Social conformity and inner questioning in Khaled Hosseini, The Kite RunnerKhaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, grew up in a prejudiced Afghanistan in the 1960s as a Pashtun of the middle class living with Hazaras working for his family. His move to America after the communist coup proved difficult for his family, especially his father. In his novel, Hosseini writes through a young boy, Amir, very similar to himself, who grows up with his father and two Hazara servants in Afghanistan at the time of the Taliban attacks. Amir and his father, Baba, treat their servants, Hassan and Ali, like family. The society, however, does not approve of such relations between Pashtuns and Hazaras. As Amir hides and watches in horror, another Pashtun boy rapes Hassan. This leads to Amir's continued internal conflict regarding the public's treatment of Hazaras, and also makes him feel guilty and embarrassed throughout his life. Additionally, Amir craves affection and attention from his rather indifferent father. Amir's outward conformity to societal values ​​in his relationships with Hassan and Baba, due to his inner struggle and guilt, contributes greatly to the importance of The Kite Runner. Throughout his childhood, Amir conforms to society and treats his Hazara servants poorly. but he questions the morality of such treatment. When Amir's childhood bully, Assef, confronts him, Amir is told that Hassan only works as a servant for him and that they have no friendship. Then he asks himself, “Why did I only play with Hassan when there was no one else?” » (41). Hosseini uses a series of rhetorical questions to emphasize how Amir questions his beliefs about his relationship with Hassan....... middle of paper ...... achieves redemption and finally succeeds in overcoming his guilt. Hosseini uses this struggle to persuade those who feel extremely guilty about wrongdoing to ask for forgiveness and help others in need. The author emphasizes that atonement for one's sins involves reaching out to others. He expresses this when Amir offers to help Sohrab and he gets rid of the guilt of his old relationship with Hassan. Hosseini also writes to those who question society's ideals to encourage them to create and follow their own values. The author uses Amir's struggle in his relationship with Baba and his acceptance of Amir's writing career to demonstrate this idea. Throughout his novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini develops a main character who questions his decisions, while conforming to societal ideals to represent his theme of redemption and self-acceptance..