Rewriting Masculinity through Fathers in Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner

Abstract

Fatherhood fiction provides the prism through which the malleability and moral aspects of masculinity can be questioned. Stephen Lewis of The Child in Time by Ian McEwan represents a grieved masculinity: “he could not talk, could not even breathe correctly; his sorrow had made a wall around him” (McEwan 87). His emotional detachment and ritualistic habits - like his obsessive organization of the toys of his dead daughter - show that “trauma exaggerates the socialization of stoic manhood, turning care into silent incarceration” (McEwan 112). The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini offers the concept of fatherhood as a place of moral and emotional bargaining. The authoritative figure of Baba is mixed with caring behaviors, Rahim Khan is a great example of a mentor, As Amir grows up to be a caring father to Sohrab, he says, “To you, a thousand times over”, (Hosseini 152). These representations broaden masculinity to include vulnerability, moral bravery and amenable love. In comparison of these two texts, we get the idea of masculinity as a continuum: the stoicism of Stephen, who is devastated by the loss of loved ones, and the proactive approach to care, responsibility, and ethical behavior of Baba and Amir. Fatherhood in these novels is not just a social role, but a transformational power, which is modulate in terms of moral, emotional, and relationship aspects of the male identity. The paper sheds light on the way literature subverts conventional gender conventions and that grief, kindness and moral accountability are constituent parts of true manhood.