Kite Runner Essay

Maharnilad Aguirre
9/28/06

The Kite Runner

Despite all the propaganda surrounding the political issues in Afghanistan, one might expect Khaled Hosseini's, The Kite Runner, to be another example of exploitation of the war in order to boost sales of a book, but this is not so. The Kite Runner is a timeless story that does not rely on propaganda to be successful. The story is not meant to change the views of the post 9/11 society. It can stand on its storyline alone, and does not rely on its setting and time. The story focuses more on Amir's path to manhood and the relationships he has along the way, than the political happenings in Afghanistan. When Afghanistan is brought up, it is merely to create a setting.
The story could have easily taken place in another country during another era. Because Afghanistan is a polyethnic country, conflict is inevitable with the different groups. It is inevitable for different groups living in the same country to have conflicts because of different beliefs and morals they might have, such as with religion. In Kite Runner, Hosseini's main character/ narrator, Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan, Amir's protagonist, is a Hazara. The Pashtuns and Hazaras are two different ethnic groups that do not get along in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner did not really stress the reasons for their disagreements. It merely stated conflict between the two groups. With that said, the story could have taken place in Germany during World War II, in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, or in the current Sri Lanka conflict. Amir could have been German, a Tutsi, Sinhalese, or Turkish. Hassan could have been Jewish, a Hutu, Tamil, or Armenian.
When Amir first faced Assef again during his return to Afghanistan, he saw Assef as just a Taliban member. He referred to Assef as "the Talib." Later, he comes to realize who Assef is, and no longer considers him "the Talib", but as his childhood enemy. He finds relief and closure in his life after facing and overcoming his childhood enemy, not a Taliban member. The book does not go deep into Assef's position with the Taliban, but gives great description of him as a child bully. "If you were a kid living in Wazir Akbar Khan section of Kabul (city in Afghanistan), you knew about Assef and his famous stainless- steel brass knuckles, hopefully not through experience... Some of the boys in Wazir Akbar Khan had nicknamed him Assef Goshkhor, or Assef the Ear Eater." The reason Hosseini made Assef a Taliban member was to give background and set a tone for the story, not because he wanted to put the Taliban in bad light. The Taliban are already viewed in bad light with Americans. Hosseini must know this, and it gives reason for him portraying Assef as a Taliban member. Hosseini was relying on the feelings his audience already had about the Taliban. He did not rely on facts he made about the Taliban. The only made up fact Hosseini created was Assef’s character really existing, but one can argue that he does exist because he is viewed as a stereotypical Taliban member. I personally believe that Hosseini description of Assef as a Taliban member was right on point. I can turn the television onto the news to see Taliban members being portrayed as bad people. I did not need Hosseini's book to tell me that. Hosseini's book only confirms what I already know and how I already felt post 9/11. If The Kite Runner was really written as a means for propaganda, then Hosseini would have focused more on Assef being a Taliban member, and not as Amir's childhood enemy. Also, if The Kite Runner was propaganda, Hosseini would have further developed the ideas and facts about/ behind the war and the political issues happening in Afghanistan, instead of developing Amir and Hassan as characters.
"The strong underlying force of this novel is the relationship between Amir and Hassan" (from discussion questions in novel), and not the relationship between Pashtuns and Hazaras, which would have been seen as political propaganda. The novel develops the relationship between the two. It shows how Amir was afraid to be Hassan's true friend because he was jealous of his father's affection for Hassan and because Hassan was a faithful, honest person. Hassan was a person Amir hoped to be one day. Hosseini did not create and portray Amir's character to hate Hassan because he was a Hazara. Amir was afraid to be Hassan's true friend because he was jealous of his father's affection for Hassan and because Hassan was a faithful, honest person. A person Amir hoped to be one day. Amir ends his relationship with Hassan after the kite incident not because Hassan was a cowardly Hazara, but because Hassan was braver than him.
Had the novel been written as a form of propaganda, the title would have probably been something like Amir and Hassan against the Taliban instead of The Kite Runner. The Kite Runner is an appropriate title for the novel that is based on a story of coming of age and the relationships along the way.

