Kabul - The Kite Runner

By John Parks

The Kite Runner is a complex story written by Khaled Hosseini where simple yet heinous events occur in a backdrop of social and economic upheaval in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is a story of guilt and cowardice and soul-searching and redemption in the life of Amir. However, even with such overt plot lines and possible morals, there is an underlying current spoken in the fine detail with which the author writes that subtly illustrates a common mantra: You can never go home.

Placed for the most part in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, The Kite Runner introduces the reader first to an idyllic life of innocence. Kabul is a peaceful city ideal for raising a family. The buildings are neat and orderly even in their haphazard layout, and there is a sense of community and unity among its residents. It also showcases the once-popular sport of "Kite Fighting," where contestants try to sever the string of their opponents kite. To the victor goes the spoils (the kite), though of course, someone must run to get it. In the book, kite fighting brings neighbors together in playful competition, and we find that the sport spans generations, as Amir's father reveals a prize kite he won when he was a child. We get a glimpse at how Kabul 's well-to-do treat their children, their servants, and each other. We get a strong sense of social order and stability.

The story also offers a first hand account of the social and political turmoil that the Soviet invasion wrought upon the entire country. This is when Amir and his father are forced to flee Afghanistan , and eventually settle in the United States.

However, when circumstance and his conscience require Amir as a young man to return briefly to Kabul , we see an entirely different city. Many of the buildings are broken or destroyed, as befitting a place ravaged by war and preserved by the subsequent economic downturn. What remains of Kabul is dirty and disheveled.

The sense of community that was once prevalent is now non-existent. There is at first a sense of 'every man for himself' where closed doors and windows greet Amir, and any aid he receives during his brief stay must be done in secret. There is no more kite fighting (the Taliban banned the sport, which inspired the kernel of the idea of the story for the author, who was himself an avid kite fighter in Kabul once). However as we see more of the city, we are given a glimpse of even darker times, where neighbor betrays neighbor to the ruling Taliban, and barbarous acts are committed in the name of zealotry. This is not the Kabul Amir remembers, certainly. And after even a few days, it becomes clear that this is not his home. The home of Amir's childhood does not exist anymore, and there is no returning to it.

And that is perhaps the irony, because the same could be said of any town, any homecoming, to a lesser degree. By contrasting the changes in Kabul then and now, the author emphasizes the commonality of change over time, and suddenly Kabul becomes our town, and Afghanistan becomes our country, and Amir becomes us, a tourist in our own hometown. Indeed, even when you can go home, you can never truly go home.

For more information on Kabul, visit http://www.blogkabul.com and http://www.kabulmicroblog.com







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