Edwin Runagle

Word Count: 1517

To what extent can the reader infer McEwan and Hosseini use class prejudice to shape the path of Robbie and Hassan?

A reader is taken on a journey through the lives of Amir and Briony, the protagonists of The Kite Runner and Atonement respectively, where both must make a decision as to whether to stay true to someone close to their heart or betray them. In both books the character is betrayed and we are guided through their reflections and quest for redemption. It it is evident that that Briony and Robbie, and Amir and Hassan, are from different social backgrounds and as a result of this a reader may question whether there are elements of class prejudice behind the decision. Atonement is told retrospectively from the viewpoint of Briony Tallis, a young girl growing up in a middle class household a few years before the outbreak of World War 2, a very opulent setting with vast gardens, a lake and many staff to help maintain it. McEwan chooses to open the novel with several long chapters detailing how Briony spends her time. We find that Briony has written a play in a two-day tempest of composition and intends to stage it at a family dinner. We gain insight into her love of drama, make believe and being in the lime light; all very healthy things for a girl of thirteen finding her way in life. McEwan follows this by several long, arduous chapters of description. These sections of monotony help us to realise how bored Briony is and how she longs for something exciting to happen instead of making up her own stories. A reader may reason that it is Brionys lack of entertainment and craving for drama that causes her to frame Robbie for the rape of Lola. Robbie Turner, son of the cleaner at the house, helps out in the gardens of the Tallis household. We find that Mr Tallis is paying for Robbies education, and after a literature degree, Robbie now intends to attend medical college which is thought to be most pretentious. The suggestion of medicine being pretentious suggests to the reader that Robbie is of a lower class than those in the Tallis household. Our initial view confirmed when we are told how Robbie made a great show of removing his boots which werent dirty at all, and then, as an afterthought, [his] socks as well before entering the Tallis house, indicating that Robbie also feels he is of a lower class than the people he works for. Within a letter, Robbie talks of his desires for Cecelia Tallis, the pinnacle of which being where he talks of her Cunt. This is very shocking to Briony who read it first, Cecelia and the policemen later on. McEwan chooses such a harsh lexical choice to suggest the animalistic tendencies of Robbie and juxtaposition them with the descriptions of Cecelias beauty in other drafts of the same letter in a similar way to comparing their social positions. Implied, is a sense of vulgarity that we are not shown in any of the other characters. Briony takes this to heart and her new view of him as a disgusting, lesser human being causes her to say she is certain Robbie raped Lola Quincey, despite only describing the rapist as a figure and confessing that Lolas face at eighteen inches away was an empty oval. The letter is shown round when Robbie is accused of the rape of Lola Quincey and helps to shape the opinions of the police and the Tallis family. The other suspect was Danny Hardman, another worker in the Tallis gardens and member of the lower class. Danny has an alibi, but even much later on in the novel, and in time, Cecelia is still convinced that Danny must have done it rather than Robbie. McEwan further demonstrates the prejudice towards the lower classes by the use of such ingrained and long lasting thoughts that, even in reflection, nobody can

Edwin Runagle

Word Count: 1517

see past the social position of Robbie and Danny. A reader may have picked up on the unknown whereabouts of Paul Marshall after the discovery of Lolas rape. Marshall came in late and learned the news from the inspectors and as he went out on his own, has no alibi. McEwan has created a situation in which rational thought would place Marshall in the frame for the crime; however, Marshall is an upstanding member of society who owns a chocolate company who claim to be putting [chocolate] in the kitbag of every soldier in the land. McEwan paints a picture of Marshall as a wealthy, attractive man and showing he has the best wishes at heart by having him supply the army with chocolate. It could be interpreted that the Tallis family do not choose to question Marshall on the rape due to his social position. We also learn that Brionys mother, Emily Tallis, has been for the most part an absent parent. Emily suffers from regular migraines whose knifing pains obliterate all thought. This illness, whilst not Emilys fault, have prevented her from being a real mother to Briony. McEwan uses these migraines as a device to keep Emily away from Briony, allowing her to have free roam of the estate and do as she pleases. This absence has perhaps stopped Emily from teaching Briony what is right and wrong, which could explain Brionys lack of moral fibre when accusing Robbie of the rape of Lola. The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan in a wealthy Pashtun household. As was tradition, the Pashtun inhabitants had Hazara servants who live with their masters and are effectively owned by them. In this case, the Hazara servant has a son, Hassan, who is friends with the Pashtun boy, Amir. Hosseini writes retrospectively about how the boys would climb poplar trees , [pelt] each other with mulberries and Amir claims to know all of Hassans subtle nuances. In an encounter with Assef, a Pashtun supremacist, Assef refers to Hazaras as Flat-nose and claims that they dirty our blood. Hosseini makes it very clear that Hazaras are thought of as lower than Pashtuns. The reference to dirtying Pashtun blood is perhaps comparing Hazaras to parasites or plagues, draining Afghanistan of its life and purity. When questioned how Amir can be friends with Hassan, although within his own thoughts, Amir protests But hes not my friend Hes my servant. After the initial presentation of Amir and Hassans relationship, we are shocked by this scathing thought. Hosseini has been effective in showing that prejudice is present throughout the Afghan society; even those who have good relationships with Hazaras still know that Pashtuns are superior. The turning event in Hassan and Amirs lives is after a successful kite fighting day in which they have been triumphant; Hassan is raped by Assef as Amir looks on. Amirs eyes are first drawn to the blue kite Hassan has run for him, secondly to Hassans brown corduroy pants thrown in a heap. This shows a complete preoccupation with the blue kite, the key to his fathers approval, rather than his best friends situation. Hosseini presents Amir as morally devoid at this turning point in the story, and in the readers opinion of Amir. The evaluation of the two boys class is continued through this scene by the comparison of Amirs American jeans, a sign of wealth, and Hassans brown corduroy pants. The reader urges Amir to do the right thing and wade in to help out his friend, but he doesnt. Hosseini takes this opportunity to show how little Hassan means to Amir because of his class. Amir is too embarrassed to even admit that Hassan is his friend, and when faced with a dilemma where his friend is in trouble, he chooses his own personal interests over Hassans. This can be contrasted directly with the situation with Assef earlier on. When faced with a fight where he and Amir

Edwin Runagle

Word Count: 1517

outnumbered, Hassan aims his catapult at Assef and says Please leave us alone, Agha. This shows great courage compared to Amirs actions whilst remaining respectful to someone he views as his social superior due to his race through the term Agha. Similarly to Atonement, Amir can be seen to have an absent parent. Amir overhears his father talking about how [he] wasnt like [Amir], and neither were any of the kids [he] grew up with, and later on he refuses to read the story Amir has written. Amirs one wish is life is to please his father, which Hosseini presents as a factor in Amir making his decision not to help his friend Hasssan. Such a consuming need for approval is not healthy and the blame could be put into the hands of Amirs father. Both Atonement and The Kite Runner have evidence of strong class prejudice and the protagonists can be seen to act in accordance to this. However, a reader must examine the effect of an absent or lacking parent on a child as in both novels; this could be considered to be the cause of the protagonists behaviour.