The Kite Runner: Historical, Political and Cultural Contexts

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The Kite Runner Historical, Political and
Cultural Contexts

• By
• Hamed Madani

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The Kite Runner Introduction
INTRODUCTION ?First novel to be written in
English ?Title is derived from an old Afghan
hobby Gudiparan Bazi or Kite Flying ?It is
a unique Afghan pastime during windy spring
season ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Khalid Husseini ?Born
in 1965 in Kabul, Afghanistan ?Moved to the
States in 1980

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About the Author
?Attended Santa Clara University, Cal. ?Graduated
from UC San Diego School of Medicine in
1996. ?His specialty is internal
medicine. SYNOPSIS ?The novel maps the journey
of the Amir, the narrator ?The story takes
place in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the
United States from 1975 to 2003.
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Synopsis
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Synopsis
Amir belongs to ? a wealthy family whose father
is a businessman ?the dominant Pashtun ethnic
group ?the dominant Sunni religious group Amir
tells the story of his friendship with
Hassan. ?Hassan and his father, Ali, are Amirs
servants ?He is a low-caste ethnic Hazara ?He
belongs to the minority Shiit religious
denomination ?He is the victim of discrimination
due to his religious and ethnic identity
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Synopsis
?Ironically, he is also Amirs half brother AMIR
AND HIS GUILT FEELING ?Amir overwhelms with guilt
when allows Hassan to be beaten by the
neighborhood kids and ?Watch him being raped by
one of those boys SEPARATION ?Hassan and his
father leave Kabul for Hazarajat ?Amir and his
father flee Afghanistan for Pakistan and
eventually they end up in Fremont,
California ?Amir takes his tragic memories to
America
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Synopsis
AMIR PAYS HIS DEBT TO HASSAN ?He returns to
Afghanistan in search of Hassan ?While in
Pakistan, Amir finds out that Hassan and his
wife were killed by the Taliban regime ?They left
a son behind by the name of Sohrab AMIR ARRIVES
AT KABUL ?He discovers that Sohrab has become the
victim of sexual assault by Assef. ?Assef is a
neighborhood boy who also molested
Hassan ?Amir must defeat Assef in a physical
battle in order to take Sohrab out of
Afghanistan and try to help repair his spirit.
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Conclusion
?The Kite Runner leaves one feeling a terrible
Sadness for the Afghan people ?Afghans have
suffered at the hands of foreign invaders and
their own people throughout the history of
Afghanistan and particularly in the past 30
years. ?In The Kite Runner, Khalid Husseini
brilliantly tells their story within a story.
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Background to The Kite Runner
To better understand an appreciate the context of
The Kite Runner, basic understand of Afghan
history, politics, and culture is
necessary. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ?For majority
of its history, Afghanistan was at a crossroad
of many civilizations and empires and a cockpit
for contests between rivals ?These rivals and
empires included Achaemenid, Ancient
Greece, Mauryan, Sassanian, Aabs, Mongol, Mogul,
and Safawid ?The Safawids ruled in western
Afghanistan and the Moguls
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Historical Background
in the eastern Afghanistan, including
Kabul ?The Uzbaks controlled northern parts
of Afghanistan EMERGENCE OF AFGHANISTAN ?The
nation of Afghanistan began to take shape in
1747, after centuries of fragmentation and
rule by invaders. ?Ahmad Khan was crowned king
by a tribal Loya Jirga (Grand
Council) ?Afghan historians have called him the
founder of the Afghan nation
Ahmad Shah Baba
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The Emergence of Afghan Nation
?Afghans refer to him as Ahmad Shah Baba,
ShahKing and Baba Father of Nation ?Ahmad
Shah belonged to the Saddozai clan of
Popalzai sub-tribe of Abdali or Durrani tribe (a
Pashtun ethnic group) ?Saddozais ruled
Afghanistan from 1747-1826 ?The
Mohammadzai clan of Barakzai
sub-tribe of Abdali or Durrani tribe
ruled Afghanistan from
1826-1978. ?The first Mohammadzai rule
was Dost Mohammad and
Dost Mohammad
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The Abdali or Durrani Rulers
?President Mohammad Daoud was the last
ruler. ?He was the Prime Minister from
1953-1963 ?Took power from the last Afghan king
in 1973 in a coup with the help of Afghan
communists and changed Afghanistan to a
Republic, 1973-1978 ?Deposed by the Afghan
communists in a bloody coup in April
1978 ?King Zaher Shah is still alive at the
age of 93. ?He is given the title of
Baba.
Daoud
King Zaher
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Factors Contributing to Disunity of Afghans
INTRODUCTION ?Afghan rulers tried to build a
strong state ?Strong central government would be
able to initiate economic development and
modernization of the Afghanistan. ?However,
several factors made the above task
difficult THE GREAT GAME ?Rivalry between
British India and Czarist Russia for control
of Afghanistan throughout the 19th and parts of
the 20th centuries
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The Great Game 1
?Russia perceived Afghanistan as prime invasion
route to wealthy British Indian Colony and
warm waters of Indian Ocean. ?The British
also concluded that whoever controlled
Afghanistan could potentially dictate Indias
future ?Afghan rulers became pawns in the
British/Russian Great Game
?The presence of Russia envoy convinced
British that Afghan king was friendlier to
Russians ?Thus, the British invaded Afghanistan
in 1839 and replaced the incumbent ruler
with a new ruler, Shah Shuja.
Shah Shuja
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A Buffer State
?Eventually Shah Shuja was killed by Afghans and
the exiled king reascended the throne. A
BUFFER STATE ?The imperial rivalries did not
permit either to establish itself in
Afghanistan ?Toward the end of the 19th century,
Afghanistan became a buffer state between
Russia and Britain. ?Both Britain and Russia
agreed to transform the country into a state
and use it as a buffer. ?The imperial powers
demarcated Afghanistans borders and searched
for a new Afghan king.
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A Buffer State
?British found a king who would be favorable
to their policies and acceptable to both
Afghans and Russia ?He was Abdur- Rahman
Khan ?Afghanistan emerged as an entity in
1747, however, its internal unification was
completed under this king
Abdur-Rahman Khan
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE ?Ultimately
Afghans resented the
continued British presence in
Afghanistan and
King Amanullah
declared its independence in August, 1919.

