The Kite Runner: Historical,

Political and Cultural Contexts

The Kite Runner: Introduction

First novel to be written in English
Title is derived from an old Afghan
hobby Gudiparan Bazi or Kite
Flying
It is a unique Afghan pastime
during windy spring season

About the Author

Born in 1965 in Kabul, Afghanistan
Moved to the States in 1980
Attended Santa Clara University, Cal
Graduated from UC San Diego School
of Medicine in 1996
His specialty is internal medicine.

Synopsis
The novel maps the journey of the
Amir, the narrator.
The story takes place in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and the United States from 1975
to 2003.

Synopsis

Synopsis
Amir belongs to:
a wealthy family whose father is a businessman
the dominant Pashtun ethnic group
the dominant Sunni religious group

Synopsis
Amir tells the story of his friendship with Hassan.
Hassan and his father, Ali, are Amirs servants
He is a low-caste ethnic Hazara
He belongs to the minority Shiit religious
denomination
He is the victim of discrimination due to his religious
and ethnic identity
Ironically, he is also Amirs half brother

Synopsis
AMIR AND HIS GUILT FEELING:
Amir is overwhelm with guilt when he allows Hassan to be
beaten by the neighborhood kids and raped by one of the
boys.
SEPARATION:
Hassan and his father leave Kabul for Hazarajat
Amir and his father flee Afghanistan for Pakistan and
eventually they end up in Fremont, California
Amir takes his tragic memories to America

Synopsis
He returns to Afghanistan in search of Hassan
While in Pakistan, Amir finds out that Hassan and
his wife were killed by the Taliban regime
They left a son behind by the name of Sohrab
AMIR ARRIVES AT KABUL
He discovers that Sohrab has become the victim of
sexual assault by Assef.
Assef is a neighborhood boy who also molested
Hassan
Amir must defeat Assef in a physical battle in order to take
Sohrab out of Afghanistan and try to help repair his spirit.

The Taliban
The world Taliban is the plural of and Arabic word, Talib
or someone who seeks religious knowledge before he becomes a
preacher in a mosque
They were the sons of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and
attended Pakistani schools of theology
Became active in October 1994 in Qandahar and
continued there advances in the country with help of
Pakistan
By 1997 they held about 90 percent of the Afghan
territory, including Kabul
THE TALIBAN ACHIEVEMENT
They brought relative peace and security in the country

The Talibans Achievement

The banished the warlords and forced to the northeastern
corner the country and formed the Northern Alliance
Restored law and order but through rigorous enforcement
of Islamic punishment: public beating, flogging, amputation
of hands, and stoning to death
The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Suppression of
Vice was the powerful arm of the Taliban government.
The ministry issued strict religious decrees that denied
people the right to freedom of expression, association, the
right to work, and the right to education
They prohibited games such as kite flying, chess, music,
cassette

The Taliban and the World Reaction

Only three countries recognized the Taliban government:
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan
Initially, America gave a lukewarm support to the Taliban.
We hoped the regime would be a partner in oil-pipeline, UNOCAL or
Union Oil Company of California
CONCLUSION
The new game, Cold War, between the U.S.A. and the former Soviet
Union brought death and utter destruction to the country
Over 5 million Afghans abandoned their homes and went into exile in
other countries
Close to 1.5 million lost their lives
Many left their homes for secured areas of the country

Other Factors the Contributed to

a Failed State in Afghanistan
A DIVERSE NATION
Afghanistan is nation of groups with disparate ethnic,
religious, and tribal traditions.
ETHNIC DIVERSITY
Over 30 different ethnic groups. They are not contained
within Afghanistan.
Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic groups, who account for
about 38 percent of the population and ruled Afghanistan for
most of the history of Afghanistan.
Tajiks are the second largest ethnic groups with about 25
percent of the population.

Ethnicity
Hazaras consists of
about10 to 15
percent

Pashtun

Tajik

Hazara

Ethnicity
Others (Turkmen, Aimaq,
Baluch, Nuristani)
13 percent.

Uzbak

Uzbaks consists of
about 9 percent

Pashtun

Baluch

Religious Diversity
Afghanistan has two dominant religious groups, the
Sunni,or the so-called orthodox Islam, and Shiite or the socalled heterodox.
Sunni constitutes 85 percent of the population and Shiite
consists of 15 percent of Afghan population
Shiites split from the Sunnis in the seventh century over
who the Prohet Mohammads legitimate successors were
Shiites consider Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the
Prophet, the legitimate successor
Shiites developed their own conception of Islamic law
and practices.
In the past Shiites had been persecuted in Afghanistan.

Conclusion
The Kite Runner tells the sad story of Afghan people.
They have suffered at the hands of foreign invaders and
their own people
I have attempted to explore the causes behind the
Afghan tragedy and elaborated on the following causes:
The Great Game
The Cold War
Heterogeneity of Afghan Society
Tribal tradition
The result was the failure of Afghan state.

Kite Running
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5S47aSl
ezs