Kite_Runner

Traditional Afghan culture and social expectation in defining key character roles and relationships. For example, when introduced to General Taheri in the flea market scene, he has a predetermined role to control his daughter and wife to maintain the "nang and namoos", honor and pride, and integrity of his family. "No father, especially a Pashtun with nang and namoos, would discuss a man with his daughter". The use of cultural terms puts emphasis on the cultural significance of these values. This also outlines the role of the father and the limitations culture places on his relationship with his daughter. "Baba", also defined as a traditional father figure, plays a similar role with Amir. Their relationship has the opportunity to be redefined in a modern American context, occurring when they flee from Afghanistan to America, wherein aspects of social expectation are suppressed. The audience is positioned to appreciate the culture, but be critical of the cultural restrictions within it. Thus, Hosseini creates complex character relationships, influenced very heavily by the social and cultural context of Afghanistan, and explores theses with a modern context also to encourage the audience to question traditional roles in Afghan culture. The political history of Afghanistan referenced in the novel has a shaping influence on the development of the multiple levels of meaning in the text. One example of this is the Russian takeover of Afghanistan in 1979, which in the novel instigates Amir and Baba to flee Afghanistan. The Russians are characterised in a scene where Amir and Baba are being smuggled from Afghanistan when a young Russian soldier orders time alone with an innocent Afghani women. The audience is encouraged to feel mutual hate for the soldier, and hence the Russians who are now in control of Afghanistan who he represents, in empathy of Baba. This portrays a key perception of the older generation of Afghani migrants. The incident is prevented by another Russian soldier, at which point the audience is encouraged to take on a modern viewpoint of the political takeover, where no hatred exists personally for any particular race. Hence, Hosseini educates the audience through empathy of the role of political events in Afghanistan and their effects on the migrants, a key aspect of meaning explored in the novel which is influenced by context. While the shaping influence of context is broad and influential in the text, at various points universal themes strongly shape meaning also. Both may shape ideas simultaneously, however one often transcends the other. An example where universal themes are more prominent is in "yelda". This is a cultural myth of "a starless night tormented lovers kept vigil... waited for the Sun to rise... bring their loved one". A major influence is cultural context, as this exemplifies the strong influence of culture, however this prominently draws on the traditional perception of love. This metaphor represents Amir's highly romanticised longing for Soroya after he sees her for the first time. This draws on what a western audience would be familiar with in a love story, appealing to emotion and intimacy. Themes such as love are more personally relevant for a western audience than cultural references. This builds on the connectedness between Hosseini and his audience through which he engages the audience with his messages.