The Influence Of Religion In Shakespeare's The Kite Runner

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Islam is “one of the most significant cultural forces in the world today”. It is one of the most well-known world religions, that has a vast global presence. The Islamic religion is spread across the world, but has large followings in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Algeria, and Morocco (Life of Muhammad, Religious Literature, The Five Pillars – Islam I, Collins- Elliott). Many of these countries and communities are Arabic, and have deep roots in the study of Islam; Islam became the “dominant religion” of Arabia starting in 610 CE, which was when this religion began (Partridge). A modern film that makes connections between today’s society and Islam is The Kite Runner. This 2007 film is based on the …show more content…
The elements of film are used to tell a story, in this case The Kite Runner. They do so in many ways. In addition to incorporating religious elements and themes throughout the film, the film industry and its experts use various editing techniques, within cinematography, (through sound, picture, motion, etc.) to help tell the story. These techniques are referred to as mise-en-scéne. In the film, The Kite Runner, there are several instances where the technique known as montage is used. This is when the film has successfully manipulated the viewers’ perspective through editing; this technique is used to show when time has passed or distance has been crossed. An example of montage is when Amir and his father, Baba, are seen fleeing Afghanistan, then, in the following scene, Amir is seen working with his father and graduating college. Time has clearly passed, and Amir and Baba are now in the United States. Cross cutting, or parallel editing, is used during the phone conversation between Amir and Rahim Khan. The audience is presented with scenes of both Amir and Rahim Khan speaking to the other, at the same time, while in two different locations (Villarejo, Chapter 2). Another technique that the producers use, is that of connecting events that happen to the characters and their parallels to society. This is seen throughout the kite fight in which Amir wins. The Pashtuns (Amir and his father) …show more content…
Amir and his father escape the beginnings of the Taliban, but when Amir returns in search of Hassan’s son, Kabul is being run by the Taliban, and the preachings and teachings of the Qur’an are being used to justify killings. These people use the religion of Islam to justify their wrong-doings, saying that it is all the wish of Allah. According to Johnston, “religious figures argue that Islam has become inconsistent with American culture and law. This line of thinking…has come to be known as ‘Islamophobia’, a term that…was defined as an ‘unfounded hostility toward Muslims.’” The events that unfolded during the movie have been built upon, and in today’s society has made the idea of Islamophobia more relevant. People tend to be hesitant towards people, things, or ideas that are different to their own, but the media and threats from the Taliban and ISIS have made people fear Muslims because of a couple extremist groups. Also portrayed in the movie, Muslims face discrimination from not only Americans/Western countries, but also from other Muslims. There are two main groups of Islam, Sunni and Shia, and due to differences of beliefs, there are major internal conflicts. It is important to look at people as individuals and to learn the background and teachings of a religion, before judgement is

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