Naturalistic Perspective: The Kite Runner
Overseas English
2010
9
A Naturalistic Perspective to the Kite Runner and Its Enlightenments to the Contemporary
（ ，
546300 ）
Abstract: By analyzing the basic naturalistic features, namely the controlling power of environment and heredity, it is expected that the naturalistic tendency, at least naturalistic features of the novel can be revealed and some enlightenments on the world view of the contemporary can be gained. The early part of the thesis provides a frame by giving the research background and synopsis, while the later sections aim at approaching the conclusion at the efforts of unveiling the naturalistic features in the novel. Key words: naturalistic perspective; naturalistic tendency; Enlightenments on world view …show more content…
：I106 ：A ：1009-5039(2010)09-0242-02
1 Introduction
In literary creation, naturalists opposed, on one hand, the presence of subjective factors such as imagination, exaggeration, etc. which were the technique used by Romanists; on the other hand, they opposed the simple description of realists and advocates being completely objective. Naturalists hold a new argument that a work must be based on truth and that the writer is simply an observer who states facts. The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini's first novel. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. Giving cruel bloody description of the war and the sufferings of people under a Taliban ruling, Khaled presents us a social crisis which can reveal man's true nature. It can be viewed as a criticism to the cruel Russian invasion and the inhuman Taliban rule as well as a question to human nature. With the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope through the novel's faith in power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption.
2 Naturalistic Themes in The Kite Runner
2.1 Kite as A Naturalistic Symbol In The Kite Runner, the kite gains its symbolic meaning within the specific story.
First, the kite corresponds with naturalistic emphasis on force of environment and naturalistic view that nature is indifferent. Whether a kite can fly high or not largely depends on the wind, which is part of nature, and the characters in the novel, be it Amir, Hassan or Baba, and their fates are just like a kite controlled by the string of heredity and environment. Second, kite's movement is controlled by both the string and the wind, which is a confirmation of the naturalistic view that freewill of individual is denied and destroyed by forces that one can not control. 2.2 Controlling Power of Environment In The Kite Runner, the impact of environment on the characters that can not be resisted is shown by their personalities, fate and behavior, etc. Amir and Hassan's characters are indebt considerably to the environment. Amir's mother died giving birth to him, so Amir has long regarded himself as guilty for his mother's death. Even in his adulthood, the impact of the force of environment is still obvious. Spending the later years of his adolescence in the …show more content…
United
States, the American value system has shaped him into a selfish man.
Such is the influence of environment in individual's character shaping. The impact of environment is clearly embodied by Hassan's unique character:resignation. The climatic part of Hassan's resignation comes when Hassan is raped by the bullies in order to protect the blue kite for Amir. His tragic resignation is presented from the view of Amir. The turning point of the whole novel and the fate of the two also have strong association with the controlling power of the environment. After the Russian invasion, everything has changed dramatically and the fates of the two have been changed. From the war then on, the fates of the two thus go to different destination, pre-decided by the environment. 2.3 Denial of Freewill In The Kite Runner, denial of freewill can be observed almost everywhere. Amir wants so desperately to gain Baba's affection and approval even at the sacrifice of Hassan. However, this will is denied by the pre -existing circumstance:Amir's mother died giving birth to him. Consequently, Amir's failure to make it up for Hassan for his earlier wrongs is actually determined by the pre-existing fact that Hassan is killed by the Taliban. Some may argue that Amir finally saves Hassan's son from Taliban maltreats and gives the latter a new life; it is to be noticed that this makeup is not done to Hassan himself but his son. Therefore, the death of Hassan, which is pre-existed, can never be compensated
since whatever Amir does, Hassan's death is pre-existed and can not be changed. Here, Amir's impotence lies in his being unable to add anything new into the reality that has already been fixed. The turning point of the novel-Russian invasion seems to be an extreme example for us to demonstrate the denial of freewill. The environment, or to be more specific, the pre-existing reality has set the later development of the story. Not only characters' wills are denied but also they are described as if their fates are controlled by some unexplainable forces and all their attempts to change it end up in vain.