Vogue and Kate Moss

Vogue Magazine is a fashion magazine whose target group is women. Upon opening the magazine, one will notice that the magazine is full of fashion advertisements. There are more advertisements than articles. The magazine focuses on selling fashion products to women. The magazine does not have intellectual articles, such as articles on politics and social sciences. Instead, the magazine features articles on trends, particulary with clothing. The magazine is also known for its articles on makeup, sex, and love.
The September 2006 issue of Vogue consists of 754 pages, and yet little wording is found. Most of the pages are full page color fashion advertisements. Out of the 754 pages, only about 50 of them have articles (worded pages) . Most of the time, the articles do not even take up the whole page. Pictures are added to the sides of articles.
The Table of Contents cannot be seen until the page 46 and does not continue until page 78. Advertisements fill up the pages before the beginning of the Table of Contents. Advertisements are also sandwiched inbetween the beginning of the Contents and the ending of the Contents (pgs. 47-77).
One thing I noticed about the advertisements in Vogue is that they almost always feature young looking, skinny models. Many of the ads featured Kate Moss, an ex-coke-addicted model. She gained modeling positions with the top fashion industries after her huge drug scandal. Kate can be seen page after page modeling for different designers. Dior, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, David Yurman, Versace, Longchamp, Stella McCartney, and Rimmel used Kate Moss in their ads. I find it funny that a magazine would even allow advertisements that feature a drug addict in its pages, but I guess that's fashion and the media for you. I added a wikipedia link giving more information about Kate's drug addiction and modeling career.

More on Kate Moss

inside Vogue Magazine

Propaganda

Propaganda shows up everywhere, especially on television. Propaganda can be seen on television in comic light on the cartoon show South Park, informatively on politician proposition commercials, and on serious notes with the military recruitment commericials. During the most recent presidential election, South Park creators aired an episode mocking the two candidates, John Kerry and George Bush. John Kerry and George bush were characterized as Douche and Turd. The creators wanted to show that both presidential candidates were bad, and that neither should be elected. Like South Park, politicians use propaganda in their proposition commercials to sway the public to elect them and not their opponents. Typically, politicians use propaganda in a negative way. Politicians feed their audience with exaggerated facts about opponents, putting opponents in bad light. In military recruitment commercials, soldiers are shown to be brave, courageous, and honorable. The soldiers in the commercials are proud to do their job and seem never to hesitate during danger. The commercials imply that if you join the military, you will become as brave, courageous, and honorable as the soldiers in the commercials. Recently, I saw a billboard for the Navy that said, "To be honorable, to be brave, join the Navy." Other propaganda I have seen are the ones used for movies. The recent movies, Gridiron Gang, The Guardian, The Black Dahlia, and The Covenant have all been advertised as the number one blockbuster hit of the moment. All the movies used this information to get people to watch them, even though the information is false (all the movies can't be the number one blockbuster hit at the same time). Propaganda is used all the time in the media, and will continue to be used because it is an effective way to sway opinions and sell products.

Propaganda techniques

The Evolution of the Publishing World

Sooner or later, the publishing world will evolve. What it will evolve into, I am not sure of. I have an idea that all publication of hard copy books will be stopped, and E-books will be published instead. E-books are becoming more and more popular. Three weeks ago, when I was book shopping for school at the Spartan Bookstore, I saw that many of the books I needed were avaible as an E-book. I wasn't even sure what an E-book was, so I asked a person working at the bookstore. It was explained to me that E-books are books are purchased online as a pdf file. The book can be read on the computer, or it could be printed. The price of the E-books are cut down to more than half the price hard copy books. I considered getting my books in E-book form, but then I finally convinced myself out of it because of the added hassle it would cause. With an E-book, I decided that I would get too dizzy reading it off the computer since I wear bifocals. I've never been able to focus on a computer screen without having to blink rapidly the whole time. Since I can't focus on a computer screen, I would have to print an E-book if I wanted to read it. Printing an E-book seemed like a waste of time, paper, and money. All the books available on E-book that I needed for school were more than three-hundred pages, so printing them would hardly be worth it. As of right now, I think that physical copies of books will continue to be published, since a more convenient way of creating them hasn't been thought of yet. Physical books are convenient. They can be carried and brought wherever.