Amanullah
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A New Game The Cold War
?The Soviet Union and United States became the
dominant powers after World War II. ?The two
world powers sought influence around the world,
including Afghanistan ?Afghanistan regained its
status as a pawn of superpowers ?This superpower
rivalries during the Cold War led to further
disintegration of the Afghan state. COMPETITION
BEARS ARMS ?Afghan government needed to modernize
its armed forces to ?Maintain
internal security ?Gain control of
independent tribes ? Strengthen
central government to foster
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A New Game the Cold War
political and economic development ?When
the U.S. government rejected Afghan request for
arms, Afghans turned to the Soviet Union ?The
Soviet Union not only provided Afghanistan
military hardware, but also built several
airports and thousands of Afghans went the
Soviet Union for military training. ?Most of the
officers either joined the Afghan Communist
Party or became sympathetic to it. ORIGIN OF THE
COMMUNIST PARTY ?The Peoples Democratic Party of
Afghanistan (PDPA) was formed in 1965 ?The
PDPA split and remained divided until July 1977

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The Peoples Democratic Party
?Babrak Karmal was the leader of Parcham ?Noor M.
Taraki and Hafizullah Amin were the leader of
Khalq ?Parcham helped the last Mohammadzai,
Daoud, oust the king in a coup in 1973. ?Daoud
declared himself the president and included
members of Parcham in his government. ?Once
consolidated his power, Daoud marginalized
the role of Parcham and tried to reduce the
influence of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
Taraki
Karmal
Amin
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The Peoples Democratic Party
?The Soviets concluded that Daoud had become too
independent to be tolerated. THE SAUR
REVOLUTION ?The Soviet KGB reunited the two
factions of the PDPA ?A prominent PDPA leader,
Mir A. Khyber, was assassinated in April,
1978. ?His murder led to a bloody coup on April
27, 1978. ?The coup leaders renamed the country
the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. ?Tarak
i became the Prime Minister ?Karmal and Amin
became Deputy Prime Minister and
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The Saur Coup of 1978
Foreign Minister, respectively. ?Several
months later, the Khalq faction temporarily
succeeded to sideline the leaders of the Parcham
faction of the PDPA. ?Intense power struggle
started between leaders of the Khalq, Taraki
and Amin. ?Amin supporters assassinated Taraki in
October, 1979 ?Amin instituted a program of
radical socialism and brutal oppression
?The Islamic green flag was replaced by
a close copy of the Soviet flag.
Soviet flag.
(The Islam flag readopted by the Karzais
government.)
(The Communist flag.)
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Amins Social Reforms
SOCIAL REFORMS ?Land reform limited land
ownership by a family to 14.3 acres of
land. ?Reducing bride-prices or dowry to 300
Afghani or 6.00 ?Prohibiting arranged
marriages ?Prohibiting marriage for women under
16 years and for men under 18 years of
age. ?Outlawed usury OPPOSITION AND RESISTENCE TO
REFORMS ?These reforms challenged the prevailing
traditional and Islamic values and
sentiments of Afghans. ?The regime encountered
bitter resistance.
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Resistance to Reforms
?When Amin failed to contain opposition, the
Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and
installed to power the leader of the Parcham
faction of the PDPA, Karmal, in December,
1979. ?Amin was assassinated by a special Soviet
commando unit while was entertaining his
guests at the opening of the new presidential
palace. ?In order to gain legitimacy, Karmal
rolled backed most of Amins reform,
including a new Afghan flag.
?Most Afghans viewed Karmal as the puppet and
refused to grant his regime
legitimacy. ?Instead they joined the opposition.
Karmal regimes flag
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Resistance Movement
?Opposition took the form of a religious jihad or
holy war, a war in defense of Islam against
th atheist regime of kabul. ?The oppositions
established their headquarters and bases in
Peshawar, Pakistan. ?They were made up of seven
military-political groups. ?Here are the pictures
of some of the leaders
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Mojaddidi
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The CIA and the Arabs
?The CIA launched a major covert operation to
help the Mujahideen defeat communism. ?The
CIA placed ads in Arab newspapers to recruit
young Muslims to join the Afghan holy
war. ?The CIA eventually provided the Mujahideen
with the decisive weapon of the war, the
Stinger missiles in 1986. ?Eventually the Soviet
Union withdrew its forces from Afghanistan on
February 15, 1989. ?The last Afghan Communist
ruled several more years.
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Mujahideen
?Mujahideen assumed power from the last Afghan
Communist in April 1992. ?Mujahideen could not
agree among themselves about the sharing of
power. ?They turned their guns against each other
and the country became engulfed in a civil
