Literacy in The Kite Runner Anonymous 10th Grade

774 million adults around the world are illiterate. In many places, people are not provided the opportunity to get education. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Amir is lucky enough to learn how to read and write, while many people in his country, including his servant, are illiterate. The power of literacy and the written word in the book is shown through Amir’s power of education against Hassan, Amir’s love of poetry and books from a young age, and the influence of Amir’s stories in his relationships.

Amir uses the power of literacy against Hassan multiple times throughout the book. Hassan is his servant and best friend, and Hassan is incredibly loyal to Amir and does everything that Amir says. “What use did a servant have for the written word?” (15). It is a known fact that Hazaras are illiterate, and will always be illiterate. Hassan would be illiterate just like his father, and like every other Hazara in Afghanistan. Amir uses the fact that Hassan hasn’t had the opportunities like him to get a proper education and learn how to read. When the two of them were young, Amir would read to Hassan under the pomegranate tree. “My favorite part of reading to Hassan was when we came across a big word that Hassan didn’t know”...