Betrayal is a major theme in the novel, and is manifested through three elements found in the narrative:
1) The Taliban, who betrays the Afghan's trust through an enforcement of an oppressive regime.
2) Assef, who betrays his religion and country in espousing racial purity and committing brutal crimes
3) Amir, who betrays Hassan, the person willing to defend him at the cost of his own well-being.
1) The Taliban, who betrays the Afghan's trust through an enforcement of an oppressive regime.
2) Assef, who betrays his religion and country in espousing racial purity and committing brutal crimes
3) Amir, who betrays Hassan, the person willing to defend him at the cost of his own well-being.
"A few weeks later, the Taliban banned kite fighting. And two years later, in 1998, they massacred the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif (Hosseini 187)." |
"Born to a German mother and Afghan father, the blond, blue-eyed Assef towered over the other kids. His well-earned reputation for savagery preceded him on the streets (Hosseini 31)." |
"I pray. I pray that my sins have not caught up with me the way I’d always feared they would (Hosseini 302)." |