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The Kite Runner Analysis

Decent Essays

Women in every culture still struggle to be equal to and respected by men. In The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, every woman featured is oppressed by Afghan gender stereotypes. Both Hassan's Mother & Rahim Khan's Girlfriend are disrespected due to their social class as a Hazara and lack of morality. On the other hand, Amir’s mother, Sofia Akrami, is respected because of her virtue and social class. Although Soraya is from a respected family, she is considered immoral by the Afghan community because she previously had a boyfriend. Women in general are expected to be submissive to men; however, the amount of respect they are given varys by the woman's social class and their ability to conform to Afghan culture. Hassan’s Mother and Rahim Khan's Girlfriend were disrespected because they were both immoral Hazaras. Like Hassan, Sanaubar “was a Shi’a Muslim and an ethnic Hazara,” meaning that she was part of the Afghan servant class (8). Amir notes that she “lived up to her dishonorable reputation” and “tempted countless men into sin” (8). In Afghan culture it is unacceptable for a women to commit such sins unless you are married, therefore many of her peers looked down on her and disrespected her. When Hassan and Amir go to the movies, a soldier talks ill of Hassan's mother even though it has been years since she ran off. Her reputation of being immoral lasted on and impacted Hassan, demonstrating that she was disrespected due to her unscrupulous actions and social class.

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