3 Enlightenments for the Contemporary
3.1 Status-quo-Desire-driven and Desire-Victimed Man In The Kite Runner, young Amir's desire is to gain the affection and dignity as a man in Baba's mind, Baba's sexual desire resulted in the born of Hassan, Assef's desire to conquer and claim led to the climatic point of the novel … Even Hassan, the
：2010-06-25 ： （1976- ）， ，
：2010-07-20 ， ， ， ， 。
：
242
2010
9
Overseas English
plainest character has desires to reproduce, to survive and maintain the intimacy with Amir, among which the former two are the basic desires while the latter is more complicated. In modern society, people have to face competition in almost every field, and every individual is exerting himself for better conditions and better self-development to fulfill his desires. Behind this exertion and exhaustion are the desire-driven and desire-victimed men of the contemporary world. Amir's constant desire to get, to take advantage, to keep himself on the safe side is the reason for Hassan's driven -away and indirectly triggered the latter's death. Baba's most natural but immoral sexual desire serves his own right finally. They are all driven and victimed by desires and are the epitomes of modern men. 3.2 A Naturalistic Notion and Its Limitation The Naturalistic concept of man is directly based on Darwin's description of lower life. Naturalists, to a very large extent, degrade human to the standard of animal. They view man as a biological creature driven by desire or instinct who returns to the original status under crisis or pressure, thus lacking reasoning and morality. The limitation of Naturalism lies in that it views man as impotent before nature and fate imposed on him. Naturalists account any failure or weakness of man as results of un-controlling forces. They deny the social aspects of human-being and overemphasize the biological part without recognition of the spiritual one, thus failing to achieve an all-round comprehension of what it really means to be a higher life. What's more, naturalists deny the subjective initiative of human -being and claim the decisive role of heredity and environment. In accordance with their view, man simply can have no conscious activity to change the environment around. Finally, the pessimistic fatalism pervades in Naturalism seem to persuade people to resign to the harsh reality without subjective efforts, making the theory and its world view largely pathic. 3.3 Enlightenments 3.3.1 Importance of Environments and Pre-existing In The Kite Runner, provided that Baba has realized the importance of environment, he might have done something to shape Amir into a less selfish but braver man who is willing to take the responsibility for his past wrongs. And if Amir knows how important the pre-existing is, then he would have not been so coward. The Ancient Chinese regard “weather, climate, topo、 、 graphical advantages and support of the people ( ) ” as a great premise for success, this may be another version of interpretation of the importance of environment. The history of human civilization endows us with a pride of having the power and capacity to surpass ourselves and create an ideal world. Paying due respect to the natural rules, it is possible for us to create a new world centered around our volition. In such a highly com-
petitive society, while people attach great importance to the subjective initiative, the importance of environment and pre-existing may be of equal importance. 3.3.2 Desired But Not Desire-victimed Naturalism regard human as animal like, driven by desire and instinct, human will lost his social aspects under great pressure or crisis. Consequently, there is very likely to be a moral vacuum provided a fatal crisis. The Kite Runner might give us a different plot if Baba had treated his own desire in a correct way, for example he could have remarried and avoid the hard and humiliating life of Hassan. And even when Baba's past wrong doing pre-exists, Amir's generosity to share with Hassan and willingness to change his image in Baba at his own efforts instead of at the sacrifice of others may still rewrite the novel. In general, if only they had learned how to take charge of their desires, maybe a harmonious ending of the novel can be expected. Today, with the rocketing crime rate, it is very difficult to segregate desire from crime since it seems to be no exaggeration that every crime is provoked by a desire. What we can probably learn from The Kite Runner is to have desires but take well charge of them in the moral outline. Of course, it is no more natural than anyone who possesses positive attitude towards life to have desires, yet it is significant for the contemporary to know how to be desired but not desire-victimed so as to avoid a moral vacuum.
4 Conclusion
Naturalism as a literary trend contains profound historical and cultural content, which has provoked revolution in western literature. A Naturalistic concept emphasizes the indifference of nature, the decisive role of environment, heredity by degrading human to an impotent creature driven by instinct and desire. In The Kite Runner, the naturalistic tendency is obvious. The plot and settings, especially the two climactic moments of the novel have strong associations with Naturalism. While we criticize the Naturalism for its being pathos and pessimistic, the enlightenments of Naturalism are also of great importance for the contemporary to make better use of the power of their subjective initiate. Due to the author's ignorance and superficial experiences, the research on the Naturalistic perspective to the novel is only a tentative study. Consequently, considerable improvements and supports to the conclusion are expected.
References:
[1] [2] [3] [4] . ,2008(12). . [M]. : ， — —— . ,2006(12):62. . [M]. : [J]. ,2006.
《 》[J].
,2002.
（ 、 ，
241
） ， 。 《 ， 》 ， 、 （1870－ 、 《 ， 。
， ， 。 ，
。
，
1964 ）
。 》， ，
?
、 、 ，
（1882－1941 ） 《 》
， 。
。 ，
，
：
[1]
，
4
， 、 ，
：
、 ，
[2]
. ,2006(3). .
