CARNAL APPETITES: AN EXPLORATION OF THE REPRESENTATION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS IN KHALED HOSSEINI'S THE KITE RUNNER USING MASLOW’S NEED THEORY

Abstract

The way culture Molds human needs and adapts them to the requirements of social
status are some of the concerns of the authors who are interested in delineating
psychosocial bonding through fictitious characters and situations. In this paper, I
ask what physiological needs are and how they control the behavior of the
characters in the novel The Kite Runner (2003) written by Khaled Husseini. This
paper highlights the social conditions of Afghans, the way Hosseini describes
through the fictional characters, and the kind of challenges they face in coming to
grip with the needs spread over the ladder given by Abraham Maslow and the
different avenues for their gratification that are open to those involved in this
matrix. What it makes obvious is the fact that using Maslow’s insights as our
theoretical framework helps us understand the internal workings of the characters
in the novel the way Hosseini masterfully captures them with a sensitivity to their
physiological needs where if one rises above his limitation (Zaman), the other
descends even further in pursuit of physiological needs (Taliban official).