The Taliban-Historical Focus - Essay Example

The Taliban-Historical Focus Khaled Hosseini’s novel, “The Kite Runner”, spans around lives lived across two continents amidst political uprisings, where an individual’s dreams were shuttered before they even began pursuing them. This novel is about an Afghan doctor, Amir, who received political asylum in 1980 as civil and political conflict destroyed his motherland, Afghanistan. Soviet invasion and the rise of Taliban created a political unrest in Afghanistan that sent baba and Amir to seek asylum in California. Amir later moved to Afghanistan to save the life of his half-brother’s child, Sohrab, from Taliban. This was a sign of apologies to Sohrab’s father Hassan. This paper strives to explore the Taliban’s regime in Afghanistan and describe how the novel would have been different without the influence of the Taliban regime. The key events of the novel, which revolves around Amir’s life, also follow Afghanistan’s political transition. During Amir’s childhood stages, there was calm in the state of Kabul during the monarchy and founding of the republic. This was later followed by the Soviet invasion, which led to the rise of Islamic extremist groups such as the Taliban. These Islamic extremist groups opposed Soviet Union’s rule and governance which led to a long time war that ruined the nation (Edwards 11). These events significantly contribute to the novel’s plot and directly influence the lives of the novel’s characters. For instance, the founding of the republic gives Assef an opportunity to intimidate Amir, because his father has a tight connection with the president. Additionally, the Soviet invasion forces baba and Amir to flee to California. Moreover, when the Taliban assume the control of the country, they kill Hassan and give Assef the power to indulge in rape and sadism without repercussions (Hosseini 34). These are the events that turn Amir into a brave man. He is determined to turn to his home country to pursue and rescue Sohrab from the hand of Taliban. This, therefore, implies that without Taliban’s influence and regime the novel could have lost some of its plot and themes such as their bad regime that sent Amir and baba to the U.S. The Taliban emerged as an Islamic extremist group that came following Soviet invasion in 1979 (Edwards 11). This group was formed with an aim of ejecting Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The Afghanistan Mujahedeen received considerable military and financial support from the United States and Pakistan. Statistics have shown that the Soviet Union lost over 15,000 soldiers in Afghanistan during this war period. The Soviet Union was defeated in 1989 after which the Afghan Mujahedeen surrounded Afghan capital, Kabul, under the leadership of Ahmed Shah Massoud. Three years later, they took over the rule after the departure of the Soviet Union. The Afghan Mujahedeen overthrew the official Afghanistan government that was formed and supported by the Soviet Union. The alliance between the Afghan Mujahedeen and the new afghan government led by interim president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, failed to reach a political consensus and led to a long-time war (Edwards 12). The Taliban ruled Afghanistan government from 1996 to 2001. The Taliban took control of Kabul and imposed tough Islamic system of law on Afghans. They named their leader, Mulla Mohammed Omar, as a supreme leader (Edwards 12). Their regime was characterized by harsh form of Islamic law which banned television broadcasting, jailed men who wore short beards, and forced women to wear head-to-toes veils (Edwards 12). The negative side of this regime was proved when some of the group members, under the authority from above, decided to destroy the giant statue of Buddha in Bamiyan. The Taliban government applied force to implement some laws and policies and even upload bans on un-Islamic activities (Edwards 12). This government had a powerful military that saw it capture and control about 90 percent of the Afghanistan’s territory. However, this regime was not recognized by the United Nations but received support from some few countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Most of the Unite Nation’s member states opposed Taliban regime because they employed strategies that involved co-opting government officials, installation of shadow governments, and intimidation (Edwards 12). This is an indication that without the Taliban rule, Afghanistan could have not received its independence and the plot of the story could not have been developed. The Taliban’s regime and activities significantly contributes to the plot and themes of Hosseini’s novel. Both Hassan and Amir spent their childhood ages as close friends and as a family. However, a series of political events and personal circumstances