9/11 to Today
• Taliban admitted to harbouring Osama
Bin Laden and his radical Islamist group
called Al-Qaeda
• After the 9/11 attacks, the US and its
allies went into Afghanistan and quickly
overthrew the Taliban
• Unfortunately, due to lack of successful
reconstruction, the Taliban have
reappeared
• Afghanistan is slowly and painfully trying
to rebuild itself.
….and let there be perspective.