Abstract

As far as today, the answer to whether the American society is equal or comprehensive or not is uncertain. Set in the US, the novel The Kite Runner, published right after the “911”, describes the psychological states of the Afghan people before and after the Soviet War. During the war, the protagonist Amir ran away to the US with his father, and was changed by the American culture, and finally grew up to be a man of responsibility.
This thesis aims at studying the equality and the tolerance of the modern American society through The Kite Runner from three aspects. Firstly, it deals with the equality of American society through two parts: the origin and the reason of the equality and the equality reflected by the changes of Amir. Secondly, it studies the tolerance of the American society also through two parts: the tolerance of American society reflected by the diversification and the tolerance reflected by the changes of Amir. Thirdly, it analyzes the equality and the tolerance through the success of the novel The Kite Runner. Finally, the thesis comes to a conclusion that the equality and the tolerance are two essential characters of modern American society.
                    
Key words:  The Kite Runner; equality; tolerance; modern American society

摘  要

直到现在为止，学术界对于美国社会中是否有真正的平等与包容的存在仍有争议。小说《追风筝的人》出版于“911”事件之后，是一部描写苏联战争前后阿富汗人民的生活与精神状态的小说。故事主人公阿米尔从阿富汗流亡到美国，在另外一种文化社会背景的影响下发生了巨大改变，并成为一个坚强而有责任感的男人。
本文分为三部分，旨在通过这本小说研究美国社会的平等与包容。文章在第一部分从两个方面探究了美国社会的平等：美国社会平等的起源和成因，以及小说中阿米尔的变化反映出的对美国社会平等。紧接着作者从两个方面探究了美国社会的包容：美国社会的多元化折射出的社会包容，以及小说中阿米尔的变化折射出的美国社会的包容。第三部分，从小说的成功来谈美国社会的平等与包容。最后我们可以得出结论：平等和包容是美国社会两大重要特点。

关键词:《追风筝的人》；包容；平等；美国现代社会