On Power

Possibly due to the very fact of her smaller role in The Kite Runner, in comparison to more major themes, Soraya’s part in the novel introduces a number of intriguing ideas about rules and structure in society.

What is it that decides one individual’s status over another’s? In many Asian countries, the female takes the backseat to matters of power, politics, finance, etc. However, life with the Amazons might prove much more accommodating to such types. As for money, or even intelligence, as the deciding factor in the “hierarchy” of man, it really all comes down to an established set of values. One could say, for instance, that the laboring man has more freedom than white-collared types, for those with more money tend to enslave themselves to material objects.

In this way, due to the very fact that Asian women are often overlooked as too simple to understand such things as politics or what have you – they are empowered. Given that they have the inner strength to themselves overlook such trivialities as public dissent and censure of new ideas, they have been given a very unique position with which to influence the world around them. Take, for example, any number of women:

Of legend:

* Helen of Troy – She started an entire ten-year war!!
* Sacagawea - She led an expedition of male explorers through long, dangerous terrain with child, helping them translate and find food.

In film:

* Holly Golightly - $50 a-piece for the “powder-room” (given 1960’s prices)? On looks and charm alone, Ms. Golightly had any number of rich, powerful men wrapped around her finger and available to even bail her out of prison.

In history:

* the Japanese geishas – Using their disarming feminine appeal, geishas wooed and coaxed their rich and influential benefactors into bending the world for them politically, financially, etc. In this way, many geishas had a leg-up with extra food stamps and in finding refuge during World War II.

* Queen Elizabeth I (of England AND Ireland) – Aside from her status as a rich and eligible bachelorette, her wit and wisdom lent her much power over diplomatic relations with other countries, as well as the welfare of the stage and its actors.

* Cleopatra – Seducing men everywhere for her own bidding.

* the First Ladies of the U.S.A. – You don’t really think those men do it all on their own, do you?

to name a few.

With their ability to flatter with delusions of power or hope or to toy with their emotions – break them, even – before they even know what hit them! (skills few men can manage, get away with, and still benefit from), women get much farther than many men will ever dream of realizing. This, I believe, is power.

Enter Soraya Taheri.

In Amir’s unstable condition, Soraya is just what he needs. Despite that she is a “mere” female in the male-dominated Afghan society, Soraya is the only one with the power to give him hope during Baba’s illness and hope for redemption. In her goodness and by example, she unwittingly gives Amir the courage to come to terms with his past. Furthermore, given that Amir has grown up without female influence in his life, save for the books his mother left behind, I think that the narrator very much needs this sort of nurturing figure in his life. In fact, just as the very manly Baba grew up without a father, I believe female influence will help Amir sort of balance himself out and learn to be more of a man.

On top of her power to give Amir agency in his emotional stability and spiritual well-being, she is given the power to improve her own condition – partially through the fact that Amir needs her. Thus, her beauty, her gender, and her kind-hearted mien have already allowed her this advantage, which she needs, because her tainted past has previously limited her agency. This especially, because her gender is also a more obvious limit on that agency: “Baba knew how lethal idle talk could prove to a young woman’s prospects of marrying well” (148).

The fact that her reputation is far easier to soil than that of her contemporary male is another limiting factor that tightens that particular restriction on her life. Amir acknowledges this saying, “I was fully aware of the Afghan double standard that favored my gender” (146) “… because I had won at the genetic lottery that had determined my sex” (149). Still, very much so because of her family’s relocation to the United States, though she remains within the Afghan community in California, she gains a couple more advantages.

Having moved to America as a preteen, Soraya is young enough to quickly pick up English, as well as keep her native tongue. Therefore, she is fluent in two different languages, which is a big advantage, especially because she is in California and wants to become a teacher. In fact, she has already taken advantage of this ability, having become ESL certified and currently teaching at the public library once a week, thus being given the opportunity once again to give agency to others. Also, because she lives among two very different societies of people, Soraya is given a unique, more open-minded perspective on the world. This mindset will undeoubtedly help her to connect with others to whom she will give agency through education.

The fact that Soraya now lives in America also gives her equal rights – legally, anyhow. She also has the opportunity to receive an equal level of public education and an equal access to secondary education. She can even choose her own major.*

So, maybe sometimes people just really have to use their resources. Maybe their station in life just needs a new value system or a new perspective.**

* In Malaysia, for instance, Chinese people (as opposed to Malays) rarely get the chance to decide the course of their lives once they are admitted into a university. Getting in is tough enough and super-competitive. Once you’re in, the counselor gives you a random major neither based on choice nor skill. You either take it or go home. My female cousin is majoring in chemical engineering, which is fine; I just am not so sure she would have picked the same major, given the choice …

** Hey, not that I SUPPORT female oppression or anything.