Valentina Gutierrez

Tasche Bryant
ELA 12
December 10, 2015
Representation and Objectification in The Kite Runner
To write a story about the transition from boyhood to manhood is one matter. However,
writing a bildungsroman like The Kite Runner, a male-centric story that ignores women and uses
their plight in a misogynistic society to propel the plot forward is unrealistic and objectifying.
From the very beginning, Amir and Hassans relationship is characterized not by the fact
that theyre both motherless (which completely removes women from the story), but that they
were fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break (11). This serves to
make women body parts meant to propel the story forward. Not only is it unrealistic to
completely ignore the opposite sex, but it is sexist to use their memory and bodies as accessories
to men as wives, mothers, and nannies.
It just so happens that the few female characters in the book are Amirs mother (in
memory) and his wife, Soraya Taheri. Although seemingly well developed characters, with
backstories to boot, their sole purpose is to humanize Amir. This becomes clear when Amir
wonders if by winning the kite tournament hell finally [be] pardoned [by Baba] for killing [his]
mother (56). This causes the reader to feel pity for Amir, and understand that all he does is to
gain Babas approval. In Soraya Taheris case, this becomes apparent when he describes her as
the morning sun to [his] yelda (144). Similarly to understanding the feeling of wanting to live
up to expectations, anyone reading can relate to having a crush. The result is two of the only
female characters in the novel being used as tools to humanize the main character. They do not
create obstacles for Amir, change him in any way, nor force him to realize his sins and seek

redemption -- they simply make him likeable. Contrary to what appears in the novel, women do
not exist merely for the sake of making men more relatable and interesting people. Although
Hosseini attempts to provide realistic female characters, he objectifies them instead.
Some may argue that Soraya exists to highlight the double standard that men can be
sexual beings while women cannot. However, in the end, her story is used simply to remind the
reader of Amirs regret. This is clear after Soraya expresses anger about being held to a different
standard than men, and instead of sympathizing, Amir brings the situation back to himself and
how [he had] betrayed Hassan, lied, driven him out, and destroyed a forty-year relationship
between Baba and Ali (165). Amir goes as far as to admit that, a big part of the reason [he]
didnt care about Sorayas past was that [he] had one of [his] own. [He] knew all about regret
(180). In other words, Hosseini mentions the misogyny that runs rampant in Afghanistan and the
US, not to address it, but so that Amir can go back to wallowing in his own self-pity. Hosseini
misses a grand opportunity to point out the way that women are treated in Afghan society and
instead uses it to advance the story.
A story about boys is great. A story about boys that needlessly cuts out female characters
and then uses them in order to make the main characters likeable, on the other hand, is
objectifying. This seemingly innocuous difference is insidious, contributing to a lack of or
misrepresentation of women and the idea that they are little more than accessories to men.