war and was divided in several independent
zones, each with its own warlord. ?Kabul was also
divided into zones of occupations and turned
it into an armed camps.
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The Taliban
?The world Taliban is the plural of and Arabic
word, Talib or someone who seeks religious
knowledge before he becomes a preacher in a
mosque. ?They were the sons of Afghan refugees in
Pakistan and attended Pakistani schools of
theology ?Became active in October 1994 in
Qandahar and continued there advances in the
country with help of Pakistan ?By 1997 they
held about 90 percent of the Afghan
territory, including Kabul. THE TALIBAN
ACHIEVEMENT ?They brought relative peace and
security in the country
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The Talibans Achievement
?The banished the warlords and forced to the
northeastern corner the country and formed
the Northern Alliance ?Restored law and order but
through rigorous enforcement of Islamic
punishment public beating, flogging,
amputation of hands, and stoning to death. ?The
Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and
Suppression of Vice was the powerful arm of
the Taliban government. ?The ministry issued
strict religious decrees that denied people
the right to freedom of expression, association,
the right to work, and the right to
education ?They prohibited games such as kite
flying, chess, music, cassette
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The Taliban and the World Reaction
?Only three countries recognized the Taliban
government Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, and Pakistan ?Initially, America gave a
lukewarm support to the Taliban ?We hoped the
regime would be a partner in oil-pipeline
UNOCAL or Union Oil Company of California CONCLUSI
ON ?The new game, Cold War, between the U.S.A.
and the former Soviet Union brought death
and utter destruction to the country. ?Over
5 million Afghans abandoned their homes and went
into exile in other countries. ?Close to 1.5
million lost their lives ?Many left their homes
for secured areas of the country.
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Other Factors the Contributed to a Failed State
in Afghanistan
A DIVERSE NATION ?Afghanistan is nation of groups
with disparate ethnic, religious, and tribal
traditions. ETHNIC DIVERSITY ?Over 30 different
ethnic groups. They are not contained
within Afghanistan. ?Pashtuns are the dominant
ethnic groups, who account for about 38
percent of the population and ruled Afghanistan
for most of the history of Afghanistan. ?Tajiks
are the second largest ethnic groups with about
25 percent of the population.
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Ethnicity
?Hazaras consists of about10 to 15
percent ?Uzbaks consists of about 9
percent ?Others (Turkmen, Aimaq, Baluch,
Nuristani) 13 percent.
Tajik
Hazara
Pashtun
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Baluch
Uzbak
Pashtun
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Religious Diversity
?Afghanistan has two dominant religious groups,
the Sunni, or the so-called orthodox Islam,
and Shiite or the so-called heterodox.
?Sunni constitutes 85 percent of the population
and Shiite consists of 15 percent of Afghan
population ?Shiites split from the Sunnis in
the seventh century over who the Prohet
Mohammads legitimate successors were ?Shiites
consider Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the
Prophet, the legitimate successor ?Shiites
developed their own conception of Islamic law
and practices. ?In the past Shiites had been
persecuted in Afghanistan.
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Tribal Traditions
?Tribalism is the most important traditional
institution ?Tribes provide a sense of
solidarity, security, and political power to
their members ?For most ethnic groups, especially
Pashtuns, tribal identity and loyalty
precede national identity and national
consciousness ?Tribes follow and live by their
own tribal code. Pashtuns call their tribal
code Pashtunwali ?Pashtunwali sets the limits of
acceptable behavior and governs the relations
between tribes.
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Pashtun Tribal Code
?Jirga or council of a form of local government
and makes decisions in all disputes ?Badal or
revenge is based on the principle of an eye for
an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It gives
everyone the right to balance
justice. ?Melmastia or hospitality requires that
a traveler must be received and cared for and
the host must protect him from his enemies
even at the cost of the hosts life. ?Nanawati or
asylum must be given to the deadliest enemy
who has voluntarily placed himself in ones power
and requested a safe haven. ?Nang or honor or
bravery or ones self-esteem All offenses
committed against ones honor will be dealt
with.
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Conclusion
?The Kite Runner tells the sad story of Afghan
people. They have suffered at the hands of
foreign invaders and their own people ?I have
attempted to explore the causes behind the
Afghan tragedy and elaborated on the following
causes ?The Great Game ?The Cold War
?Heterogeneity of Afghan Society ?Tribal
tradition ?The result was the failure of Afghan
state.