Most readers would immediately think, “How could a person just let some bad guys rape his friend, do nothing about it, and just ignore it?” Knowing about the importance that Afghan people put on kite-fights slightly justifies Amir’s action, at least in his own mind. Winning a kite-fighting competition is obviously not a small occasion, and considering that Amir is a selfish young boy, his actions does not seem unrealistic. Amir decides that he would rather let Hassan “get sacrificed” than risk not bringing the kite home to show his father. He finds Hassan about to be raped by Assef because Hassan doesn't want to give up the kite that he found and believes now belongs to Amir. Amir takes his own kite home and then looks for Hassan to see if he had found the kite that Amir had defeated. In Amir’s narrative, he mentions that Hassan is the best kite-runner and can always correctly predict where the last fallen kite would land. Amir wins the kite-fighting tournament with Hassan’s assistance. The first time that the importance of kite-fighting can be seen is when Assef, a notorious bully, decides to take revenge on Hassan for protecting Amir. Being familiar with the Afghan kite-fighting culture gives the reader deeper insight in understanding the motives and actions of the characters, that might seem much too horrible and questionable otherwise. Amir’s father, Baba, is a renowned champion kite-fighter, and Amir looks up to him and would like to follow in his footsteps. He is a servant to Amir’s family and a “partner in crime” to Amir. He is the kite runner for Amir, a Pashtun boy, someone of a higher class. Hassan, a poor Hazara boy, is the titular character. More and more people of the world are becoming aware of the Afghan kite-fighting culture because of the release of a film based on the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Taking kite- fighting away from them is like taking a part of their life away, and it enraged the Afghans. Though it still remains off-limits to women and girls, kite flying is now once again a favorite pastime of the men and boys of Afghanistan. In Afghan culture everything is about fighting.” Another man says that no matter how many times he gets cut by a kite string, he will continue to go back to it, because kite-fighting “has a taste,” and once he felt the taste, he can’t stop coming back for more.ĭuring the Taliban regime, kite-fighting was banned by the Taliban as they saw it as irreligious. Regarding the kite-fighting culture one man observed, “In the United States, I think people try to avoid conflict. That last kite to fall is considered good luck. The poor boys who can’t buy their own kites are usually the ones sprinting after the fallen kites they are the kite runners. However, the kite that was destroyed last is the one that is considered good luck. When the last two kites are left, the bearer of the kite that cuts the other kite’s string and stays up the last, is declared the winner. Kite fighting is fought with teams of two, one person tweaking the string and working the kite, while the other person handles the spool. Many people have been injured and/or killed with the strings. The strings of kites are coated with a mixture of glue and crushed glass to turn it into a blade. The objective of kite-fighting is to cut the string of another kite with one’s own kite, and send the other kite falling to the ground. If someone is seen flying a kite alone, others will see it as an invitation to a kite-fighting challenge. To them, the sole reason to own a kite is to fight with it. In Afghanistan, kite-fighting isn’t a fun game that is played in leisure time in parks it is a war of sorts. Flying a kite in Afghanistan and flying one here in the United Sates are two completely different things. After the Friday prayer, many Afghan men and boys start kite-fighting. The big day for kite-fighting is Friday, the Muslim day of prayer. Kite-fighting is a favorite pastime for the men and boys of Afghanistan.
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