[J]. [J]. ,2010(6).
243
2010
9
A Naturalistic Perspective to the Kite Runner and Its Enlightenments to the Contemporary
（ ，
546300 ）
Abstract: By analyzing the basic naturalistic features, namely the controlling power of environment and heredity, it is expected that the naturalistic tendency, at least naturalistic features of the novel can be revealed and some enlightenments on the world view of the contemporary can be gained. The early part of the thesis provides a frame by giving the research background and synopsis, while the later sections aim at approaching the conclusion at the efforts of unveiling the naturalistic features in the novel. Key words: naturalistic perspective; naturalistic tendency; Enlightenments on world view …show more content…
：I106 ：A ：1009-5039(2010)09-0242-02
1 Introduction
In literary creation, naturalists opposed, on one hand, the presence of subjective factors such as imagination, exaggeration, etc. which were the technique used by Romanists; on the other hand, they opposed the simple description of realists and advocates being completely objective. Naturalists hold a new argument that a work must be based on truth and that the writer is simply an observer who states facts. The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini's first novel. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. Giving cruel bloody description of the war and the sufferings of people under a Taliban ruling, Khaled presents us a social crisis which can reveal man's true nature. It can be viewed as a criticism to the cruel Russian invasion and the inhuman Taliban rule as well as a question to human nature. With the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope through the novel's faith in power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption.
2 Naturalistic Themes in The Kite Runner
2.1 Kite as A Naturalistic Symbol In The Kite Runner, the kite gains its symbolic meaning within the specific story.
First, the kite corresponds with naturalistic emphasis on force of environment and naturalistic view that nature is indifferent. Whether a kite can fly high or not largely depends on the wind, which is part of nature, and the characters in the novel, be it Amir, Hassan or Baba, and their fates are just like a kite controlled by the string of heredity and environment. Second, kite's movement is controlled by both the string and the wind, which is a confirmation of the naturalistic view that freewill of individual is denied and destroyed by forces that one can not control. 2.2 Controlling Power of Environment In The Kite Runner, the impact of environment on the characters that can not be resisted is shown by their personalities, fate and behavior, etc. Amir and Hassan's characters are indebt considerably to the environment. Amir's mother died giving birth to him, so Amir has long regarded himself as guilty for his mother's death. Even in his adulthood, the impact of the force of environment is still obvious. Spending the later years of his adolescence in the …show more content…
United
States, the American value system has shaped him into a selfish man.
Such is the influence of environment in individual's character shaping. The impact of environment is clearly embodied by Hassan's unique character:resignation. The climatic part of Hassan's resignation comes when Hassan is raped by the bullies in order to protect the blue kite for Amir. His tragic resignation is presented from the view of Amir. The turning point of the whole novel and the fate of the two also have strong association with the controlling power of the environment. After the Russian invasion, everything has changed dramatically and the fates of the two have been changed. From the war then on, the fates of the two thus go to different destination, pre-decided by the environment. 2.3 Denial of Freewill In The Kite Runner, denial of freewill can be observed almost everywhere. Amir wants so desperately to gain Baba's affection and approval even at the sacrifice of Hassan. However, this will is denied by the pre -existing circumstance:Amir's mother died giving birth to him. Consequently, Amir's failure to make it up for Hassan for his earlier wrongs is actually determined by the pre-existing fact that Hassan is killed by the Taliban. Some may argue that Amir finally saves Hassan's son from Taliban maltreats and gives the latter a new life; it is to be noticed that this makeup is not done to Hassan himself but his son. Therefore, the death of Hassan, which is pre-existed, can never be compensated
since whatever Amir does, Hassan's death is pre-existed and can not be changed. Here, Amir's impotence lies in his being unable to add anything new into the reality that has already been fixed. The turning point of the novel-Russian invasion seems to be an extreme example for us to demonstrate the denial of freewill. The environment, or to be more specific, the pre-existing reality has set the later development of the story. Not only characters' wills are denied but also they are described as if their fates are controlled by some unexplainable forces and all their attempts to change it end up in vain.