Explore eBooks here!

Blogs are taking over the society!

I've been hearing an awful lot about blogs lately. Two weeks ago, I walked into class, only to find out it was a class all about "blogging". Yesterday, I walked by two girls at the mall discussing how they were going to put pictures of their newly bought oufits on their blogs. Today, in English Class, my professor talked about sharing a blog with a friend on a new book. A minute ago, I watched Barbara Walters on television saying that Rosie O'Donnel's blog is dumb. Right now, I am reading Rosie O'Donnel's blog that says that Barbara Walters is jealous, and that Oprah was wrong for not stopping Tom Cruise's outburst. I've been hearing about blogs so much that i'm starting to feel out of loop. Why haven't i been knowing about blogs?!
I was just informed that my sister, who is only ten, has a blog as well. I just asked her about it, her response- "Blogs are cool. You should have one. Everyone I know has one!" Apparently blogs are really popular with ten year olds. My sister then said, "Why don't you have a blog? I thought you were cool." My response was, "I am cool! I've had a blog since 2003!" Her response to that was an eye roll and "Will you hurry up with the computer? I need to write in my blog." I didn't completely lie to my sister. I have had a blog since 2003. I just forgot about it. It resurfaced when I created this blog. I guess I'm not out of the loop after all.

create your own blog on blogstream

create your own blog on blogger

read other authors' blogs

abovetheinfluence.com

The abovetheinfluence.com campaign cirrculating in the media has caught my eye, particulary because it is for a good cause. Advertising campaigns are never about a good cause. They are always about making good money. The abovetheinfluence.com campaign, brought by The Office of National Drug Control Policy/ Partnership for a Drug Free America that, is a campaign against marijuana smoking. The catch phrases for the campaign, such as the phrase, "All that pressure- The pressure to fit in, look perfect, get high, to be accepted- If you let it push on you too much, how much will change?" are meant to incite good morals for its audience (most likely teenagers and young adults). I, being a faithful magazine reader and television viewer, am an audience member to this campaign, and when I see the advertisements of this campaign, it sells me. It sells me like every other advertising campaign, new energy drinks, cell phone/ cell phone plans, clothing, music, etc., sells me. When I see the abovetheinfluence.com advertisements, I feel guilty for smoking marijuana. So if i get the same reaction towards an advertisment campaign that promotes good morals, as advertising campaigns that promote the lather, why aren't more campaigns like it? The reason is probably because good morales don't make money.

Above the Influence Campaign

November 2005

"A mountain of copy paper: $98 (knowing it gets you that much closer to a mountain bike priceless)" reads the caption of a magazine advertisement for MasterCard BusinessCard. Underneath the caption a business man sits in his office surrounded by a "mountain of copy paper". The copy paper is piled high on every inch of his desk, every inch of his business partner's desk, and every inch of available floor space. The business man's face has a relieved and thankful look. In my opinion, the man shouldn't have a relieved and thankful look on his face for wasting an abundance of paper. He should look worried for using so much paper during this time that we fear global warming. Just a few days ago, I watched Al Gore on the VMA's ranting about global warming. I've also watched many commercials lobbying for the awareness of global warming. I wanted to find out why MasterCard BusinessCard would create such an advertisement when there is so much hype about saving the earth, so I started to investigate the advertisement over again and the magazine the advertisement was in. I finally came up with an answer. The magazine the advertisement was in was dated November 2005. Almost a year ago, the media hadn't started the saturation of global warming fear. These days, a person couldn't flip through a magazine, television channels, or radio stations without hearing about global warming.

Global Warming Bias