The Distressing Ethnic Dissection of the Hazaras in The Kite Runner

Abstract

In The Kite Runner (2003), Khaled Hosseini draws a very distressing enquiry of ethnic and sectarian divisions in Afghanistan, focusing particularly on the age-long systematic marginalization of the Hazara ethnic minority in Afghan society. Hosseini’s representation of the Hazara community in the novel exposes the betrayal and the silence that embody both personal and structural state injustice which are internalized as the social and political stratification in Afghanistan. By analyzing the characters from the Hazara community, as depicted in the novel, this paper aims to expose the deeply implanted social hierarchies and ethno-religious injustices that prevent the Hazaras from being true nationals of Afghanistan. With the qualitative analysis from the broader themes of social stratification, ethnicity, religion, and the legacy of silence in the face of oppression, this paper also analyzes the relationships of characters to interpret the age-long structural and hegemonic discriminations the Hazaras face in Afghanistan.