B Y K H A L E D H O S S E I N I

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

! Grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan ! Family was given political asylum in the

US after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1978

! Graduated from the University of California and became a doctor

! The Kite Runner was his first novel, published in 2003 ! Has since published two addition novels

The Kite Runner

! Tells the story of the friendship between two boys: Amir, who is from a wealthy family, and Hassan, whose father is a servant to Amir’s family

! Title comes from the competitive Afghan sport of kite flying

! First Afghan novel to be written in English ! Set in the 1970s in Afghanistan ! Fictional story, but contains many references

to the history of Afghanistan

Afghanistan Today: a Snapshot

!  One of the poorest countries in the world (ranked 10th) !  Legal economy: agriculture !  Illegal economy: growth and export of opium

!  Provides over 95% of the world’s heroin !  Also the world’s largest cannabis producer !  Increases as US troops withdraw

Afghanistan Today: a Snapshot

!  Population of 31 million !  35% of population is unemployed (17%) !  36% of population lives below the poverty line

(16%) !  Adult literacy rate is 28% (99%)

!  43% male / 13% female !  Of the total number of students enrolled in

secondary school, only 25% are girls !  Average life expectancy is 50 years (79.5) !  120 out of 1000 infants die in birth (6.17) !  30% of population has access to electricity (100%)

!  World’s largest number of refugees come from Afghanistan !  Over 2.7 million refugees are living in Pakistan and

Iran

Political Fragmentation

! Long history of political turmoil ! Foreign invaders from Russia, Britain, Greece, and Turkey

! Internal fighting among tribes ! The Kite Runner focuses on the

divisions between the Pashtuns and the Hazaras

Pashtuns and Hazaras

!  Pashtuns !  Sunni Muslims !  Consider themselves

‘true Afghans’ !  Original settlers of

Afghanistan !  42% of current

population !  Occupy positions of

power and wealth in Afghan society

!  Represented by Amir’s family in the novel

!  Hazaras !  Shi’a Muslims !  Descended from Mongol

invaders in 13th century !  10% of current

population !  Former slaves !  Low social status and

limited to low paying positions

!  Represented by Hassan’s family in the novel

Sunni and Shi’a Muslims

! Sunnis are 80% of Muslims in Afghanistan

! Shi’a population is 20% ! Split between Muslim sects was a

political one after the death of the prophet Muhammad in AD 632

! The Taliban are Sunni Muslims

The Taliban

!  Reformers called mujahideen, meaning “holy warriors,” who formed during war against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979-1989 !  US initially supported the Taliban against the communist

Soviet Union

!  Came to power after the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989

!  Ruled from 1996-2001, when they were ousted by US military in response to Sept. 11 attacks !  Operation Enduring Freedom

!  Continued insurgency, particularly with withdrawal of US troops

The Taliban’s Influence on Afghan Society

!  Initially welcomed by the Afghan people ! Thought the devout Taliban would end the

corruption and conflict in the country during civil war

!  Extremist beliefs led to the following: ! Public executions ! Outlaw of ‘frivolous activities’ like kite-flying ! Ban on television, music and the Internet ! Ban on girls attending school ! Ban on women working outside their homes

War in Afghanistan

!  Afghanistan is still unstable under the rule of newly elected President Ashraf Ghani. !  First democratic election in Afghanistan! !  Conflict and fighting still occurring from tribe warlords,

Taliban militants, ISIS and drug smugglers

!  US troops have been in Afghanistan for 13 years > withdrawal slated for this year !  As of May 2014, 32,000 troops remain

!  Since the start of the war: !  Over 2238 American casualties !  Over 19,000 Americans wounded !  Over 18,000 Afghan civilians killed !  Cost for US > between $4-6 trillion