"In 'The Kite Runner', the personal and political are always linked. To what extent do you agree with this view?" A practice essay written in year 13 about social and political protest writing that scored 21/25, an A*.
In ‘The Kite Runner’, the personal and political are always linked.
In ‘The Kite Runner’, Hosseini makes reference throughout about the external and political
factors affecting the lives of the Afghan people, and he presents the significance of this through
the struggles faced by all in the country. Whilst this is a novel surrounding Amir’s personal
journey, Hosseini continues to explore connections to the wider political world throughout.
However, the extent to which the personal and political are always linked can be debated.
One way in which Hosseini presents the personal and political to be linked in ‘The Kite Runner’
is through Amir’s constant mistreatment of Hassan throughout their childhood, ultimately
creating a life full of regret and pain for Amir later on. Hosseini explores the difference between
Pashtuns and Hazaras in Afghanistan through the characters of Amir and Hassan, with Amir
constantly using his ethnic power over Hassan in both small and significant ways. He uses his
literacy advantage to belittle Hassan when reading him a story, stating “‘Imbecile’. It means
smart, intelligent … ‘when it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile’”. His mistreatment of
Hassan here is representative of the political tensions between Pashtuns and Hazaras in
Afghanistan, and through this, Hosseini is highlighting the lack of Hazara representation in
literature or education compared to that of the Pashtuns, who are ultimately the ruling class in
Kabul and thus get fairer opportunities. This is also illustrated by the author through the
punishments of the Mullah, whipping the boys with a branch if they got the words to the prayer
wrong. In this way, Hosseini is highlighting that the personal and political are certainly linked;
the personal mistreatment of Hazaras, notably Hassan, ultimately have a negatively powerful
effect on their personal lives while also being a result of that ethnic power. An even more
significant example of Amir’s mistreatment of Hassan is when he leaves him to be raped by
Assef and thus his behaviour towards him worsens. Hosseini highlights this cruel mistreatment
through the pomegranates, stating “he opened it and crushed it against his own forehead … red
dripping down his face like blood”. Through Amir’s mistreatment here, Hosseini is highlighting
the deep personal regret felt by the adult narrator looking back as Hassan submitted to this
treatment; the political differences between Pashtuns and Hazaras left him no choice. The
significance of ‘blood’ here has connotations to the blood on Hassan’s trousers after his rape,
and through this Hosseini is further highlighting Amir’s personal guilt, thus proving that the
personal and political are linked in ‘The Kite Runner’.
Moreover, another way in which Hosseini presents the personal and political to be linked in ‘The
Kite Runner’ is through his representation of the political landscape in 1979 when the Russians
invaded Afghanistan. When Baba and Amir escape to Pakistan as refugees, Hosseini uses the
character of the Russian soldier to highlight how the political landscape affected the personal
lives of all Afghan people. Hosseini writes him as “[wanting] a half hour with the lady in the back
of the truck” followed by the lady “[pulling] the shawl down over her face” and “[bursting] into
tears”. Through presenting the soldier in this brutal way, Hosseini is illustrating the brutality of
the Russian invasion and how it didn’t leave a single life in Afghanistan untouched, not even
that of an innocent mother. In this way, the personal and political can certainly be seen as
linked. The political landscape affected the personal lives of all Afghan people, and the woman
and the soldier here represent the entire population of Afghanistan and the invasion as a whole.
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