The Kite Runner
Afghans tell Amir, “You should write about Afghanistan [….]. Tell the world about what the Taliban are doing to our country’” to which he replies, “I’m not that king of writer” (235-236).
Introduction
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini relates to the maturity of Amir (male Afghanistan) who seeks to find his way in the universe through realization of the unique belief system in comparison to the dominant culture. The play is set in Afghanistan and the United States. The main aim of the author is to demonstrate differences and similarities between the two nations thus illustration of diversity in relation to the two cultures. It focuses on the illustration of a story of sons, fathers, bothers, and friends. This is because of the nature of the novel in the determination of the wrong and right with reference to the nature of evil. This novel is considered a contemporary classic because of its modern publication with the aim of illustrating the differences between the two settings.
Gender relationship is an important aspect in the making of any society. It dictates on the behavior of opposite gender to each other, something that is important for development. Further, the gender relation helps in determining the role and attitude of males and females and the way in which they react to each other. This means that gender relationship is present in every aspect of the society, in schools, workplace, churches, and families and in the running of the government. All these institution depend on the interaction of men and women to achieve specific goals. Most of the existing literature has the formed opinion that deteriorating the gender relationship has its own consequences on the operation of the society. This article concentrates on determining the relevance of gender relationship in the society and the everyday experience. These aspects of gender relationship trigger the thesis statement of this article “gender relationship is an important pillar in the formation of any society”.
Analysis
There are several issues arising from the development of the plot in relation to the novel the kite runner. In this research paper, the focus will be on gender relationships towards the development of the plot thus illustration of the theme and message by the author in the context of this issue. Gender relationships focus on the identifications of gender interactions, norms, beliefs, and practices within the context of the society. Khaled integrates several gender issues and topics in the development of the novel with the aim of illustrating gender roles and practices in the context of the United States and Afghanistan. In the course of the development of the plot, characters focus on the gender roles and relevant influence of the roles in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that the novel focuses on the relationships Amir has in the development of the plot, gender issues are evident and significant in the realizations of the goals of the novel.
The role of the female members of the society in the kite runner is apparent. In the context of Afghanistan, women have to fulfill the obligation of being wives and mothers within the society. This is evident in the illustration by Amir in relation to his new bride, Soraya. “I had relieved her of the greatest fear of every Afghan mother … That her daughter would age alone, husbandless, childless. Every woman needed a husband” (Hosseini, 178). Women also had the obligation of keeping good reputation within the society. This is evident in the differences in the reputations by Amir’s mother and Hassan’s mother thus determination of the topic of discussion and role model to other citizens.
In this scenario, Hassan’s mother projected poor reputation unlike the good reputation by Amir’s mother making Afghans to talk about the issue for many years. Women in the story had other roles apart from being the homemakers. For instance, Amir’s mother was a professor thus acting as a role model to other women within the society. There is also great hope for the women in Afghanistan according to the development of the plot of the novel. This is evident through interaction between Soraya’s father and his daughter on the possibility of her clinching an important job when things will be free in Afghanistan. While visiting Afghanistan while under the influence of the Taliban, Amir witnesses great restriction of women to work. This is a reflection of gender-imbalance in Afghanistan.
Another reflection of the gender relationships should also focus on the role of men in the context of Afghanistan. Men execute realistic roles in relation to societal expectations. Baba, Amir’s father portrays these gender relationships effectively and efficiently. This is through his physical strength and management capacity in the organization and execution of business functions appropriately. This is in accordance with the demands of the modern and traditional societies in which men serve as providers and protectors to their families. This leads to the shock in the relationship between Amir and Baba because of lack of interest in physical activities and fear of injuries.
These gender relations are also evident in the context of California in the United States. This is evident through discussions between Amir and his wife Soraya in relation to the brief relationship in Virginia. This interaction demonstrates double standards between men and women. For instance, Soraya talks of men who participate in prostitution, but escape essence of being reprimanded. This is a reflection of double standards. She refers to the criticisms she faces for her gender. Still in the United States, men and women have equal rights unlike the situation in Afghanistan. Despite the existence of the equal rights between the genders, there are still evidences of the gender relations, roles, and interactions in the United States. This is through execution of roles such as provision and protection by men while women take care of their houses. Gender relationships and roles are critical in the development of the plot of the kite runner. This is because many characters encounter issues in relation to gender roles in the present and past settings in Afghanistan.
The relevance of gender relationship to the society
The gender relationship occurs in the everyday experience especially in the family dynamics and the usual relationship with any close person. I have experienced the presence of gender relationship in my daily activities particularly when interacting with my family members. Every day I have to take precautions in the way I interact with my sister and my nieces, especially when considering that girls surround me, with only my father being a man. In most of the occasions, societal values dictate my relationship to my sisters. There is belief that boys are superior in the society as compared to the counterpart girls. This brings the need to differentiate the role played by each individual. My family always subject me to more muscular jobs than that of my sisters’. I have to concentrate on differentiating my ability not to be the same to that of my sisters since the world have preformed opinion on the roles of each individual. One of the significant families dynamic I have experienced while leaving with my sisters is the dressing code. Even though, I was far above all the girls, the institution offering jobs had to leave me out while accepting all the girls. The main reason, given by the institution, is that there is need for gender equity in job opportunities. This meant that giving jobs was not to rely on order of merit because of the said inferiority of the girls.
The gender relation speaks to most of the contemporary issues that are now taking toll of the running of the society. One of the major contemporary issues affected by gender relation, in the modern world is consideration of gender equality in job opportunities. The last three decades, saw men clinching all the good jobs in the employment field. Most of the employers considered men as the ones having the ability to sustain the productivity of their operations. Consequently, an individual would find most men in the Electrical engineering field while most women would be found in the low earning job. further, it was easy to find a high percentage of women being left at homes, to carry the house chores. Their main job, as homemakers, was to take care of the children and the home. Their husbands relied on them, in terms of house activities while they relied on the former for necessities. However, the contemporary world has seen a rising trend of women coming out to fight for their purported right of obtaining equal job opportunities. The feminists start their campaigns from the schools, where they support the education of girls. This has given girls some advantage, when it comes to learning, since the teachers give them more attention as compared to the boys. Further, the feminist have also launched campaign to do away with the belief that only men can take over the technical courses, such as electrical engineering, computer science and medical science. This is a campaign towards ensuring that women have opportunities in getting jobs in these fields. This campaign has been successful since most of the women have been able to garner jobs just like their counterpart men. Further, the government has also recognized the campaign of the women by ensuring that they give equal chances to the gender especially in the government job. The modern world has a record of women possessing some seats in parliament.
Reference
Hosseini, Khaled. (2004). The Kite Runner. London: Bloomsbury, Internet resource.
