An Exploration of Existentialism in Khalid Hosseini’s The Kite Runner (2003)

Abstract

Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner (2003) is a universal portrayal of human life and the numerous mistakes of human choice, giving a picture of characters failing themselves in the labyrinth of life. This dissertation attempts to highlight the equation of responsibility and freedom dealing with their importance in the context of existential idea. Subsequently, the work analyzes Hosseini’s novel from an existentialist point of view through exploring the existential tenets that may characterize Amir as an existentialist hero, and the novel as whole as an existential literary work. It also attempts to evaluate the existence of existentialism in the novel by casting light on the major characters and by addressing the concepts related to existentialism.