THE CARMEL BEAT
The western face of Afghan life, Khaled Hosseini
Sathvika
“There is only one sin and that is theft, when you lie you steal someone’s right to the truth.” These are the words of Khaled Hosseini from his book, The Kite Runner. Ironically, he is currently being accused of the exact same thing. Samriddhi Ghatak, a student of literature, recalls reading his books as a teenager. She found his books moving and loved his work. Many of us share this emotion with her. For many, Khaled Hosseini has been our introduction to Afghan life. What we know of their struggles comes from what we have read in his books. However, he is now being criticized for writing exclusively for the western readership who are detached form immediate experience. People believe that his work is designed to reassure other countries' intervention in Afghanistan as morally sound.
In her Instagram post, Hanan (@ibn_baatuti) explains in detail why the works of Khaled Hosseini and his likes are problematic. She believes that it follows the narrative of “saving women'' and “western enlightenment”. Hosseini embarked into literature at the peak of the US’s war on Afghanistan. Popular critics like Scarlet Baron believe that he has been exploiting his victimhood and capitalizing on it. Another major criticism for his work comes from his close relations with the Bush family. They refuse to accept the works patronage by Bush to be accurate or complete. Jacobian even accuses Hosseini of reinforcing racist stereotypes and ethnic identities. For example, his depiction of the Taliban as Pashtun savages. They also went on to call him, “The west’s favorite Afghan.” People have begun to view him as the Afghan face of US imperialism.
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Under Hanan’s post, many Afghan people have made comments regarding the issue. Some of these allow us to understand the problem better. Madina Wardak left a comment that” His storytelling comes from a tunnel-visioned one-sided idea of Afghanistan.” She also calls him a classist, privileged Afghan who loves America. The comment section goes on to be filled with Afghans refusing to accept the defending arguments of non-Afghans. However, it is important that we look at his works from a third-person perspective. Samriddhi said that “His books do not seem to take any one side. He, in graphic detail, explains the brutality of the Taliban. But when he talks about the Soviet or American invasion much of this emotion is lost.”
Another important factor to take into consideration is the nature of his books. All of Hosseini’s work is fiction. Khaled clarified in his interview to New York Times in August 2021 that he has mixed feelings about people turning to his books to get a perspective on Afghanistan. In the interview, he said,” They should be reading history books. They should be reading people who really know Afghanistan and know it well. A lot of people have relied on my books to kind of get a view into what Afghanistan is, and that’s fine, but I have never intended for my books to be representative of what Afghan life is.” He also added, “I’ve always been very careful about making sure that people don’t mistake me for some kind of Afghan ambassador or Afghan representative. I haven’t lived there in a long time.” While considering his perspective, it is also important to note that he is making these statements after receiving much criticism for his work. Menal Shah, a student of psychology said, “I don’t know about his intention but knowing this fact gives more insight into nuanced perspectives. I’m glad to have gotten to know this about his work. It helps me sift my emotions from truth and fact.”
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Salman Rushdie said that the viewpoint of the person in exile about their homeland is always through a cracked mirror. We could say the same about Hosseini’s work. It is important that while criticizing his work we must also understand where his thoughts come from. According to Swathi, a twenty-year-old student, “this critique has not served to diminish his life, I think they are very valid”. He might have found America’s intervention necessary, and this opinion might probably have seeped into his books. The intention of critics is not to “cancel” his work or diminish its value in any way. They are meant to tell us that there are multiple other sides to a story. Taking Hosseini’s work as the one truth and framing opinions based on works of fiction is not what we should be doing. That is precisely the point critics are trying to make. Samriddhi also said, “His books need to be read, if you don’t bring in the conflict of Afghanistan, then the book is about people as normal as us going through trying times.” That is perhaps how much importance we must give a novel that is sold as fiction. However, considering the sentiments involved we must remain aware. Whether the issue is being blown out of proportion or if Hosseini’s work deserves the criticism is the choice of his readers. The purpose of this article was only to make people aware of the fact that their favorite books might not be so perfect after all.