The response to this question rests on how we define the "political." Because the novel invites us to define politics to include the socio-economic impact of political and ethnic hierarchy on everyday life, I would agree that in The Kite Runner the personal and political are always linked.
From the start, Ali and Hassan's destinies are defined by their social status. Ali is the son of Baba, a wealthy, prominent, and politically-connected man from the socially superior Pashtun background. Hassan, the son of a Hazaras, a despised group, grows up as a servant with a much more constricted set of possibilities from the start. The Afghan society depicted is most decidedly not a meritocracy: the accidents of birth play an oversize role in an individual's life prospects.
Both Ali and Hassan deeply internalize their country's social ideology, which places Ali distinctly above Hassan in the social and political hierarchy, regardless of merit. Hassan docilely and very loyally accepts his subordinate status. Ali likewise accepts his superiority. When a payback comes, it is Hassan, a far easier target, who is raped, while Ali, who witnesses the rape, does nothing to intervene.
The novel makes it quite clear that, were the tables to be turned, Hassan would have risked himself to save Ali. Ali, however, for all his affection (as well as jealousy) of Hassan, has internalized enough peripheral contempt for his Hazaras servant not to place his own safety on the line for him—and then to use his power to betray him to get rid of him and the guilt he provokes.
The politics of ethnic hierarchy and privilege also dictate that Ali and Baba can escape Afghanistan for the United States while Hassan is left behind.
Hosseini calls into question Afghan political and social norms when the novel reveals that Hassan and Ali are actually brothers, shining a light on the fictive, constructed nature of the social-political ethnic hierarchy, which bears little relationship to reality.
Further, Hosseini realistically depicts the politics of power by having Ali's voice tell the story rather than Hassan's, reflecting the way politics put narratives into the hands of the powerful rather than the subaltern in a society. One has to imagine Hassan would be a more complex and less doggedly loving and devoted character in a novel told from his own perspective.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini intricately connects the political with much the personal lives, actions and motivations of its characters. Although the political pervades and influences these main characters, it does not affect every personal action in the novel. Thus, despite playing a crucial and substantial role in the novel, the personal and political are not always linked.
First, it is important to consider how the political setting has influenced the personal lives of the main characters in the story. In the first part of the story, the caste system in Afghanistan plays an essential role in shaping the interactions and emotions of the characters. The reader is immediately exposed to the stark dichotomy of the life of Amir, a wealthy Pashtun boy, and his best friend Hassan, a servant's son. On the surface these two boys share an amicable and close relationship. However, the author highlights underlying tensions brought about by the difference in class between these two boys. These tensions are symbolically demonstrated by Amir's role as the kite flyer and Hassan's role as a kite runner, someone who retrieves the kite. The political effects of the existence of a class system have intangible but undeniable effects on the personal development and experience of this story's characters.
However, despite this, there are actions and motivations which escape the pervading grasp of political influence in The Kite Runner. Although it is not explicitly mentioned, Hassan's devotion and love for Amir stems not only from his role as a servant, but from a genuine love for Amir as a friend. At the end of this story, this sincere love is reciprocated when Amir runs a kite for Hassan's son, Sohrab. This scene sharply contrasts the opening where Amir, is the kite flyer because he is wealthier. The story of The Kite Runner culminates with the conclusion of Amir becoming a kite runner because of his love and devotion for his friend Hassan. Despite Amir being wealthier, more powerful, and politically advantageous in every way, Amir goes against his political standing to serve Sohrab out of his love for Hassan. Despite the pervasive effects of the political on the personal throughout The Kite Runner, this ending reminds the reader that the personal does not always have to be controlled by the political.
Khaled Hosseini's debut novel The Kite Runner certainly proves the statement "the personal is always political." I see the novel doing so in two significant ways: first, in the way Hosseini portrays the impact of political and historical events on characters lives and, second, in the way sociopolitical hierarchies determine character relationships and plot events in the novel.
The Kite Runner is set in the 1970s in Afghanistan, a time of political turmoil that saw the fall of the monarchy, the onset of Russian invasion, and the emergence of the Taliban. During this time of instability, a once strong and relatively prosperous Kabul begins to crumble. The narrator, Amir, grows up in a privileged household and is the son of the powerful and influential Baba. Once political strife and violence make it dangerous for them to stay in Afghanistan, they flee to Pakistan and later emigrate to California. They are able to do so because they are wealthy and because Baba has connections and resources. Still, their flight is not easy or completely smooth. Once in California, Baba, who was previously a highly successful businessman, must take a job at a gas station. His status has fallen enormously, but he and his son are physically safer. On the other hand, Ali and Hassan are poor and of a minority group, so they are not able to escape the political turmoil in their native country. Eventually, Ali is killed by a land mine, and Hassan is executed by the Taliban. The political events that make up the context of the novel determine the outcomes of the central characters' lives.
Likewise, the sociopolitical hierarchy in Afghanistan affects relationships between characters and contributes to their fates discussed in the above paragraph. Baba and Amir are Pashtun and Sunni Muslims, making them part of the majority. Ali and Hassan are Hazara Shi'a Muslims, a much-maligned minority group. The social structure in the country decrees that Pashtuns are superior to Hazaras, so even though Baba and Ali, and then Amir and Hassan, grow up as close as brothers, the political, ethnic, and religious divisions always drive a wedge between them. This hierarchy is what Amir falls back on when he witnesses Hassan being assaulted by Assef, and the low status of the Hazaras is, indeed, the main reason Hassan is assaulted in the first place. Amir's guilt following his inability or refusal to stand up for his friend leads him to frame Hassan for theft. Though Baba forgives Hassan, Ali feels he and his son cannot bear the shame, and they leave. Later, when Amir learns that Hassan was actually Baba's biological son, he wonders whether, in the event they had possessed all the information from the start, he would have acted the way he did. He also wonders about whether Ali and Hassan would have come to America with Amir and his father. One of the great tragedies of the novel is that two boys who otherwise would have remained best friends are driven apart because of social expectations and prejudices. This is a great example of the personal also being political.
Ultimately, Hosseini's novel makes a powerful statement about sociopolitical discrimination and the tragic effects political strife can have on personal lives.
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