Throughout the passage, Khaled Hosseini used multiple literary devices to reveal main points of culture and the Afghan society. For instance, one major social issue in the Afghan society is poverty. Many afghans can’t afford proper homes so the qualities of their homes are not the best. In the passage it states, “To my other side stood rows of snow-burdened cypress trees peppered among flat-topped clay houses- no more than mud shacks in most cases- separated by narrow alleys.” This describes the area in which Amir is searching for Hassan after the kite running competition. As Amir is wondering the streets, everything in is close together. Based on the description you can tell that the quality is not so great because the homes are made like mud shacks. Hosseini uses strong imagery so the reader can visualize the area Amir was in. Hosseini mentions the cypress trees and the flat-topped clay houses as a way to understand what the poor lived in. Another social issue shown in the passage is the ethnic division. One of the characters, Assef, calls Hassan by his ethnic group, the Hazaras. During this time, Afghan society was separated by the citizens being Pashtun and Hazara’s. Pashtun’s were the higher class and was treated with respect. They had money and lived in better homes than most other Afghans. The Hazaras are considered to be the lowest of the ethnic divisions so they are treated with disrespect. They are beaten and abused, both mentally and physically. They are usually the Pashtun’s servants as well. For instance, in the book the Kite Runner, Hassan and his father are Amir and Baba’s servants. However, since Hassan’s father Ali and Baba’s grew up with each other, they were treated with more respect than what a regular Hazara would be treated.
