Theme Of Violence In The Kite Runner

Violence is a way of expression and thought, which is why I believe violence is necessary for The Kite Runner. Violence in novels gives the book a more realistic feel to it, if it wasn’t in the book then it wouldn’t be that interesting. Violence was used by Khaled Hosseini to show the readers what people in Afghanistan had to go through. Violence can be a very serious thing going on in the world, however, it is something that people enjoy reading or hearing about and this makes readers stay interested in the story.

Violence is also something that shapes Amir’s life in various ways (“Freebooksummary”).

What is the point of reading a book based on real events when it doesn’t express the real things that happened in the story? The world is and will always be a violent place so it makes sense to express it in a book. If you want to read a real book then The Kite Runner is a good example of that.

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Although the book isn’t based on a true story, it reads of real issues in which people had to go through down in Afghanistan. In the Kite Runner, you can see that rape is a re-occurring event that comes up. Khaled Hosseini didn’t put rape in the story because he wanted to, rape is an issue that goes down in Afghanistan to this day. A number of human rights organizations have criticized the rape laws and enforcement of the state.

Amnesty International claimed in 2015 that the Afghan Taliban committed mass murder and gang rape of civilian Afghan women and children (Wikipedia Contributors). This shows proof that rape is in Afghanistan and that this book doesn’t just put rape in the book for no reason. Khaled Hosseini understands what people go through and that rape is a serious problem in Afghanistan and expressing that in a book can show other people the violence that occurs. He also knows that realistic books catch readers attention because it usually is a good story.

Violence is something everybody thinks about or has thought about. Whether it be something you dream about or something you do in a videogame. But when it comes to a book, I think it’s what keeps readers hooked on reading the story. If we take for example when Amir and Hassan win the kite fight and Hassan runs into Assef and gets raped by him. The book describes this violent scene in the book to the point where the reader can’t stop reading. If that scene in the book was changed where it didn’t describe such horrors that happened, like for example if it said, “Amir looks around the corner into the ally and Hassan is being raped by Assef.” And it ends like that, readers are going to think, “Well that was boring”. Another example is when Amir and Assef have a fight for Sohrab near the end of the book and Amir is getting beaten so badly that he could nearly die. Sohrab grabs his slingshot and shoot’s Assef right in his eye causing him to lose it. If the story was changed to say something like, “ Amir is getting beaten badly by Assef. Sohrab is now pointing a slingshot at Assef and shoots him.” The audience is going to be very disappointed in such a bad fight scene that just happened. The vital role conflict plays in stories help explain why it is pleasant to watch or read death, the end of the world, torture, and so on (McNerney). When writing a story, adding things such as violence and adding it in the book in a way that readers will want to continue reading till the next violent scene.

Throughout Amir’s life, he experiences a lot of violence. Starting from when he was a child to when he became an adult. The earliest Amir experienced violence was when he watched his best friend Hassan get raped. Amir didn't know his decision would lead him to a life of remorse. When Amir was called to come home to Kabul, he met up with Rahim Khan, a long friend of Baba’s. Rahim told Amir that Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban and their son was taken away. Amir was now on a mission to retrieve Hassan’s son and doing so will give Amir some redemption for what he let happen to Hassan. Hassan’s son was with someone who was in the Taliban, so he had to arrange a meeting with him. Before the meeting, the Talian put on a violent show at a soccer game where they beat a man and woman to death with a stone. It was a very violent event that made Amir realize how violent his 'home' was in fact (“Freebooksummary”). Soon after, another violent event happens when Amir meets a man in the Taliban who turns out to be Assef. Assef has Hassan’s son Sohrab and the only way Amir could get him as if he fought Assef. Amir was nearly beat to death by Assef but Sohrab helped Amir by shooting Assef in the eye with his slingshot. Amir continues to experience violence in The Kite Runner and it shows how violence shapes his life.

Amir has experienced some of the worst types of violence in his life such as rape and murder which have caused a huge impact in Amir’s life. The violence that occurs is almost essential in books like these because of how it keeps readers interested in the book. Lastly, the violence in the book is violence that actually occurs, or occurred in Afghanistan and it’s something not a lot of people know about and I think it’s a great idea that the author has included it in the book.

Works Cited

1. “Freebooksummary.” Study Guides and Book Summaries, 14 June 2017, freebooksummary.com/violence-in-the-kite-runner-72892. Accessed 15 Nov. 2019.
2. McNerney, Sam. “Why We Love Violence In Fiction.” Big Think, Big Think, 10 July 2012, bigthink.com/insights-of-genius/why-we-love-violence-in-fiction. Accessed 15 Nov. 2019.
3. Wikipedia Contributors. “Rape in Afghanistan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_Afghanistan. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.

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