THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

THE KITE RUNNER
AFGHANISTAN KABUL
Hamid Karzai, President
of Afghanistan
initial reception, they soon made life in Afghanistan dangerous
again. Being Sunni fundamentalists and supremacists, they
systematically massacred Shittes, including the Hazara people.
They also enacted fundamentalist laws, most famously those
banning music and dance, and those severely restricting women’s
rights. In The Kite Runner, we see how the Taliban used fear and
violence to control the people of Afghanistan, for example at the
frequent executions in Ghazi Stadium.
After the events of September 11, 2001, the United States, who had
long maintained a presence in Afghanistan, stepped up their efforts
and overthrew the Taliban. The end of The Kite Runner occurs in
2002, when a provisional government was in place. It was not until
2004 that the current president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, was elected. Today, there are
countless Afghan refugees living in other parts of the world, just like Amir and his family. For
those Afghans living in Afghanistan, life is still dangerous. In the South, conflict continues to
rage and the Taliban have managed to reemerge. According to Amnesty International’s 2007
report, violence and human rights abuses are still a common reality in Afghanistan due to
weak governance. National ections took place on August 20, 2009 but threats from the
Taliban to inflict violence on those Afghan citizens who exercised their voting rights and
continuing violence created a low turnout of voters.
- http://www.gradesaver.com/the-kite-runner/ (reprinted with permission from San Jose Rep from The Kite Runner: A Study Guide)
KABUL
Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul has for centuries
been the epicenter of the nation’s triumphs and its
tragedies. It is a diverse place, inhabited by many
different ethnicities, nationalities and religions.
Sadly, it has also become famous as the site of
fierce territorialism amongst the many and varied
factions who have sought to control Afghanistan’s
fate, including the Taliban, the Soviet Union and
the United States.
I spent my
entire childhood playing with
Hassan on the grounds of my
father’s estate. My Baba was one of
the richest merchants in all of Kabul,
and everyone agreed he had built
the most beautiful house in the Wazir
Akbar Khan, the city’s most affl uent
neighborhood. – Amir, The Kite Runner
Situated in the valley between the Hindu Kush
Mountains and the Kabul River, Kabul is over
3,000 years old, having been established between
2000 BCE and 1500 BCE. Islam was brought
by Muslim Arabs to the city, and the nation, in 674 CE, and was firmly entrenched as the
majority religion by the 9th century CE. In the 1500s it was annexed by the Mughals (who
controlled the Indian subcontinent), and it remained under their control until 1738, when it
was captured by Nadir Shah, the leader of Persia (now Iran). In 1878, Kabul was invaded by
British forces, who would play a significant role in Afghanistan as colonizers. King Amanullah
Khan until he declared the country’s independence from all foreign powers in 1919. The
Afghans forced the British out that same year, but to this day the presence of British military
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 10