Deconstructing Betrayal, Discrimination and Guilt in Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner”

Abstract

The current study undertakes a detailed analysis of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner representative novel. Hosseini, an Afghan born American writer depicts a war-torn Afghanistan in various universal themes i.e., family re-union, discrimination, regret, childhood, guilt, womanhood, betrayal, religion and salvation that played a considerable role in abating commission of crimes in Afghanistan during pre and post-Taliban periods which ended up shaping the interminable psychological scars of the protagonist. In his work, Hosseini reveals the devastating status of Afghans in general and women and children in particular who have, for decades, been irrationally marginalized and confined to the four walls of their homes by the society. His quests for wealth, love, loyalty and unqualified peace among Afghan citizenry whom he equates to have rights just like other human beings globally is the only means through which the protagonist considers a key to chart out a new future. Moreover, in reference to the Pashtun and Hazara ethnic communities’ customs and traditions and by use of historical, factual, real and fictional information, the article discusses the constructive human relations in a society bedeviled with mistrust, confusion, doubt and betrayal. Besides, by adopting the historical perspective method, the study examines how discrimination as a theme has been utilized to portray Hosseini’s literary image as a protagonist writer. Finally, a summary of the paper along with recommendations is made in the conclusion section.