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Changing Gender Roles

Gender roles are one of the major themes in the short story “The Hite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. The role of women in society is portrayed by a few women such as Soraya and her mother Jamila to show how women’s roles in life have changed over the years in the Afghan. Women have no power or right to make major decisions in their lives. Men are seen to have taken control over women in marriage. For example, the general despite the fact that Jamila, “had once been famous in Kabul for her enchanting singing voice. Though she had never sung professionally, she had had the talent,” she was asked never to sing again in public as an agreement for her marriage. Based on this, women have to hide their talents or any other abilities in fear of men. Besides, the general did not approve of women drinking alcohol as it is against the norms in Afghan.

However, things have changed over time, and this is depicted by Soraya who marries Ali, her choice as a husband. Also, despite her father’s restriction of taking alcohol, she does it but in the absence of his father. In addition, Soraya goes against her father’s will and finds a job, she can make major decisions in her life, something that was not approved in Afghan. Policies developed by the Afghan government has also been unreliable since they do not promote the rights of women, and this means that Soraya would have received a different kind of treatment if she grew up in Afghan. All these indicates the changing perception of women’s right to make autonomous decisions in their lives, a changing role of women.

Works Cited

Hosseini, Khaled. The kite runner. Penguin, 2003.