permanently dictated their destinies. Amir is a member of the privileged and dominant Pashtun tribe while Hassan is of the oppressed Hazara tribe (Hosseini 8). Therefore, Amir was lucky enough to get a better life than Hassan during the horrific Soviet invasion and Taliban regime. The political climate in Afghanistan was becoming worse beginning from the fall of the Afghan monarch through Soviet invasion to Taliban regime which caused the exodus of many Afghans to the United States and Pakistan (Edwards 11). Taliban regime significantly contributes to the development of this novel’s plot and themes. For instance, in the novel, Amir’s father, baba, is portrayed as an anti-communist who decided to flee to California together with his son. It is a apparent that baba was running away from Taliban’s strict Islamic laws which made even his servant, Hassan, raped in public, but no legal action taken because he was of an oppressed tribe. Rape, which is treated as a serious criminal offence, reoccurs throughout the novel. The first rape is that of Assef’s rape of Hassan. This rape occurred as a result of Amir’s guilt which later influenced him to search for redemption. Rape, in this context, is used to represent a complete mental and physical domination of people who do not have power over those who do. This is the reason why Hassan and Sohrab suffered a lasting emotional trauma. There are other incidences of rape which include Sohrab’s case, the woman in the truck, and Kamal’s case. There is also a strong interconnection between the plot of “The Kite Runner” and Afghanistan as a nation. For instance, Amir’s family life and the life of his country intersect at all times throughout the novel. For example, before Amir betrayed Hassan, his half-bother, the Soviet Union invaded Pakistan symbolizing a neighbor turning against its neighbor (Edwards 12). In this context, we can argue that the family relations were greatly influenced by the political environment. Baba, Amir, and Hassan had strong family ties but the Soviet invasion and the emergence of the Taliban significantly transformed the Afghans political environment which marked the beginning of year of conflict both in the Country and families (Edwards 13). In order to save Sohrab from the Taliban, Amir decided to move back to Afghanistan and confront Taliban insurgents. It was not an easy task as he received a strong opposition from the Taliban, particularly Assef, who assaulted him. In the attempt to save Sohrab, Assef said he can only set the boy free if he challenges him in a fight. Sohrab used a slingshot gun he obtained from his father to gun down Assef as he was brutally beating Amir (Hosseini 250). Together, they escaped from the hands of Taliban insurgents and fled to America. In order to compensate for the loss of his true friend and half-brother, Hassan, Amir introduced Sohrab as his nephew to General Taheri who was a pro-racist. He also helped the boy fly a kite in order to cut an enemy kite where he remarked “For you, a thousand times over,” (Hosseini 59) the same way Hassan said to Amir during their childhood days. This happened almost at the same time when the United States’ military troop invaded Taliban to save Afghanistan from bad governance and strict Islamic laws which even barred women from seeking formal education (Edwards 13). In conclusion, the Taliban regime and activities in Afghanistan significantly plays a key role in the development of the novel’s plot and themes. For over the last three decades, Afghanistan has been characterized by Soviet occupation, Mujahedeen, Communist rule, and a democracy which became a rule of terror (Edwards 11). The Afghanistan history is complex and difficult to understand since it can exhaust and intimidate outside reader’s understanding, but Hosseini has reduced it into an intimate account of honor, love fear, redemption and guilt, which requires no extra reference material or atlas to understand. The Taliban is an Islamic insurgent group that was formed to resist Soviet invasion in Pakistan. It, however, turned into bad regime which imposed strict Islamic laws on its citizens. Its poor governance and intimidation made many Afghans flee to Pakistan and United States to seek for asylum. This is the same reason why baba and Amir flew to California to seek asylum. There are many instances in the novel that relates to Amir’s personal life and his country Afghanistan. For instance, he came to rescue Sohrab from Taliban at the same time the United States was saving Afghanistan from Taliban. Works Cited Edwards J. "The Case of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner." Expatriate Literature and the Problem of Contested Representation (June 2008.): 11-13. Print Hosseini K. The Kite Runner. London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2008. Print Read More