A study of realist and naturalistic components in the works of Khaled Hosseini: A review of Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns have been written by The Afghan-American author, "Khaled Hosseini" in 2003 and 2007, respectively. In his work, political, social and cultural situation of Afghanistan are of utmost mportance, and the themes of friendship and family relations, love and betrayal, courage and fear, war and rape and migration are highlighted. In addition to using strong realistic components such as expressing social and historical facts, typical characterization, detailed description of personalities and environments, naturalistic components such as disaster and ugliness, inheritance and environment algebra, sexual issues, and the use of characters Static and passive naturalism have also been noticed. It is also noteworthy that, in both novels, betrayal and rape are the two themes that are initially presented. Concerns such as civil and foreign wars and ethnic strife are a part of Afghanistan's history. The first novel, therefore, is realistic, however, the author’s focus on these issues and ignoring other aspects of life, escaping the problems for which no solution is provided, taking refuge in the safe haven of the West, strengthens the naturalistic aspect of this novel. The most important reason for the presence of naturalistic components in such novels is the unsettled political situation of Afghanistan in the time period of the story. In the second novel, with the war ending and Afghanistan reviving, the element of hope is evident. Considering the historical background of Afghanistan, it is assumed that, despite the naturalistic aspects, a strong realist dimension is still remained in Khaled Hosseini’s work.