3 Enlightenments for the Contemporary
3.1 Status-quo-Desire-driven and Desire-Victimed Man In The Kite Runner, young Amir's desire is to gain the affection and dignity as a man in Baba's mind, Baba's sexual desire resulted in the born of Hassan, Assef's desire to conquer and claim led to the climatic point of the novel … Even Hassan, the
：2010-06-25 ： （1976- ）， ，
：2010-07-20 ， ， ， ， 。
：
242
2010
9
Overseas English
plainest character has desires to reproduce, to survive and maintain the intimacy with Amir, among which the former two are the basic desires while the latter is more complicated. In modern society, people have to face competition in almost every field, and every individual is exerting himself for better conditions and better self-development to fulfill his desires. Behind this exertion and exhaustion are the desire-driven and desire-victimed men of the contemporary world. Amir's constant desire to get, to take advantage, to keep himself on the safe side is the reason for Hassan's driven -away and indirectly triggered the latter's death. Baba's most natural but immoral sexual desire serves his own right finally. They are all driven and victimed by desires and are the epitomes of modern men. 3.2 A Naturalistic Notion and Its Limitation The Naturalistic concept of man is directly based on Darwin's description of lower life. Naturalists, to a very large extent, degrade human to the standard of animal. They view man as a biological creature driven by desire or instinct who returns to the original status under crisis or pressure, thus lacking reasoning and morality. The limitation of Naturalism lies in that it views man as impotent before nature and fate imposed on him. Naturalists account any failure or weakness of man as results of un-controlling forces. They deny the social aspects of human-being and overemphasize the biological part without recognition of the spiritual one, thus failing to achieve an all-round comprehension of what it really means to be a higher life. What's more, naturalists deny the subjective initiative of human -being and claim the decisive role of heredity and environment. In accordance with their view, man simply can have no conscious activity to change the environment around. Finally, the pessimistic fatalism pervades in Naturalism seem to persuade people to resign to the harsh reality without subjective efforts, making the theory and its world view largely pathic. 3.3 Enlightenments 3.3.1 Importance of Environments and Pre-existing In The Kite Runner, provided that Baba has realized the importance of environment, he might have done something to shape Amir into a less selfish but braver man who is willing to take the responsibility for his past wrongs. And if Amir knows how important the pre-existing is, then he would have not been so coward. The Ancient Chinese regard “weather, climate, topo、 、 graphical advantages and support of the people ( ) ” as a great premise for success, this may be another version of interpretation of the importance of environment. The history of human civilization endows us with a pride of having the power and capacity to surpass ourselves and create an ideal world. Paying due respect to the natural rules, it is possible for us to create a new world centered around our volition. In such a highly com-
petitive society, while people attach great importance to the subjective initiative, the importance of environment and pre-existing may be of equal importance. 3.3.2 Desired But Not Desire-victimed Naturalism regard human as animal like, driven by desire and instinct, human will lost his social aspects under great pressure or crisis. Consequently, there is very likely to be a moral vacuum provided a fatal crisis. The Kite Runner might give us a different plot if Baba had treated his own desire in a correct way, for example he could have remarried and avoid the hard and humiliating life of Hassan. And even when Baba's past wrong doing pre-exists, Amir's generosity to share with Hassan and willingness to change his image in Baba at his own efforts instead of at the sacrifice of others may still rewrite the novel. In general, if only they had learned how to take charge of their desires, maybe a harmonious ending of the novel can be expected. Today, with the rocketing crime rate, it is very difficult to segregate desire from crime since it seems to be no exaggeration that every crime is provoked by a desire. What we can probably learn from The Kite Runner is to have desires but take well charge of them in the moral outline. Of course, it is no more natural than anyone who possesses positive attitude towards life to have desires, yet it is significant for the contemporary to know how to be desired but not desire-victimed so as to avoid a moral vacuum.
4 Conclusion
Naturalism as a literary trend contains profound historical and cultural content, which has provoked revolution in western literature. A Naturalistic concept emphasizes the indifference of nature, the decisive role of environment, heredity by degrading human to an impotent creature driven by instinct and desire. In The Kite Runner, the naturalistic tendency is obvious. The plot and settings, especially the two climactic moments of the novel have strong associations with Naturalism. While we criticize the Naturalism for its being pathos and pessimistic, the enlightenments of Naturalism are also of great importance for the contemporary to make better use of the power of their subjective initiate. Due to the author's ignorance and superficial experiences, the research on the Naturalistic perspective to the novel is only a tentative study. Consequently, considerable improvements and supports to the conclusion are expected.
References:
[1] [2] [3] [4] . ,2008(12). . [M]. : ， — —— . ,2006(12):62. . [M]. : [J]. ,2006.
《 》[J].
,2002.
（ 、 ，
241
） ， 。 《 ， 》 ， 、 （1870－ 、 《 ， 。
， ， 。 ，
。
，
1964 ）
。 》， ，
?
、 、 ，
（1882－1941 ） 《 》
， 。
。 ，
，
：
[1]
，
4
， 、 ，
：
、 ，
[2]
. ,2006(3). .
[J]. [J]. ,2010(6).
243