할레드 호세이니의 『연을 쫓는 아이』에 나타난 폭력과 구원의 문제

Abstract

This paper explores ambivalent correlations between violence and the idea of redemption in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. The novel is about sin, redemption, betrayal and love, set in Afghanistan and the U.S. A personal story of redeeming one's sin is juxtaposed with social and political turmoils of Afghanistan, providing a vivid picture of the Russian atrocities and of the Taliban’s. The theme of redemption and love is so powerful that Afghan culture including kite fighting, or the exotic locality functions rather as a mere backdrop. So I observe that most of the readers read the novel as a Bildungsroman, or a moral tale about a symbolic journey for personal salvation with a universal appeal to cosmopolitan humanism. Though partially successful in "humanizing" Afghan culture, the narrative structure does not make the novel an "open sesame" to the world of Afghan culture or the country itself to the readers. The novel has the full spectrum of violence which draws attention with full throttle tension. I find violence functions as an inevitable element in Amir’s quest for forgiveness and redemption as well as in Afghanistan’s current political and social circumstances. Thus this paper deals with how violence is juxtaposed with one’s personal ordeal as well as with bloody political turmoils including the coup, the Soviet invasion, and the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan.