First Place Kite Runner Essay
by Julia Calagiovanni, West Genesee High 
Imagine, for a moment, that we could journey six thousand, six hundred fifty miles away, across rugged terrain and rippling seas. We would cross unimaginable political, cultural and language barriers. At last, we would arrive in Kabul, capital of now war-torn Afghanistan and setting of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
I travel across continents every time I turn my television to a convenient twenty-four-hour news station. A pixilated reporter appears on the screen, detailing the latest military development. It is foreign: a dizzying plot of heroes, villains and politics. The newscasters use jargon as unfamiliar as the names of the countries themselves: IEDs. Kazakhstan. Jihad. Baghdad. It is so easy to see this situation as a classic case of “us” and “them.” Them, distant strangers; us, the valiant peacekeepers.
These stereotypes vanish a few pages into Hosseini’s novel. Through Amir’s eyes, pre-Soviet Afghanistan transforms into a vibrant world of culture and tradition. Characters – real people – emerge from the dusty streets. Later, as Amir begins to see his privileged world slip into violent chaos, vague memories of history-class wars resurface. A litany of facts and figures takes shape in graphic descriptions of stonings, shootings, and Amir’s escape from his homeland.
The Kite Runner’s poignant themes – betrayal, friendship, redemption – translate easily. They can cross the barriers separating us, even when democracy, debate, and rhetoric seem to fail. It’s hard to truly understand the plight of nameless people continents away. But the faces in today’s endless stream of Associated Press photos are not “victims” or “targets.” The novel provides a human dimension, reminding us that the syndicated faces are people. Soraya could be the burqa-clad woman with the vacant stare; perhaps the toothless beggar is Ali, the boy by his side Hassan. Each person is as human, as real, as you or I.
Although we cannot imagine what their lives are like, we are not as different as we might believe. The Kite Runner helped me to see global issues from a human perspective. It brought massive crises to an understandable level. Now, I remind myself, during the nightly news, of the stories behind the nameless faces. I don’t share anything with them – but we both believe in peace, equality, and freedom.
Khaled Hosseini pulled me into an alien world – and showed me that it isn’t all that different from my own. If we could travel to Kabul – or Darfur, Iraq, or Somalia – we would find people like his characters – people who are just like us. We could see ourselves – and Amir - all around us. When we reach this moment of empathy, we, like Amir watching soundlessly in the alley, will change forever.