of "Boys and Girls," for instance, the notion of individualism is bound up with gender identity and family politics. Part of what happens in that story is that the girl has constructed a version of the proper roles for people in her family in which she gets to help her father, which becomes at odds with the way her parents view her as she grows older. Her understanding of herself, and her interpretation of her relationship with her father, for instance, is based in part on her lived experience: she is more useful to her father than her younger brother Laird, yet this fact is more than counterbalanced (in the minds of her parents) by the alternate fact of her gender. In this way, her understanding of her self worth, which she ironically affirms by letting the horse escape, becomes separate from (and antagonistic to) her family.

One possible thesis you could derive from this is the notion that "individualism" often involves a set of beliefs about oneself that make possible an alternative, better life, whether those beliefs are true or not. In the case of the Hemingway story, this has to do with the narrator's belief in himself as "a writer"; in The Kite Runner, it has to so with Amir's guilt over his betrayal of Hassan. Hamlet is a more difficult case, although Hamlet's notions about family are clearly at odds with his mothers'.

In completing this assignment, you should start with an introduction that focuses on this theme as part of the rise of individualism. You should make the point that as a literary, philosophical, and political movement it is associated with liberalism and the Enlightenment, although the Greek Cynics may be seen as precursors. As a literary theme or plot type, it becomes especially popular in the nineteenth century, and is also associated with the notion of the artist as a rebel against bourgeois conformity.

Hamlet is the odd work out here, not just in being a play and being considerably earlier than the other works listed, but also in having the least direct connection with the theme. Here you might discuss Hamlet as a reluctant hero. Typically, in Revenge Tragedy, the hero has suffered a deep wrong, quickly discovers the identity of the villain (or knows it from the start) and has no qualms about the pursuit of revenge. Hamlet himself is not a decisive "man of action" and struggles to conform to the stereotype of heroic masculinity.

The case of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini fits more consistently with the theme. Amir struggles with the constraints imposed on him by Afghan traditions of class and gender. He is not naturally hypermasculine and does not enjoy the need to behave in the aggressive fashion that would be admired by his father and respected in his community. He would like to be friends with Hassan but social pressures lead to his betrayal of his friendship. He is caught between Afghan and American cultural codes and struggles throughout the book to find a way to balance his own emotions and loyalties with cultural traditions and demands.

Harry in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Hemingway feels that he has betrayed his calling as a writer by his striving for material success. He thinks he came closest to evoking his potential as a writer when he was living in adversity and danger, exploring the world alone, and that rich women, such as Helen, who cater to his whims and provide him with financial support and conventional society are somehow to blame for the decline of his writing.

"Boys and Girls" by Alice Munro shows how puberty marks a time when children are forced into gender roles that betray their natural inclinations. We see that the narrator is about to be forced into a traditional feminine role that betrays her innermost character. Her freeing Flora is a defiant act in which she tries to give the horse the freedom she herself will not have.