Family affinities and predicaments in Khaled Hosseini’s fiction

Abstract

This study focuses on how Afghanistan and its people are represented in Khaled Hosseini’s three novels, The Kite Runner (2003), A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), and And the Mountains Echoed (2013). The chapters in this dissertation correspond to each of the novels in chronological order. Hosseini’s novels are placed within the context of his social and political position as a writer. Born in Afghanistan and living in America, he seeks a fruitful engagement with the conflicts affecting his native country. The dissertation aims to elucidate how Hosseini’s literary works give insight into the trajectory that has led to Afghanistan’s political and social position, and into the exploration of the acknowledged facets as well as some of the lesser-known aspects of the country’s cultural and religious life – this through the narration of the private lives of the characters and the portrayal of the outside world which influences their behaviour and their life in general. The primary angle of investigation is from the protagonists’ family affinities and the predicaments they each experience. The study homes in on a number of topics ranging from the local and familial traditions to political and social themes. The scope of the work is to shed light on the way the Afghans live not only in their country, but also when they reside far away from their homeland. In essence, this study intends to show that what Hosseini projects is analogous to Afghan society’s authentic way of life, imbued in its culture and traditions. This is achieved by the author’s application of the universal themes of love, relationships, duty, loss, guilt, regret and sorrow.