Khaled Hazzeini's The Kite Runner

We as people read for so many different reasons; to entertain and educate ourselves, to escape reality, to better ourselves, and to become more aware of the world around us. Every book offers us a unique chance to experience at least one of these things, and Khaled Hazzeini’s novel The Kite Runner is no exception. Written and narrated by an Afghan native, The Kite Runner follows the fictional but realistic Afghan boy Amir through his life’s conflicts, spanding from early childhood well into adulthood. People have very different opinions on this novel, and debate about whether or not this novel should be read is certainly understandable. However, the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini should remain a part of the World Literature
However, it has also led to a many people having a false sense of ‘knowing everything’. In other words, when people are provided with a just bit of knowledge, perhaps a fraction of the total story, they will form opinions on the whole situation. Not only will this story often be missing crucial pieces of information, but depending on the source, can also be largely bias. No one is more a victim to this incomplete and bias information than children and adolescents- the people who will eventually grow up to be our nation's political leaders and voters. With little “real life” experience, young people have little to form opinions off of other than what they hear in snippets on the news or what their parents and mentors pass down to them. As a result, other people’s opinions will often settle in their heads. If you wish to test this, gather yourself a group of adolescents, ages 13 to 17. If you were to ask them what the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the word “Afghanistan,” don’t you think that a large percent of them would say something along the lines of “Terrorism, 9/11, Al-Qaeda,” et cetera? Kids that have very little exposure to the Middle East already have formed very negative opinions on it. Though it’s true that at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what kids think, it’s important to recognize that these kids are eventually going to grow up to be our nation's political leaders and voters. While they will hopefully gain more information as they age, a lot of that info will be from the same incomplete or bias material their elders heard originally and passed down to them. Young people should be provided with another source of information to form opinions off of, preferably a primary source from a middle Eastern point of view. While it will not and