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Question: Identify one way that socioeconomic status makes itself present within the internal conflict/tension in Afghanistan during the events of the book?

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Question: Identify one way that socioeconomic status makes itself present within the internal conflict/tension in Afghanistan during the events of the book?

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Amir describes his 13th birthday in pgs. 93-97.  What type of people are in attendance? Amir knows that those in attendance are not there for him. Why are they there? 

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Amir describes his 13th birthday in pgs. 93-97.  What type of people are in attendance? Amir knows that those in attendance are not there for him. Why are they there? 

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The Kite Runner (4/10) Movie CLIP - Birthday Party (2007) HD

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Question: In what ways does socioeconomic status solidify the relationship between Amir and Hassan? Why is this important to the overarching themes of the book?

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Question: In what ways does socioeconomic status solidify the relationship between Amir and Hassan? Why is this important to the overarching themes of the book?

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Question: Compare and contrast socioeconomic realities that were present in pre - Soviet invasion Afghanistan and in Taliban occupied Afghanistan. Have conditions remained relatively the same or have they lessened/worsened?

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Question: Compare and contrast socioeconomic realities that were present in pre - Soviet invasion Afghanistan and in Taliban occupied Afghanistan. Have conditions remained relatively the same or have they lessened/worsened?

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Pgs. 104-107 Amir has secretly placed his new watch and birthday money under Hassan's mattress. Think about why Hassan accepts the blame for something he did not do. 

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Pgs. 104-107 Amir has secretly placed his new watch and birthday money under Hassan's mattress. Think about why Hassan accepts the blame for something he did not do. 

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The Kite Runner scene: Amir makes Hassan and Ali's departure.

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Pgs. 114-117 Afghanistan has been occupied by the Russians. Babi, Amir, and others have decided to leave the country. Russian soldiers were said to be cruel and disrespectful. 

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Pgs. 114-117 Afghanistan has been occupied by the Russians. Babi, Amir, and others have decided to leave the country. Russian soldiers were said to be cruel and disrespectful. 

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Socioeconomic status affects the relationship between Amir and Hassan in multiple ways, with the servant/lord relationship most prominent: the general context of the book, as commented on by multiple characters, is that Hassan is subservient to Amir not only because his father Ali is a servant to Baba (Amir's father), but because Hazaran people are believed as 'lower class' and Pashtun people are the 'upper class' in Afghanistan. Being Hazaran, Hassan is considered ethnically 'lower' compared to Amir. This comparison means Ali is also lower than Baba, which in part explains how their own servant/lord relationship formed. This cultural belief about ethnic placement underlies Hassan's loyalty to Amir--to a fault-- and is part of the reason Hassan never betrays Amir even when Amir betrays him. This constant loyalty haunts Amir and leads to his decision to finally return that loyalty by rescuing Hassan's son, Sohrab (also Hazaran and treated poorly for being such).

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The socioeconomic status between Hassan and Amir has multiple aspects. The obvious one is the class difference between the two. Amir is a from a wealthy family and Hassan and his family is part of the Hazaran people which is considered a lower "class" of people in Afghanistan. So Hassan sees himself as subservient to Amir and his family even with his close friendship wit Amir.
The overreaching themes of the book, for me, show that Hassan remains loyal to Amir even after Amir betrays him. Hassan goes along with it as if he is guilty. Whether it is the servant/lord relationship or the loyalty of a friend Hassan never protest or turns on Amir. The fact that decades later Amir still feels guilty for multiple things and finally finds a way to absolve that guilt by rescuing Hassans son shows the themes of guilt and absolution of that guilt as important themes to the book.

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Socioeconomic status both solidifies and undermines Amir and Hassan relationship in several ways. First off, Hassan’s Hazaran ancestry places him in the lower social class in Afghanistan. This has a major influence in his relationship with Amir because Amir, a Pashtun, belongs to the upper class. Hassan and Amir clearly develop a friendship in their childhood. However, Amir constantly refrains from truly considering Hassan a friend. Amir also constantly resents Hassan because Amir’s father commends Hassan while showing uncertainty about Amir behavior at times. Hassan has accepted his role in society and maintains his morals and loyalty throughout the book. Amir’s guilt derives from his faults and Hassan remaining loyalty after his betrayals.

The affect their socioeconomic status have on their friendship is important to a major overarching theme of this book because it represents the entire environment in Afghanistan for all Hazaras and Pashtuns in the novel and in real life.

(was not assigned a specific question)

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In pre-Soviet Afghanistan, there was a functioning economy and ruling government that oversaw the day to day operations in society that effected everyone.  That government may not have been perfect, but it allowed for control and taxation of a relatively normal economy.  This allowed Amir's dad (Baba) to make a good living as a broker for Persian rugs, and Amir's mom was allowed to teach as a University professor.  After the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, there was significant internal conflict amongst many opposed groups.  In Afghanistan, your cultural allegiance is generally to your family (clan) and the place you live.  The only lever that I know has worked in this particular circumstance, is the lever of religion.  The Taliban used religion and the force of arms to take control of Afghanistan in 1996. That said, Taliban precepts tend to pull women and girls out of the workplace and out of school (neither of which was a positive for Afghanistan after 1996). After the U.S. pushed out the Taliban in 2001, Hamid Karzai was democratically elected as the Afghan President (2004). The constant inflow of American aid and work brought on to support U.S. military operations was a positive for the Afghan economy. That said, graft and stealing in the Afghan government were a constant that the U.S. could never overcome. When the Trump administration brokered a deal with the Taliban in 2020 (without the current Afghan government being part of the talks) the current Afghan government felt abandoned. When it became apparent the US was leaving in 2021, the elected government of Ashraf Ghani their seat of power in Afghanistan, and the Taliban took control back. As a rule, the current Taliban leaders are not experienced or educated enough to effectively run Afghanistan. The country is quickly becoming one of the biggest humanitarian aid emergencies on the UN agenda. Starvation in Afghanistan is becoming a more and more driving crisis. So, I would say that life in Afghanistan is NOT better under Taliban control.

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From what I can gather, the government in Afghanistan, pre-Soviet, maintained a functional government. It was still considered a "developing country", however, they did enjoy modernity in their city centers.  This is illustrated by the wealth and position of influence 'Baba' enjoys. When the President, who was in office when we started the book, was taken out in a coup, things went downhill quickly. Communism moved in and everything started to fall apart. It was a fiasco for the then USSR and it showed. When the Soviet forces withdrew they left a hole that the Taliban were more than happy and able to fill. A country that once a place with Universities a diversity had become a place controlled, ineffectually, by extremists. The US moved in and pushed back the Taliban forces for 20 years. The major problem seems to be that the various agencies involved in reestablishing the Afghan government weren't applying their expertise appropriately. Billions were spent, by the US and various other UN Member Nations to help Afghanistan become self sufficient once more. Headway was made in education, the economy, and healthcare, things were getting better. Then the Taliban took control again. The situation is dismal. The poverty level is critical. It is easy to control people who are starving. Under Taliban rule is not a happy or healthy place to be.