Free «Stereotypical View of Terror and War in Afghanistan» Essay

In The Kite Runner, Hosseini the author has really exposed the war tone state of Afghanistan. He has brought out the invasions that the country experienced from the Soviet Union and also the reckless attack by the coups –the Taliban. This however he does in a very universally acceptable way. A manner in which the Americans are receptive to and that which communicates to readers effectively while at the same time carries the intended weight.

The novel is larger than the time in which its first edition was written. This is thanks to the skills possessed by the author, skills of maintaining timelessness in his piece of work (Huntley, 1864). It is imperative that the novel was written by an author who had visited the home country some 26 years ago. Yet, reading this novel feels like he had been there all along especially after the 9/11. In fact, the Kite Runner offers a magnanimous picture of devastation and eventual despair. On the side it also brings out some symbolism and thematic meanings of redemption and some kind of healing that may result from this.

This thematic result of ultimate redemption and an ultimate result of emotional healing are very evident in The Kite Runner (Hower, 4). In the novel, Amir is faced with a lot of guilt as a result of his inhuman acts of betrayal. This is when he never went to betray Hassan his long time childhood friend when he was attacked by the Pashtun cruel boy Assef, simply because he was a Hazzara, a poor good for nothing boy. This he should have overlooked since they were big friends with him and for a fact Hassan was so loyal to him. Hassan can even be quoted saying “for you I would do anything” when Amir asked him to be his kite runner. As time goes by he realizes that he did wrong and he even denies Hassan as ever being his friend but just his servant. In this we can observe how the Afghanistan’s culture has a lot of influence on the way of every day life. Even in small children, culture is deeply rooted and observed. This is because as per the Afghanistan’s culture the Hazzaras, they are the less fortunate in the society-they are the lowest class- and are looked down upon by the Pashtuns who are rich and are the political elite- the ruling class.

In essence, this novel brings out the reasons as to why the universe should understand Afghanistan’s history. As has been the case since the invasion of the Soviet Union the Hazzara have always been the ones who experience hardships and the Pashtuns and their families have always had some loopholes in their lives even when there is war in the country. Considering this, Amir in the Kite Runner, flew from the war tone country at the time and went to the United States of America whilst his longtime friend and childhood friend Hassan was left in the country and in fact had no option than to remain.

Hosseini in this novel has brought out a perspective of Afghanistan that directly relates history and the contemporary world. As (Zabriskie,1) says in his article The Outsider, the ruling force which is the Taliban and is composed of fundamentalist Sunni, ethnic Pashtuns considered the Hazaras as people who were good for nothing infidels and further animals. They were in all ways not true worshippers of the Muslim religion. They are furthermore the ones that put their country at the foot and completely stumble on it.

Further (Zabriskie,1) in The Outsider says that as Afghanistan is the struggle of rebuilding itself after very many decades of war and hard core violence, there is a notion that the homeland of the Hazaras, Hazarajat, could be taken up as a model of possibilities that should be embraced by all Afghans and not only by the Hazaras. This is however faced by temper from past memories and current frustrations such as poor infrastructure, a resurgent Taliban and the extremely negative influence of Sunni extremism. He further adds that a project involving recollecting the broken fragments of Buddha and rebuilding them is in progress. This shows that the intended message by the author of the Kite runner has been passed across effectively. In The Kite Runner, as written by Hosseini, the extent to which the country has been devastated by war and civil war at that is brought out. When the Taliban take over the country they really tear it down in a way such as even foreign countries start to put very many sanctions to it.

Afghanistan has for a very long time. It has always been faced with war after war. According to (Pbs.org) Afghanistan has always been at war from circa 500 B.C when it was conquered by the Babylonia to the early 2000s when it was taken over by the Taliban with the help of war-guru Osama bin Laden. In true, the picture portrayed in the modern Afghanistan as is evidently shown in (Hosseini, 124), is true. He truly displays his skill and stereotypically shows how the image of war has been present in Afghanistan. He does this through the use of the narrator Amir and his friend Hassan. As Amir narrates, the country was invaded by Soviets and since this invasion there has never been peace as the Sunni extremists endeavor in retaining the country but through very inhumane ways. They even go to the extent of raping women and children and brutally beating them up. In the novel, we see how Hassan was beaten up and even raped and later his son held as hostage by the same man - Assef- who did all evil on the son’s father Hassan. This shows how bad the situation in Afghanistan had gotten out of hand and portrays the current terror bound and war tone country that has become of Afghanistan.

As (O’Rourke, 1) asserts, the state portrayed in the Kite Runner clearly depicts violence. It is an outright portrayal of too much violence in Afghanistan. In fact it is a mirror of the present day Afghanistan. However the story further adds some drama in its plot to pass a message that the state and its citizen actually live a normal life and that the problems they have are universal and should not be taken with any indifference. For example, as the novel approaches the end Amir is seen to try to make up for his earlier acts of betrayal by saving Hassan’s son from a Talib who in particular is Assef, who had kidnapped him. The connote of violence is seen where Assef talks about throwing garbage out of Afghanistan which in essence means that the Hazaras should be destroyed. At this point Amir challenges him and in fact he throws a note to him that leaves Assef filled with disgust.

To conclude, The Kite Runner has really painted the big picture of Afghanistan. He has actually managed to conveyance the world that the country has a culture. He further shows that it is this culture that really added up to the violent nature of the country. Also through the novel it is portrayed that by changing the Afghans’ culture it is possible to mend the country. The world has through this novel and also after the events of the 9/11 gotten the urge to know more about Afghanistan and thus come in to assist them in any way possible. Closely linked to this is the case where even the President of USA -Barack Obama- has gone to an extent of sending a special envoy and also opts to add more military personnel to the country to see how the present state of instability could be calmed down. Thus, it is in order to say that Hosseini has the true skills of a great writer such that his works have penetrated the world especially the United States of America more than any other author. This is practically a display of literary genius that manages to stereotypically display the image of terror and war and at the same time make it thematic relevance applicable to the whole universe. Hosseini actually succeeds in making this novel portray the actual nature of war and terror in Afghanistan and at the same time explains why thus leading to more acceptances especially after the 9/11.