“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker are very different novels with very different story lines. However, the themes surrounding two of the leading characters in these stories are not too different. Both Hassan and Celie face discrimination from society because of categories in which they are placed by their anatomical makeup. Celie because she is a woman and Hassan because he is a Hazara. Both characters deal with sexual and physical abuse as a result of something of which they lack control over. A major difference, however is their attitude towards it. Both incredibly courageous, they have very different approaches to their injustice.
In “The Kite Runner” from the time Hassan is a little boy, things between him and Amir, who is not a Hazara, appear fairly similar on the surface. They get along like best friends who constantly play together and seek adventures in their Afghanistani hometown. When the sun goes down, however, Hassan and his father go to bed in a small hut located in the backyard of Amir’s father’s mansion. Hassan is denied the opportunity to receive an education and learn to read and write, while Amir aspires to be an author sharing his work with Hassan. As the boys grow, instead of fighting to change the system, Hassan remains humble and endures rude comments from other young racist boys. While Amir admits that he knows it is wrong he feels that he does treat Hassan differently when others are around because he is aware that in the eyes of society he is better. Regardless, Hassan is passive and genuine focusing on only the good moments of their friendship. Even after deliberate betrayal from Amir, Hassan continues to see the good in his situation. In a letter written to Amir years after Amir watched him get raped and then framed him for stealing because he couldn’t bear the sight of him in his father’s house anymore Hassan says “ And I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you will find an old faithful friend waiting for you.” (218)
Celie on the other hand, is nowhere near as accepting of her situation. Tossed around between abusive men one of them being her father (or so she believed), separated from her little sister whom she loves with her whole heart and robbed of the two children she birthed as a result of her rape, Celie confides in God through letters as a shoulder to cry on. She is not disobedient or rebellious and similar to Hassan is willing to put herself second even if it means she endures pain for the ones she loves. Unlike Hassan however, she is not so willing to roll with the punches. When she is shown inferior treatment, she questions the world around her and thanks to her lover, Shug, even become curious about her confidant, God, himself. “...have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.” (165)
Both victims of oppressive situations based on social class systems in their societies, Hassan and Celie have much in common. The major difference in the end is how they chose to deal with it. Granted, Hassan was treated like family by a very slim number of the people in his life while Celie had her family yanked away from her. This definitely had something to do with the situation, Hassan decided to return to the city of his oppression while Celie eventually gained the courage to flee hers. Both choices were courageous but created very different outcomes. Celie eventually becomes reunited with Nettie in the house in which they grew up while Hassan loses his life to the Taliban. Maybe things could have been different had he put himself and his safety first like Celie but he has a huge heart and would probably allow the outcome to be the same “a thousand times over.”
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