| Based on the Myth-archetypal Criticism by the Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye,this thesis studies the myth archetype in The Kite Runner,the acclaimed Bildungsroman by the Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini:the story of "Rostam and Sohrab" in the Persian national epic and one of the Worlds’ Four Great Epics Shahnamah by Firdausi in the 10th century.The comparison of the characters and the myth archetype helps us to understand the creating motives of the novel.The thesis can be divided as the following:First,Khaled Hossein,The Kite Runner,the literature review and the Myth-archetypal Criticism are presented.Considering that there is virtually no previous study of the Persian epic in this novel,I also argue for the applicability and necessity of Myth-archetypal study here.Chapter one is about Shahnamah and its different versions of English translation that will be used as texts to compare with in my study.The next two chapters are the main parts.Chapter two demonstrates how the epic archetypes function in characterization:Baba and the warrior Rostam,Amir and the tyrant Kay Kavus,Hassan and the honest Sohrab,as well as "the bad guy" Assef and his archetype as Ahriman(Demon).Chapter three furthers to substantiate the author’s creating motives and the educational sense endowed by the epic:First,with the father-son myth-archetype of"Rostam and Sohrab",Hosseini wants to emphasize the importance of the father’s role in children’s growth;Second,by the good-evil opposition in Shahnamah,he wants to show us the ethical choices between good and evil as one grows up,and encourage the readers to be brave to acknowledge and to correct wrongdoings if there is any;Also,with the father-son tragic story of "Rostam and Sohrab",he implies the blood ties between the various ethnicities in Afghanistan,opposes against the racial discrimination and calls for mutual understandings and reconciliations.Myth archetype theory regards that the world literature shares the archetypal themes that vary in different writers’ works.These epic heroes are brave and loyal,and their killing of own flesh and blood is solemn and stirring,in The Kite Runner,the myth archetype symbolizes the Afghanis’ anguished life in the warfare of recent years.As the epic shared by the Persian-speaking Hazaras,Shahnamah is the splendid cultural heritage of Afghanistan.Based on Frye’s theory,I argue that Hosseini is nourished by his original cultural tradition,and he unconsciously employed the myth archetype in The Kite Runner. |
