preview

The Role Of Power In The Kite Runner, By Khaled Hosseini

Good Essays

Within every person, there exists some type of power, but it is the way one uses it that defines if they are good or evil. Power is always unpredictable, it captivates the worst and corrupts the best. In rough times people need leaders to look up to, a voice to guide them and actions to be taken. This leader can either abuse or use the power correctly. For example, in Afghanistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the political conflicts caused many people to flee, but some brave individuals stood around to take over the violent and oppressive rulers. This power isn’t just used in political complications but it is also expressed in social life. It is used in homosexual and heterosexual relationships. Usually, one half feels as though they …show more content…

He always makes sure to use his money for the poor in Kabul and not for selfish reasons. Baba even made the decision “to build an orphanage” for all the parentless kids in the capital (Hosseini 13). His wealth, Pashtun ethnicity, and gender make him almost God like. All of these characteristics make his good deeds seem that much stronger. Although he has all this economic, gender and cultural power he never loses his right mindfulness, believing that stealing is the biggest sin of them all. Presuming that "When you kill a man, you steal a life," Baba said. "You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness" (Hosseini 18). He also believes in standing up for people, such as the moment when he stands up to the Russian soldier and almost takes a bullet for a woman who he does not know in order for her not to get violently raped. Research shows that political and social power is not corrupting but freeing to a human being, it gives them confidence and a voice to act on (Resnick). It also turns out “that power does not always lead to bad behavior and can actually make leaders more sensitive to the needs of others”(Hutson). Power can put things in order, without a leader or someone in a higher rank, no one would know who to blame for problems or who to receive answers from. Although all of this evidence portrays how power is used

Get Access