Home to many of us is a physical place. It is where we grow up, wake up every single day, and seek comfort and warmth in. Having a physical house that keeps us rooted everywhere we go and gives us eternal hope and strength. Millions of people called this home Afghanistan. Now imagine that home gone in the matter of seconds. Imagine losing everything you have ever known or being born into a world without such a home. Beginning in the latter half of the 20th century, Afghanistan experienced dramatic changes in power structures, and as a consequence, it is left in turmoil, political and economic instability, that echoes to modern day. Such upheavals did not leave a soul untouched. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns depict the varying
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The novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini unravel the paradoxical reality and uncertainty of life, both as horrifying and beautiful, through cinematic words that touch us emotionally. In face of such instability, chaos and adversity, a redefinition of societal norms is necessary for sanity and even survival. What it means to be a man, a woman, a certain ethnicity, a parent, a child, a home comes into question when societal structures come falling down, and blurred lines are …show more content…
The ‘masculine’ figures, Baba and Amir, are the ones fleeing Afghanistan, avoiding all of the war’s aftermath. Again, they are able to do so because of their gender and economic status. As men, they are not bounded to any human being except for each other. Baba put his responsibility as father before his own pride and desires, similar to Laila, for Amir’s wellbeing. “For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his.” In Afghanistan, Baba is a well respected, wealthy businessman with a mansion for a house. In America, “Baba found a job off Washington Boulevard as an assistant at a gas station owned by an Afghan acquaintance – he'd started looking for work the same week we arrived. Six days a week, Baba pulled twelve-hour shifts pumping gas, running the register, changing oil, and washing windshields.” Both Baba and Laila did what is necessary for their child’s survival, for Amir and for Aziza. To give up their dreams and luxuries so that their children can thrive and reach their own stars. Baba has not always been as selfless or honorable as previously
The novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini unravel the paradoxical reality and uncertainty of life, both as horrifying and beautiful, through cinematic words that touch us emotionally. In face of such instability, chaos and adversity, a redefinition of societal norms is necessary for sanity and even survival. What it means to be a man, a woman, a certain ethnicity, a parent, a child, a home comes into question when societal structures come falling down, and blurred lines are …show more content…
The ‘masculine’ figures, Baba and Amir, are the ones fleeing Afghanistan, avoiding all of the war’s aftermath. Again, they are able to do so because of their gender and economic status. As men, they are not bounded to any human being except for each other. Baba put his responsibility as father before his own pride and desires, similar to Laila, for Amir’s wellbeing. “For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his.” In Afghanistan, Baba is a well respected, wealthy businessman with a mansion for a house. In America, “Baba found a job off Washington Boulevard as an assistant at a gas station owned by an Afghan acquaintance – he'd started looking for work the same week we arrived. Six days a week, Baba pulled twelve-hour shifts pumping gas, running the register, changing oil, and washing windshields.” Both Baba and Laila did what is necessary for their child’s survival, for Amir and for Aziza. To give up their dreams and luxuries so that their children can thrive and reach their own stars. Baba has not always been as selfless or honorable as previously