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The video below is the first of our Kite Runner clips. This video focuses on the Hazara and has images of the people and their homeland. For more information on the Hazara go to this recent National Geographic article.

Kite flying in Afghanistan symbolises national pride, history, independence, pride and religion. In Afghanistan kite flying competitions reward the kite that destroys the opposition. In kite fighting competitions the objective is to cut the string of all other kites to leave only one kite flying.

Kite flying was one of the first activities that the Taliban banned.

The video is the first of our Kite Runner clips, I will post all of them so make sure that you have created your soundtracks!

This one is about the opening of the novel. In this clip we listen to the adult Amir who recalls his childhood, his past of “unatoned sins”. He thinks of the moment in the winter of 1975 when he was twelve years old and his life changed forever. It introduces to the the reader the subject of the narrative. In the novel we note that Amir is in San Francisco watching kite flying. There is an image of a pair of kites “floating side by side”, note its significance. Also note that two of the novel’s major themes - friendship and redemption are introduced right at the start of the book. See that Hosseini uses this brief juxtaposition of past and present and the contrasts of America and Afghanistan to alert readers to the oppositions of time and place which will underpin the story.

In The Kite Runner the reader can see how badly the Hazara people are treated in Afghanistan. The purpose of this post is to give you a little background information on the Hazara people.

The Hazaras
Hazaras are among few races on the face of the earth about whose origin so little is known. Some research done on Hazara background suggests that they are the descendants of Genghis Khan, the great Mongol warrior of 13^th Century. This theory is supported by the similarities in the language and words that Mongols and Hazaras use even today. Another plausible theory is that Hazaras were Buddhists that actually lived in Afghanistan for the known history at least since the time of the Kushan Dynasty some 2000 years ago prior to the arrival of Islam. During the time of Kushan Dynasty, Bamyan was the home of one of the biggest Buddhist civilisations. This is obvious from the two of the World’s tallest Buddist statues that is carved in the mountain in Bamyan, Afghanistan - the heart of Hazarajat region inhabited by Hazaras for at least 2000 years.

The Hazaras speak Farsi and are mostly Shi’i Muslims. Hazaras have always lived on the edge of economic survival. As a result of Pashtun expansionism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which was fueled by Sunni prejudices against the Shi’i the Hazaras were driven to the barren dry mountains of central Afghanistan (the Hazarajat) where they live today separated into nine regionally distinct enclaves. The Hazaras are primarily sedentary farmers practicing some herding. Many Hazaras also migrated to the major towns, particularly Kabul where they occupied the lowest economic rungs.

The Hazara suffered under the rule of the Taliban.The Taliban had Hazarajat totally isolated from the rest of the world going as far as not allowing the United Nations to deliver food to the provinces. During the years that followed, Hazaras suffered severe oppression and many large ethnic massacres and rapes were carried out by the predominately ethnic Pashtun Taliban.These human rights abuses not only occurred in Hazarajat, but across all areas controlled by the Taliban. Particularly after their capture of Mazar-e Sharif in 1998, where after a massive killing of some 8000 civilians, the Taliban openly declared that the Hazaras would be targeted. Mullah Niazi, the commander of the attack and governor of Mazar after the attack, similar to Abdur Rahman Khan over 100 years ago, declared the Shia Hazara as infidels:

The latest internet craze - ManBabies. To make one you swap the heads of fathers and sons. Funny or creepy?

6. As Amir remembers an Afghan celebration in which a sheep must be sacrificed, he talks about seeing the sheep’s eyes moments before its death. “I don’t know why I watch this yearly ritual in our backyard; my nightmares persist long after the bloodstains on the grass have faded. But I always watch, I watch because of that look of acceptance in the animal’s eyes. Absurdly, I imagine the animal understands. I imagine the animal sees that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose.” Why do you think Amir recalls this memory when he witnesses Hassan’s tragedy in the alleyway? Amir recollects the memory again toward the end of the novel when he sees Sohrab in the home of the Taliban. Discuss the image in the context of the novel.

5. After Amir wins the kite running tournament, his relationship with Baba undergoes significant change. However, while they form a bond of friendship, Amir is still unhappy. What causes this unhappiness and how has Baba contributed to Amir’s state of mind? Eventually, the relationship between the two returns to the way it was before the tournament, and Amir laments “we actually deceived ourselves into thinking that a toy made of tissue paper, glue, and bamboo could somehow close the chasm between us.” Discuss the significance of this passage.

4. We begin to understand early in the novel that Amir is constantly vying for Baba’s attention and often feels like an outsider in his father’s life, as seen in the following passage: “He’d close the door, leave me to wonder why it was always grown-ups time with him. I’d sit by the door, knees drawn to my chest. Sometimes I sat there for an hour, sometimes two, listening to their laughter, their chatter.” Discuss Amir’s relationship with Baba.