1. The Kite Runner: Historical, Political and Cultural Contexts

2. 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

3. Biography Childhood Events:
In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States. In September of 1980, Hosseini's family moved to San Jose, California.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Synopsis

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

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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. The Taliban They 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

12. The Taliban’s Achievement
They 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

13. 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.

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

15. THEMES
Brotherhood- Baba treats Ali like a brother, Amir and Hassan are like brothers
Sacrifice
Redemption
Love
The Effects of Violence
Guilt
Friendship

16. Characters Amir: insecure main character; wants father’s affection
Hassan: loyal friend and servant to Amir
Baba: Amir’s strong, masculine father
Sohrab: Hassan’s son later in life.
Soraya: Amir’s wife later in the book
Rahim Khan: Amir’s spiritual father; Baba’s friend
Assef: admires Hitler; terrorizes Amir and Hassan
Ali: Hassan’s father and servant to Baba; Baba’s best friend

17. SYMBOLS Kite-flying: winning the contest represents victory and pride
Books and stories: literacy is tied to social status and power
Physical deformities
Dreams: haunting dreams and dreams of hope
Baba’s House: the fallen state of the house represents the fallen state of Afghanistan since the Russian invasion and rise of the Taliban