UAS and UTS Assignments of General Outlook of Literature

Essay 2
Analysing The Kite Runner by applying Postcolonial Criticism
Euis Fauziah Ramadhani (17070835002)
Regular Class 2017

An Essay On The Hybridity Of The Kite Runner Novel

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a famous novel. In 2012, it was

Chosen as one of the titles for 1st World Book Day held in United States. A sweeping story of

family, love, and friendship told against the upsetting backdrop of the history of Afghanistan

over the last thirty years. It represents racial conflict between the Pashtuns and Hazaras, two

different races and ethnics in Afghanistan which is caused by colonialism and imperialism

effect. Because of mentioned reason above, having deeper understanding by seeing this novel

from postcolonial lens is needed.

Post colonialism means the era or period of colonialism was already over, but it still

embeds in the society by system. Through analysing novel using post-colonial criticism, the

readers can increase their awareness towards hidden passage related to the attitudes left by

colonial era which are shown in the story. Homi Bhabha in book entitled Critical Theory

Today by Tyson (2006), suggested some topics that would be appropriate to be analysed

using postcolonial criticism. Those are historical trauma, trauma as slavery, revolution, civil,

war, political mass murder, oppressive military regimes, the loss of cultural identity, and so

on. This essay emphasizes on the hybridity felt by the character of Amir’s father or Baba who

face loss cultural identity. According to Tyson (2006) hybridity is the condition where

someone struggle for individual and collective identity in which make him/her have no sense

cultural belonging because hers/him is already dominated by other cultures.

Amir’s father or Baba is the only character who is included on hybridity because of

his effort to keep maintaining as Afghan identity in the middle of United States, California

after his immigration with Amir due to the war in Afghanistan. Although the war is over and
he has a new live in the new country, Baba limits him-self and show huge barriers as his

resistant to his new position in America as disempowered immigrant. It is shown in the novel

where there is inadequate interaction between Baba and American citizens who are not

Afghan origin. This lack of interaction is noticeable in a novel where America seems to

be idealised to such a great extent.

Baba refuses and rare encounters in an official visit that assesses their eligibility for

government support such as when citizen offered Baba food stamps. “Baba dropped the stack

of food stamps on her desk. „Thank you but I don’t want ‟ Baba said. „I work always. In

Afghanistan I work, in America I work. [...] I don’t like it’s free money (114). Baba’s

rejection to receive financial assistance is one of the ways in which he struggle an identity of

dependence and powerlessness. Indeed, while living in Afghanistan, He becomes the

embodiment of power through his association with what the novel constructs as masculine

symbols of power in which it has also been in Amir’s experience of America.

However, despite his ability to enact these masculine ideals as well as his resistant to

the new identity as toothless immigrants, Baba still does not have capability to maintain his

power in America. It is caused by ethno cultural periphery which encloses American identity

as it is constructed in the novel. Baba does not identify as an American but maintains his

identity as Afghan which makes every effort in maintaining American dream and image as

masculine power as the failure of him. Besides, when Amir’s graduation day, he reflects and

says “Baba’s beard was greying, his hair thinning at the temples, and hadn’t he been taller in

Kabul?” (114). His loss of power in America is also ironically symbolised through physical

deterioration. Even while living in California, his central frame of orientation in thinking

about his identity is still Afghanistan, and he is incapable to take part into American society

with the same status he once held.

 Moreover, after the invasion of Russians into Afghanistan, Baba and many other

Afghans start to hate the Russians for destroying and changing Afghanistan. Baba’s hatred of

Russians continues over in America. In one incidence, Baba becomes very ill and has to go to

the doctor and once he’s there he asks the doctor where he is from. The doctor replies that his

parents are Russian which automatically sends Baba into frenzy as he demands to leave.

Amir is forced to find another doctor to help Baba because of Baba’s discrimination. It is

rather immature of Baba to act this way to every single Russian, as realistically not all

Russians took part in the destruction of Afghanistan. It is the prove that Baba still being loyal

to Afghanistan as a part of Afghan subculture in California.

While Amir is able to adopt this position in America since he subscribes to the

requisites of integration into American society in which he pursues studies in English at

University, his father refuses to take lessons in the language. While Amir accepts the

mores of American society where his father protests and tries to hold on to aspects of Afghan

life. In short, Baba fights against American identity and try to keep retaining Afghan identity

though, at the end, Baba should feel humiliation and lose to idealised American identity. It is

the hybridity showed in the novel in which Baba’s character still has his own identity but then

dominated by western culture.

References

Hosseini, Khaled. (2003). The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books.

Khaled Hosseini Book Facts. (2014, June 3). Retrieved from:

http://khaledhosseini.com/media-pages/book-facts/

Tyson, Lois. (2006). Critical Theory Today, Second Edition. New York: Routledge