Kite Runner and propaganda

Nicole McMorran, teaberries8@yahoo.com
9/24/06
Kite Runner and Propaganda
868

The Kite Runner is a very powerful, moving novel. The novel is based both in 1970’s Afghanistan and modern day Afghanistan. A small boy named Amir, witnessed his best friend and servant being raped by a neighborhood bully. Throughout his entire life, he lives with this haunting secret; it tears him apart like a monster. Shortly after, Amir and his father leave to America to escape the Russian invasion. While living in America, Amir receives news that an old friend of the family is dying. Obligated to pay his respects to his friend, he returns to Afghanistan. Upon return, Amir is informed that his childhood friend/servant has had a child. This child was left fatherless and put in the hands of Amir’s childhood bully. Amir decides to confront his childhood bully. Interestingly, the bully has become one of the sole leaders of the Taliban.
This novel highly influenced my thoughts and opinions. Therefore, by definition of propaganda, this book was written as means of propaganda. I feel strongly that is bad propaganda. Before I began reading this book I had a different opinion of the Taliban. All I knew was that they were using religion as a means to control people. And, they had planned out the entire 9/11 tragedy. While I was reading this book I remember having a conversation about Afghanistan with my father. I mentioned that I had never realized how horrific life truly was in Afghanistan. I mentioned, also that I did not comprehend how awful the Taliban was. There is going to be media pertaining to the Taliban for a while. However, this book gives the impression that every member of the Taliban is a murderer, child rapist, and a robber.
It is very difficult for me to believe that all the members of the Taliban conform to these kinds of actions. When I was studying the Nazi regiment and the Holocaust in High school; I learned that all of the Nazis were heartless killers. For example, a book called Night was published shortly after the Holocaust. It was about a young boy that had been taken from his home and his family, and put into a concentration camp. The author describes all the terrible things the Nazis did to the poor Jews. The book highly influenced my thoughts about the Nazis. I believed that all the Nazis behaved this way and there were not any “good” Nazis. Later, in a documentary on a history channel, I learned that not all Nazis thought one way. There were many other reasons they had joined the regiment. They were scared for the lives of their families and the lives of themselves; if they did not conform there was no telling what the regiment would do to them. In the case of the Taliban it is hard to realize if there are any members that feel different from the whole of the Taliban government. Unfortunately, the Taliban has not been around long enough for anyone to do a documentary on the Taliban, and I do not think anyone wants to.
On the other hand, there is some feeling inside me that says that I should believe this book. From what I have heard from the media, such as news and magazines that I have read, the Taliban is an awful government. That type of government controls people solely by the kind of religion that they believe in. Also, they use religion as a means of controlling women, and they are willing to die for the cause that they believe in. Not only had they killed themselves in the 9/11 event, but they are continuing to kill themselves with multiple bombings. It is very hard for me to believe that if there were members of the Taliban that did not want to be in it, they would not be in it. Who is calling the shots and deciding who should die, and who should live to keep the Taliban going? The answer must be obvious, because there are still people very much a part of this government. However, I do not think it is obvious to many of the people around the world.
Even though the book was a little exaggerated, it still has some truth to it. It highly influenced my opinion of the Taliban and its members in general. I am highly influenced by the book because I only know about the Taliban from what I have heard from the media. Instead of the Taliban using race as a basis for control they are using religion. Before reading this book, I did not think about the Taliban that much. All I had heard was that they were a big part of 9/11, and they used religion to control their followers. The book made me feel sorry for the main character, and therefore it had a stronger influence on my opinion. In other words, if I had heard a story on the news about the Taliban, I would not have been so easily influenced. It was not until I read this book that I began thinking more about the Taliban, and their actions. Had I never read this book, I do not think that my opinion would have changed.