Guilt and Redemption in The Kite Runner
Learn more about: Superego Guilt, Redemption and Atonement in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
In this paper, Hesham Khadawardi explores how themes of guilt and redemption are interwoven and the two most prominent themes throughout The Kite Runner. Throughout his paper, Khadawardi focuses on how Hosseini uses the protagonist, Amir, as a way to conceptualize how redemption only comes as a subsequent response to an “ominous offence” because the actor feels some kind of remorse. Khadawardi examines Amir’s characterization and character as a clear manifestation of both guilt and redemption. He attempts to answer questions, like: In what ways are guilt and redemption manifested? To what extent do interventions by the guilt address the issue of guilt? What is the role of betrayal as harbinger of guilt and redemption?
Khadawardi, Hesham. “Superego Guilt, Redemption and Atonement in Khaled Hosseini’s the Kite Runner.” International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education 4, no. 2 (2017). doi:10.20431/2349-0381.0402009.
Learn more about: The Kite Runner as an Allegory of Global Ethics.
In this article, Jefferess critically examines the recurring concept/ideology in The Kite Runner on ethics that, “there is a way to be good again,” in relation to contemporary conceptions of humanitarianism. As Jefferess explains in detail, The Kite Runner is allegorical in the sense that the narrative begs for answers to moral questions regarding responsibility and intervention, and it reflects, or at least is translatable to, contemporary ethical discourses of humanitarianism and globalized identities. Jefferess also goes into depth about human’s moral obligation to be good, and backs up his argument by dissecting Rahim Khan’s reminder to Amir that there is a way “to be good again,” and how Amir’s mission in the novel to be good again is an individual dilemma that the universal reader can identify with. As a political allegory, Jefferess examines how race, nation, and/or religion can be transcended through the distinction of the individual as being “good.” He argues that “The Kite Runner reflects a shift from the supremacy of race and nation as primary markers of political community and identity to the idea of the ‘modern’ as the framework for determining the ‘human.'”
Jefferess, David (2009) ‘To be good (again): The Kite Runner as allegory of global ethics’, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 45: 4, 389-400, DOI: 10.1080/17449850903273572.
Afghan Ethnic Tensions
Learn more about: The Hazaras of Afghanistan.
Throughout Mousavi’s book, he offers historical insight on the Hazara ethnic group in Afghanistan and the discrimination they have faced and still face today. He explores the complexities of Afghan society and the different ways in which Afghanistan is considered a nation suffering from a crisis of social identity. He identifies and analyzes the crisis of social identity in Afghanistan, specifically for ethnic Hazaras, by going into detail about the cultures and beliefs of Hazaras, including religion, language, and art, and then explaining the socio-economic relations with other ethnic groups. Moreover, Mousavi illustrates the socio-political change in Hazara society by talking about the Hazara uprisings in the nineteenth century and the consequences of the uprisings’ failure, as well as Hazaras in contemporary Afghanistan and various Hazara resistance movements.
Mousavi, Sayed Askar. The Hazaras of Afghanistan: an Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study. Curzon, 1998.
Learn more about: Representation of Afghan History and Conflict in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
In this essay, Kumar explores how The Kite Runner is a good representation of Afghan history, as it covers the period from 1979 Soviet Invasion until the reconstruction and rebuilding of Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban. It is an attempt to track the history of conflict in Afghanistan by reflecting key historical events that shaped the history of Afghanistan and referencing The Kite Runner to depict how the country had been ravaged by violence and ethnic tension. He argues that Hosseini portrays Afghans as independent, brave people who have defended the country from several invasions over the last century. Moreover, Kumal reveals how Amir’s encounter with the Taliban in order to help Hassan illustrates the suffering that Afghan people had to undergo during the reign of the Taliban. Kumal’s main argument is that The Kite Runner reveals the bloody processes and ethnic tensions by which historical changes in Afghanistan have come about.
KUMAR, Hilal Ahmad. Representation of Afghan History and Conflict in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. IJELLH (International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities), [S.l.], v. 7, n. 2, p. 10, feb. 2019. ISSN 2321-7065. Available at: <http://www.ijellh.support-foundation.com/OJS/index.php/OJS/article/view/7097>. Date accessed: 23 may 2019.
Danny Burke ’19