Conformity in the Kite Runner and the Communist Manifesto Anonymous 10th Grade

As psychologist Rollo May once said: “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it's conformity.” Throughout Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, the reader is exposed to the dueling themes of conformity versus nonconformity, and the effects of either of those actions on those around them. But can this battle of to conform or to not really help to change someone’s life? Hosseini presents the reader with the characters of Hassan and Baba, both who seem to project that actions of conformity and nonconformity really do decide the course of another's life. Khaled Hosseini’s character of Baba shows the reader that if one conforms to societal expectations during times of crisis then he/she will see tragedy befall those around him/her, while his character of Hassan demonstrates that if one acts against societal norms during times of crisis then he/she will save those around him/her and be able to cause substantial change in his/her society. This theme is paralleled in Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, where Marx shows that substantial societal change can only be achieved through the nonconformity of the lower classes.

The character of Hassan fails to conform to societal expectations in seeking to protect those...