Culture in The Kite Runner

While reading The Kite Runner, we have learned a lot about the culture in Afghanistan. The biggest cultural focus is on the Pashtun and Hazara society. Disagreements arose between the Pashtuns and Hazara which caused conflict between the two religious groups. The Pastuns gained power and rose to the top of the society pyramid. The two groups are now very different in their sense of religion, culture, as well as their ethnic appearance. In The Kite Runner, the main character Amir is a Pashtun and his servant's son, Hassan, is a Hazara. Both boys live very different lives. Amir is wealthy and can accomplish whatever he likes, meanwhile Hassan is a servant, he cannot become literate, and he must listen to what the Pashtuns tell him. We also learn that Hazara people have a flat nose and look partly Chinese, as proved in the kite runner when Assef calls Hassan a "flat nosed Hazara".

Another cultural element that is portrayed is the inequality towards women. Women are prohibited from receiving an education, and making executive decisions. Arranged marriages often occurred because her father has the "ultimate authority" over who he believes his daughter should marry. Men also are able to divorce his wife without her approval, which demonstrates that in their culture the men are believed to be the most powerful.  During halftime at the soccer game Amir attends, they throw stones at woman who were accused of committing adultery. Meanwhile men could preform the exact same action and get away with it. This goes to show how unfair the Taliban were to women during this time period.

Throughout The Kite Runner the reader gains a lot of knowledge about the Afghanistan culture, such as the Pashtuns versus the Hazaras and the treatment of women.