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The Kite Runner Ethnic Pride Analysis

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The Kite Runner Ethnic Pride Analysis
Kite runner themes

Ethnic Pride

Baba expresses a great deal of pride and attachment to the afghan culture so the move to America fills Amir and himself with a loss of heritage and identity. The escape from the previous culture however allows Amir to escape the incident of rape upon his best friend Hassan which has left a bad taste on his childhood.
In America Amir doesn’t turn away from his Middle Eastern culture, and asks Soraya’s father, the general for permission to marry her even though he spurns it slightly by talking to her privately without consent.
Amir towards the end, becomes proud of his blended culture. Although he enjoys visiting Pakistan, eating the traditional food and hearing references to childhood legends, he also …show more content…
The return to Afghanistan allows Amir to find out the type of man he can become and to confront his past which he has so desperately tried to bottle up.

Family, Fathers and Fatherhood

Family relationships play a great part in this novel but mothers are strikingly absent. Amir and Hassan grow up without their mothers and this is exemplified through the tension of Baba’s treatment of his sons. He makes it clear he is disappointed Amir is bookish, cowardly to protect his social standing and stick up for Hassan whilst on the other hand, he never publically acknowledges Hassan as his own son- although he shows a great deal of affection to Hassan.
Likewise, General Taheri is a similar traditional, highly critical father who chafes his daughter for rebellious behaviour.
The theme of family is then reintroduced when Amir and Soraya are unsuccessful in starting their own- punishment perhaps for their pasts or that Amir has yet to face up to his. The adoption of the troubled Sohrab however, provides them with the attempt to begin a complete family based on love and honesty.

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