Every individual experiences different types of adversity in life. Adversity plays a significant role in shaping an individual’s identity because dreadful situations shape our own personal values, determine our own capabilities, and helps us learn from our experiences. Oftentimes, when we are facing challenging adversities that help shape our lives, we view it as an obstructive thing because we believe that this lacks us from being successful.
In truth, these adversities actually shape a person’s identity in a beneficial way because it gives us strength and helps us find who we truly are as a person. In the novel, The Kite Runner, the author Khaled Hosseini utilizes character development to suggest that adverse situations have the power to shape an individual’s identity because the series of hardships that they went through enables them to understand who they are as a person and give them the power to survive and overcome those challenges in life.
In the 1970s, Afghanistan was not a delightful place. One of the main themes that was shown in this novel is ethnic diversity. Since the Pashtuns and the Hazaras are the two main races in this book, the Pashtuns has the advantage because the Hazaras are recognized as the weakest people in all of Afghanistan and they are portrayed as a poor group and that’s why the Pashtuns looks down on the Hazaras. One of the characters who dealt with adversities in life was Hassan.
Hassan’s compassion and loyalty made him different from other characters in the book. Since Hassan is the son of a Hazara, he had to go through many hardships in his life and this includes his inability to read and write, and this greatly had an impact on the choices he made in life. An example of Hassan’s loyalty is shown when Amir framed him for stealing and Hassan admitted to Amir’s father that he did steal in order to protect Amir once again. “I flinched, like I’d been slapped. My heart sank and I almost blurted out the truth.
References
- The Kite Runner – A website with free essays on The Kite Runner novel.
- The Kite Runner Goodreads – A book review and community website for The Kite Runner.
- The Kite Runner Audiobook – A YouTube link to the audiobook of The Kite Runner.
