Othello And The Kite Runner
In our modern life, social media platforms like Facebook and snapchat are widely used around the world, people are following trends to feel like they are apart of the society. Society influences are starting to become a bigger deal. However, family remains a huge influence for people to act in a certain way. In both ways, it shows that people are always influenced by the people around them. In the novel "the kite runner" and the play "Othello", they show how society and family influences cause terrible ending. Characters are influenced by the idea of real male in the society, and the love within their family.
First of all, in the kite runner, Baba is a highly respected man in Kabul, he is one of the most successful businessmen, however, he
secretly has another son, Hassan, who is born with a Hazara woman. In Kabul, Hazara is considered as a lower class than Pashtun. Baba doesn't want the people to feel disgraced or disrespect him, so he decides to keep that as a secret. Also, Hassan is only a servant, Amir doesn't play with him because in their society, servants are not treated as friends, but only as employees. Amir chooses to run away from the alleyway instead of saving Hassan because he thinks he is just a servant, someone that's not important. If Baba had told Amir that Hassan is his brother, Amir may have treated Hassan differently and gone to save him. In Othello, he is a general, which is a high and respected position at that time in the society. The society thinks women are just assets of men, therefore men should have full control over their wives. Especially for a general, Othello should be a male that can make his wife loyal and obedient. Therefore, when Iago tells him that his wife may be cheating on him, he is very mad and wants to kill her and Cassio. The idea of real men in Othello's society causes him to turn insane and leads to the tragedy ending. In both stories, it shows that following the perspective of the society will only lead to a bad ending.
Secondly, in the kite runner, Amir always wants to become a son that Baba is proud of, but he thinks Hassan is more of that ideal son to Baba, so he is envious of Hassan. Also, he wants to prove to Baba that he is as strong as Baba was, he chooses to keep quiet when Hassan is raped because he wants to keep the kite. Amir method to seek love from Baba causes the breakdown of the relationship between him and Hassan, which eventually leads to the separation of the brothers. Similarly, in Othello, Emilia also wants to seek love from Iago. However, since Iago hears the rumour about Emilia is having an affair with Othello, he doesn't feel like he loves her anymore. Emilia has no idea of the rumours, so she tries to cheer up Iago by giving him Desdemona's handkerchief. And the handkerchief helps Iago to implement his evil plan. In both stories, Amir and Emilia are just trying to seek love from the one that they like, but since they want to achieve the expectations of their loved ones, they do whatever it takes and do not consider the outcome.
In The Kite Runner and Othello, characters show that trying to follow the expectations of the society and your loved ones will only cause tragedy, as it forces you to do things unwillingly, and may cause misunderstandings. One thing we've learnt from these two books is that we shouldn't care too much about others' expectations because they are not us. We should have the clearest idea of what kind of person we are.
First of all, in the kite runner, Baba is a highly respected man in Kabul, he is one of the most successful businessmen, however, he
secretly has another son, Hassan, who is born with a Hazara woman. In Kabul, Hazara is considered as a lower class than Pashtun. Baba doesn't want the people to feel disgraced or disrespect him, so he decides to keep that as a secret. Also, Hassan is only a servant, Amir doesn't play with him because in their society, servants are not treated as friends, but only as employees. Amir chooses to run away from the alleyway instead of saving Hassan because he thinks he is just a servant, someone that's not important. If Baba had told Amir that Hassan is his brother, Amir may have treated Hassan differently and gone to save him. In Othello, he is a general, which is a high and respected position at that time in the society. The society thinks women are just assets of men, therefore men should have full control over their wives. Especially for a general, Othello should be a male that can make his wife loyal and obedient. Therefore, when Iago tells him that his wife may be cheating on him, he is very mad and wants to kill her and Cassio. The idea of real men in Othello's society causes him to turn insane and leads to the tragedy ending. In both stories, it shows that following the perspective of the society will only lead to a bad ending.
Secondly, in the kite runner, Amir always wants to become a son that Baba is proud of, but he thinks Hassan is more of that ideal son to Baba, so he is envious of Hassan. Also, he wants to prove to Baba that he is as strong as Baba was, he chooses to keep quiet when Hassan is raped because he wants to keep the kite. Amir method to seek love from Baba causes the breakdown of the relationship between him and Hassan, which eventually leads to the separation of the brothers. Similarly, in Othello, Emilia also wants to seek love from Iago. However, since Iago hears the rumour about Emilia is having an affair with Othello, he doesn't feel like he loves her anymore. Emilia has no idea of the rumours, so she tries to cheer up Iago by giving him Desdemona's handkerchief. And the handkerchief helps Iago to implement his evil plan. In both stories, Amir and Emilia are just trying to seek love from the one that they like, but since they want to achieve the expectations of their loved ones, they do whatever it takes and do not consider the outcome.
In The Kite Runner and Othello, characters show that trying to follow the expectations of the society and your loved ones will only cause tragedy, as it forces you to do things unwillingly, and may cause misunderstandings. One thing we've learnt from these two books is that we shouldn't care too much about others' expectations because they are not us. We should have the clearest idea of what kind of person we are.