Sarah Ali Professor Iannucci Worlds of History September 25, 2011

In Khaled Hosseinis best seller The Kite Runner, and later made into a motion picture by Marc Forster screenplay written by David Benioff is a heart wrenching and breath-taking story about the betrayal between two friends and how there is a way to be good again. Khaled Hosseinis novel consists of a real journey between Amir and Hassan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. Hosseini's astounding debut novel is one with so many emotional layers, memorable sequences and the enhancing it was always going to be a difficult task to deliver everything the story offered, but Benioff's decision-making in which of these sequences and subplots to lose leaves a lot to be desired. The worst of these decisions for me was in the set-up of the complex and pivotal relationship between Amir and his father result is a film which, admittedly, isn't horrific as a story, it just doesn't have even half of the heart and soul of the book. Forster should be the blame in his visual representation of the book. Hosseini's writing is so brilliantly descriptive it manages to provide the reader with a vision so evocative that they can almost smell smells, taste tastes and feel feelings. However, the motion picture portrayed the best of what Kabul Afghanistan looks like with some stunning cinematography of unfamiliar landscapes, and an ability to shoot some extremely convincing violent scenes, it is not hard to see Forster has done a good job. Moving, exciting, and quite often amusing, I think Forster has made a fine cinematic motion picture of a masterful novel.

The plot in the book in significance to the one in the movie does its best to follow the plot in the novel. A reader may feel that the movie is a disservice to the book. Due to the fact that the movie left out much of the information consisting the true aspects of the story and the complete feel of the story. However, it is understandable that the book cannot be entirely transferred into the movie because the movie would be an undesirably long amount of time. The plots major key points were in the movie. The relationship of Amir and Hassan is an integral part in the story line. Nevertheless, the movie didnt specify as much on the friendship that Hassan and Amir had. In the book however, hearing Amirs thoughts and a projectile movie playing on its own in your mind, was not what the reader would imagine in which what happened in the actual motion picture. The lack of emphasis on the relationships in this movie was a very big downfall to the reader. Due to the fact, that the novel was much more articulate with the relationships such as; Amir and Hassan, Hassan and Baba, Sohrab and Amir etc. In the movie due to the haziness about the relationships the viewer is left to assume. To start off, with the main characters; Amir and Hassan. Amir and Hassan as explained in the book are two friends that have grown up together. However, Hassan is Amirs servant and the relationship between an agha and a hazara are not acceptable. As seen in the movie, Hassan is always waiting on Amir and will do anything for Amir, even if it includes eating dirt. His most famous line in the novel, For you a thousand times over. This line implies the amount of love and care this twelve year old has for his friend. The book is neatly divided into three sections, the first narrates the childhood of the socially privileged Amir growing up in Kabul. His best friend is Hassan, the son of their servant Ali. The two boys grow up together, he has been Amirs kite runner, retrieving downed rival kites, and defended him from bullies. During one horrific incident, Amir betrays Hassan. Deeply troubled by guilt, Amir devises a plan to ultimately rid himself of the source of his reminder of

guilt, indirectly driving Ali and Hassan out of their household. First off, I must state that Im evaluating the film, as a film. And to be fair, the movie follows the story quite closely, almost dividing the script into three sections like the book, and telling the story adequately. Ironically, such direct transfer does not fare well with the film. The transitions of scenes are sometimes quite abrupt and choppy. The same dialogues are there, but the mood is missing. The eagerness of storytelling seems to have overshadowed the artistry of movie making. The book correlates with the history of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a country that has been ravaged by war over the last thirty years. During the seventies Afghanistan was still a peaceful country where children did not hear shooting in the streets as noted in the Kite Runner, but this changed in 1979 with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in support of the communist influence People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Many well to do Afghanis such as the family of Khaled Hosseini were able to escape and receive political asylum in western countries. However, the fighting between the Soviet backed communist Afghani party and the mujahideen, which was backed by the United States, Pakistian, and Saudi Arabia, destroyed the countryside and render many people homeless. The Soviet Union withdrew in 1989 due to extreme pressure and because it was a lost cause with the end of the Cold War. Hosseini does a good job of explaining these observations through his characters, even though this is a work of fiction. Afghanistan continued to face social turmoil, but it seemed stability had been achieved when the Taliban took over the government in 1996. The characters in the Kite Runner talked about being excited when the Taliban tanks rolled into Kabul, but this thrill was short lived. The Taliban enforced strict dress codes for women such as the full face covering burqa, which made it impossible for many women to work and girls to attend school because they could not afford

this garment. Often sick women could not go to the doctor because they were required to be examined by a female doctor and these were not in high supply. Some women even began to disguise themselves as men so they could leave the house and find work to make money for their impoverished families. The Taliban also enforced strict rules of dress for men. Soccer players had to wear pants and loud cheering was not allowed at games. However, worst of all was the violence that the Taliban exacted upon the general population. The Pashtun majority of the Taliban were Sunni Muslims and did not like the Hazara population, which tend to have Asian features and practice Shia Islam. Thus, the Taliban massacred many Hazaras and young Hazaras today often recall their first memories of the Taliban coming into their villages and burning down their schools and houses. In the Kite Runner Assef praises the the Pashtun history and compares it to that of the Nazis in Germany, which is an very accurate historical observation that Hosseini points out on several occasions. The Taliban fell from power after the US and British led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, but stability in the region is a slow process and fighting of the Taliban continues in several parts of the country. However, as the BBC has noted we hear less about the conflict in Afghanistan on other news stations and websites, so I suggest people turn to that site to find up to date information on the continuing war. I often check the BBC website because it has some of the most well researched news stories to be found on the Internet.(Source 4) Life in Afghanistan will never be what is was before 1979, but there is hope that some appearance of peace and stability can be achieved one day.

Work Cited Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print. The Kite Runner. Dir. Marc Forster. Prod. William Horberg, Walter F. Parkes, Rebecca Yeldham, and E. Bennett Walsh. By David Benioff. Perf. Khalid Abdalla and Homayoun Ershadi. Paramount Vantage, 2007. ""The Kite Runner" How Accurate Is It?" Understanding Islam Community. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://forums.understanding-islam.com/showthread.php?2493-quot-TheKite-Runner-quot-How-accurate-is-it>. "The Kite Runner: A Book Review And An Overview Of Afghanistan." SweetiePie on HubPages. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. <http://sweetiepie.hubpages.com/hub/The-Kite-RunnerA-Book-Review-And-An-Overview-Of-Afghanistan>.