The Kite Runner Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner Essay An individual’s sense of belonging stems from their notions of identity, personal context, and place. A lack in any of these areas may result in a thorough sense of alienation and pose as a barrier, which prevents belonging and facilitates an individual’s decision to exclude themselves from their surroundings. However, ironically, these barriers that present hardship can truly liberate an individual and help them in finding a more fulfilled state of belonging. These ideas are explored in Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It and Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner. Barriers to belonging are evident in the play in ‘As you like it’ and are explored through gender paradigms, and social structures. Particularly through the relationship between Rosalind and Duke Frederick. Due to the usurpation of her father by the disloyal Duke Frederick, Rosalind is unfairly subjected to the harsh treatment by her Uncle. He creates suspicion and isolates Rosalind through his diction in, â€Å"Mistress, dispatch you with your safest haste and get you from our court. â€Å" â€Å"Me, uncle? † Here the employment of second person reveals the distancing of Rosalind from the hierarchy. His use of the imperative emphasises the barrier that will be created. Frederick is presented as a Machiavellian character whose threat, â€Å"or thou deist† emphasises the danger inherent in her vulnerable state. Her vulnerability due to her gender is also evident, when he alludes to the Christian practice of purgation â€Å"If purgation did consist in words† which is associated with a spiritual cleansing, of the body which suggests that Rosalind is impure He also confirms the notion of the impure female by his use of sibilance (to Celia) in â€Å"She is too subtle for thee and her smoothness,Her very silence† He uses juxtaposition between Celia and Rosalind to reinforce Celia’s â€Å"purity† â€Å"Thou wilt show more bright and virtuous. Therefore, the issue of sexuality and female deviousness is alluded to. Furthermore, R’s separation by gender is evident in, Touchstone’s dialogue as he says to Rosalind, â€Å"Thus men grow wiser everyday. It is the first time I heard breaking of ribs was sport for ladies. † Touchstone does not think wrestling is a sport for ladies to enjoy. In dressing as Ganymede, she acquires a certain freedom to move around, give advice, and associate as an equal among other men. Breaking free of an external factor and gaining a sense of attachment. Thus her projection of control affects her sense of belonging by challenging the traditional sense of gender roles. Comparatively, ‘The kite runner’, explores the disparity created by differences in cultural backgrounds. This connection manifests in the relationship between Amir and Hassan, though Amir is true to Hassan in private, he feels the need to relate to Hassan according to the prevailing social hierarchy in public. â€Å"Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtun’s†¦not the flat-nosed Hazara’s, these people pollute our homeland. They dirty our blood. The inclusive language at the beginning of the quote is aimed at the Pashtun’s whereas the negative connotations of ‘pollute’ and ‘dirty’ emphasise the subservient position of the Hazara’s in the Afghani society and thus losing their sense of placement within society. Amir has to face that fact he is disloyal to his relationship with Hassan and begins personal growth. â€Å"He’s my servant! Had I really though that? † â€Å"Everywhere I turned I saw signs of his loyalty, his goddamn unwavering loyalty. † the absence of conjunction emphasises his thorough regrets that act as a barrier preventing him from belonging. Furthermore, Assef tells Amir Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage† This denigrating simile compares Afghanistan to a beautiful mansion, i. e. something that is sacred whilst the Hazara are being compared to garbage, belittling these people. This quote also juxtaposes the concepts of a mansion and garbage where a mansion represents wealth, influence, authority and respect whereas garbage signifies something that defiles an otherwise pristine environment. The discrimination against the Hazara’s detaches them from their homeland of Afghanistan and thus limits their ability to belong. Through familial relationships, characters from both texts have furthered their understanding and ability to belong. From AYLI, Orlando is marginalised and alienated as his jealous older brother Oliver has cut him out of their father’s will and had not educated him as their father wished. The simile, said by Orlando, â€Å"You have trained me like a peasant† likens him to poverty. Orlando is clearly irritated by his mistreatment and as a result catalyses his ability to belong. â€Å"I will no longer endure it,† he says with high modality and escapes into the forest of Arden where he found a sense of acceptance. Through his new connection Orlando develops a more enduring connection through Rosalind, who like impresario, provoking characters like Orlando to re-evaluate the quality of relationships. Rosalind uses eloquence rather than verbosity. This is evident in, â€Å"To Shakespeare love between men and women is grounded in mutual, not just masculine, behaviour†¦what has happened between people helps make possible what will happen. † Striving to feel a bond of security, Amir was desperate to win his fathers approval. If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son. The short sentences in the quote, are to the point and Baba had not thought twice about the distant relationships between the two nor has he made the effort to improve that. Amir, on the other hand, went to the extent to betray his best friend in hopes of gaining the love of his father to fill the void within him that prevented him from any sense of security. Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba The diction here alludes to the religious ceremony of sacrificing a lamb to a greater power, and similarly, Amir sacrifices Hassan to achieve something greater. Amir and Babas relationship was artificial but through the strain they experienced, Amir was pushed to realise his place in where he truly belonged. There is also an atmosphere of political change and unrest in 1970 Afghanistan â€Å"something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little. † This pathetic fallacy, associated with explosions and gunfire associated with the entering of Russian tanks and â€Å" the death of the Afghanistan I knew. † show that the relationship between boys is a stable force similar to Celia and Rosalind in AYLI. An individual’s ability to conform is dependent on the place in which they are surrounded by. In AYLI, the juxtaposed locations of the forest and the court constantly remind the audience of the differences between them. The ironic use of â€Å"you cousin† by Duke Frederick clarifies how the court is governed by deceitful intrigue and flawed relationships whereas the biblical allusion to Eden said by Duke Senior â€Å"feel not the penalty of Adam† as they â€Å"fleet the time as carelessly as they did in the golden world† signifies the ideal world that man longs to be. The two parallel locations impact the characters when, from the oppression of the city, characters escape to the simple life of nature. Arden acts as a catalyst for their renewal, assisting their ability to arrive at a fuller sense of belonging for when they returned to court and thus is affected by external factor of place. In comparison, the Kite Runner shows the struggle of immigration. Amir along with Baba had to deal with fitting into an entirely different culture. Baba, who expressed a great deal of pride and attachment to his culture, was filled with a loss of identity when he moved to America, he’s identity was of a guest whilst in Afghanistan he was a successful and influential figure. Amir, on the other hand, finds temporary relief from the guilt he left behind in Afghanistan. Similar to the forest of Arden that provides characters with an illusion of paradise in â€Å"As you like it†, America provides Amir with a vacation from the reality of his personal problems. For me, America was a place to bury my memories†¦For Baba, a place to mourn his and thus demonstrating the importance of external factors such as place. To conclude, even though the texts are different they are dealing with universal themes of discrimination, familial connections and dislocation of place. And through these barriers that act to hold back an individuals ability to belong, it also acts as a catalyst for a deeper and more fulfilled state of belonging.