Emotional Empathy and Multiplex Derangement of Childhood in The Kite Runner: A Study of Cultural Upheaval and Collective Identity

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a work of narrative empathy with aspects of emotional empathy and multiplex derangement of childhood in fiction. This book shed light on the trauma and sociocultural pluralistic derangement that the people of Afghanistan have experienced, which is seen as a danger to the basic identities of collectiveness. The depressing and terrifying circumstances that Afghanis face create an ever-present mark on readers' hearts and minds. Social groups impose boundaries on solidarity during the painful formation process, leaving people to suffer in solitude. The horrific state of affairs among Afghanis is revealed by the eerie account of events. This debut's narration, which narrates the story of two characters, Amir (of the Pashtun elite class) and Hassan (of the Hazara caste, the lower caste), tends to be both exuberant and moving at the same time. Using the conceptual ideas of narrative and emotional empathy by Suzanne Keen, Jeffrey C. Alexander and Adam Smith, the theory of Cultural trauma and Collective identity will have been used as a tool to analyse this debut that is being discussed. Using the critical discourse analysis technique, the researcher will attempt to investigate the emotional empathy and multiplex derangement and trauma of childhood in fiction. Keywords: Emotional Empathy, Narrative Empathy, Derangement and Trauma, Cultural Upheaval, collective identity DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/101-05 Publication date: April 30 th 2024