LITERARY THEORY OF BETRAYAL AND FRIENDSHIP CONCEPTS IN KHALED HOSSEINI'S "THE KITE RUNNER

This thesis examines betrayal and friendship through literary theory to explain how character actions and environments reflect human behavior. It analyzes how these concepts form, develop, and drive narrative progression. Although commonly opposed, betrayal and friendship jointly expose connection, conflict, memory, and tension. Using Bakhtin’s dialogism, Hutcheon’s “repetition with critical difference,” Jameson’s postmodernism, Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, Feagin’s theory of systemic racism, and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study investigates guilt, redemption, ethnic conflict, power relations, identity formation, and narrative strategy. The findings show that betrayal operates as a critical dialogic mechanism, while friendship sustains ethical values and cultural continuity.