Corrupt Government And Militarism In The Kite Runner

Sarim Ali
11 English U
Corrupt Government and militarism in the Kite Runner Throughout history, many countries have been diagnosed with a common global disease, corrupt government. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini displays Afghanistan as no exception. The Kite Runner tells a tale of two childhood friends whose lives are forever changed due to the corrupt government, and war in Afghanistan. A corrupt government coupled with a military presence can lead to fear amongst the people, cause civil wars to erupt, and bring with it the disaster of a nation. The military presence and corrupt government in Afghanistan creates fear among the people and destroys patriotism. Civil wars on the basis of class and race are promoted by the corrupt government.
The Afghans are known to be brave and proud citizens of their homeland, but invading militaries cause chaos even amongst the brave. The Afghans have not always been accustomed to sound of explosions, and scenes of bloodshed. “The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then”(38). This shows how in today’s Afghanistan, Afghani children hear the sounds of explosions more often than a lullaby, whereas in peaceful times, the citizens are unfamiliar with the sounds of bombs erupting. The chaos seen today started with the Russian military presence, and has continued on because of corrupt government. Hassan was frightened and shocked upon hearing those noises, just as the average Canadian child his age would be. The Afghanis are people filled with love, and patriotism for their mother land, but even then they had to leave their country out of fear. As he prepares to leave his homeland, “Baba climbed halfway up the ladder… emptied the box and picked up a handful of dirt from the middle of the unpaved road. Kissed the dirt. Poured into the box” (128). This illustrates Baba as a patriotic man, just like most of the other Afghanis. By kissing the soil, and pouring some in his box, Baba shows respect and love for his country. He is always going to keep the
The government advertises a civil war, by expressing hatred towards the ethnical minorities in Afghanistan, primarily the Hazara. Pashtuns are taught to hate the Hazara because of the history and slight religious difference the two people have, despite both being Afghans. As Amir’s curiosity about Hazaras grows, he thinks, “School textbooks barely mentioned them… I found one of my mother’s old history books… people called Hazaras mice eating, flat nosed, load carrying donkeys…”(10). The corrupt and biased government has erased the Hazara nation from the school textbooks, and curriculum. Both, Pashtun books and people don’t have pleasant to things to say about the Hazara; who by some aren’t even considered to be humans. When the new government took office in 1996, many people celebrated, but the Hazaras know their fate in Afghanistan. In a letter from Hassan, he writes, “We all celebrated in 1996 when the Taliban rolled in… Hassan in the kitchen. He had a sober look in his eyes… God help the Hazaras now… two years later they massacred the Hazaras in Mazar-I – Sharif”(224). When the Taliban came into power all the Pashtuns celebrated, they had false hope of an end to their problems. The Taliban eventually become the worst thing to have happened to Afghanistan. The Taliban’s hatred for the Hazara is even more severe than the past governments of Afghanistan. They massacre innocent