<i>The Kite Runner</i> and the Problem of Racism and Ethnicity

Abstract

Racism is a worldwide matter that is based on the physical characteristics of people's division into different categories on which some people become superior and some inferior. Racism and ethnicity are usually considered as the same concepts while in fact ethnicity is a sub-class of racism. In every nation, there are some ethnic groups with the same origin and similar customs that may or may not be judged equally by the power-handler ethnic groups. An example of such country is Afghanistan which is severely an ethnic country. This study explores the social, cultural, and scientific investigations done on the people's races and ethnical characteristics by using Afghan types as examples. Racism is not the result of scientific observation, but it is due to the human differences that happened between 16th and 19th century when people began differentiating among themselves. This aspect of racism is well expressed by the American sociologist "Feagin". In his view, the natural superiority of some people over others is rejected. The novel The Kite Runner depicts the two major Afghan ethnical populations, Pashtun and Hazara, and their social, cultural, and religious conflicts. Accordingly, this article will try to examine the root of ethnic prejudices and oppression among the Afghan people in the novel and the reasons for their ethnic conducts are explained and analyzed based on the Feagin’s denial of human difference. Moreover, by providing some evidence it is proved that the biological difference is just some excuses for the powerful section to gain their egotistic goals.

Doppelgangers Siblings in the Kite Runner

“…Even these women present the ideals of the society and determine the main characters' positions in the society. Amir's mother being from the Afghan royalty makes him Heimlich (Hosseini, 2016). Just like Dorian Gray's aristocratic lifestyle made him Heimlich.…”

“…So, when Amir betrays Hassan, he betrays his own cultural identity as Afghan (Hosseini & Zohdi, 2016). Due to which he has a problem developing a transnational identity as he does not identify himself with his homeland and has embraced his host land, America, to be able to forget his birthplace and his sin, betrayal (Islam, 2012).…”

Identity Negotiation in the Age of Global Migration in Exophonic Novels

“…The Kite Runner were done by Rohmatullah and Permatasari (2021), Kabeer and Chaudhary (2020), Hosseini and Zohdi (2016), Andrews (2010), andWalia (2017). Kabeer and Chaudary (2020) and Hosseini and Zohdi (2016) conducted their research on the problems of ethnic minorities in the novel, the Hazaras, who are considered a victimized and discriminated ethnic group in Afghanistan.…”

“…The Kite Runner were done by Rohmatullah and Permatasari (2021), Kabeer and Chaudhary (2020), Hosseini and Zohdi (2016), Andrews (2010), andWalia (2017). Kabeer and Chaudary (2020) and Hosseini and Zohdi (2016) conducted their research on the problems of ethnic minorities in the novel, the Hazaras, who are considered a victimized and discriminated ethnic group in Afghanistan. In line with that, Rohmatullah and Permatasari (2021) whose research focuses on ethnocentrism reveals that the Pashtuns were somehow positioned as a more superior ethnic group compared to the Hazaras.…”

Integrating Peace Education in Literature Class

“…Its centre was the up and down relationship of a father and a son with a secret that was just revealed after the father died. Most studies on TKR are focused on racial discrimination and ethnicity problems (Hosseini & Zohdi, 2016;Pramanik, 2020). Therefore, the objectives of the research were to investigate how peace education was integrated into the literature class and to elucidate the perception of peace education in the integrated literature class.…”