AN ANALYSIS ON MAJOR POLITICAL EVENTS AND ITS IMPACTS TOWARD THE CHARACTERS OF AMIR, HASSAN, AND ASSEF IN KHALED HOSSEINI'S THE KITE RUNNER

Abstract

The Kite Runner tells about friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul, Amir and Hassan. They nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. However, this thesis focuses on the major political events occurred in the novel, the description of the characters, Amir, Hassan, and Assef, as well as the explanation of the impacts of the major political events toward each character mentioned. In writing this thesis, a method of analysis is needed to determine the composition of the thesis. The method is used to find out the relation among the political events, major characters inside the novel, the historical facts, and the author’s private life. Inductive method is applied to search the specific scenes, actions, events experienced by characters under the chaos of political events in Afghanistan. The data are described by using the historical biographical theory. In this thesis, the discussion begins by describing the major characters in The Kite Runner, and then the writer tries to find out the specific events portrayed in The Kite Runner, such as the Soviet invasion, the rise of the Taliban, and the tragedy of 9/11. Next, the writer relates those events and major characters with external data, which are historical facts of Afghanistan and biography of the writer, Khaled Hooseini. After finding the relation of them, the discussion comes to general truth that there are relations among historical politics, author’s private life and literary work. The descriptions of the political events in the novel become much clearer to describe the sadness and miserable life in Afghanistan through the major characters in the novel. vii The result of the study shows that The Kite Runner is the mental evidence of Afghanistan’s history. It tells not only about the history of Afghanistan in reality but also reflection of what the writer has experienced, seen, and felt in his private life.