I was on a plane when I finished reading Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner, but my public surroundings didn’t deter me from crying as I would have, snuggled under the covers in my bed. This book transported me to another world, with atrocities that I could never have imagined; and the worst part was that it is based on history. Literature like this has the power to convey themes and ideas through the stories and actions of characters. In his book How to Read Literature like a Professor, Thomas Foster teaches his readers to become aware of this power by describing the recurring ideas that appear in literature, and what they mean. After reading this book, one of the chapters that stood out to me, because it reminded me of The Kite Runner, was chapter 11: “More Than It’s Gonne Hurt You: Concerning Violence”.
Violence in literature, according to Foster, has cultural and societal implications, though in real life, an act of violence may not contain any meaning beyond sheer aggression. Foster makes the distinction that in mystery novels, violence lacks the extra layer of meaning, because the author writes it in for a different purpose entirely. After having watched several detective shows, I can confirm that the violent act merely serves as a means of creating a plot at the beginning, while the emphasis of the plot is more focused on how the mystery is solved, rather than the reason for the act of violence in the first place. However, in most other genres, violence contains another
When you were a child, do you remember ever making a promise to be loyal to a friend? Maybe you exchanged cute heart necklaces or pendants or carved your names into a tree. In Khaled Hosseini 's The Kite Runner, two kids, Amir, and Hassan seem to have a strong friendship, represented in their names carved into a pomegranate tree. However, Amir reveals weakness in their friendship when he betrays Hassan by not intervening when the town bully, Assef, sexually assaults Hassan. In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck describes two types of mindsets. One is the fixed mindset, which is the belief that a person has a fixed amount of intelligence, and one cannot see growth in error, and a growth mindset, which is the belief that
This research project is focused on understanding a book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. In addition, the project objective is to understand choices, actions, and processes of characters and what factors led them to arrive to such consequences.
The Kite runner is the first novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, published in 2003 by Riverhead Books . It takes place before Afghanistan’s revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. The kite runner is a vivid and engaging story that gives a picture of how long Afghanis struggled to triumph over the forces of violence, forces that threaten them even today. In this novel , four themes have been introduced, first of all Redemption is a way to make up sins committed , secondly, Adversities contribute to a person’s personality , thirdly , Fear can lead to severe mistakes and long term consequences, before last, After pain and struggles come survival and lastly, Friendship is the essence of a bond that seek the best mutually.
1. In chapter eleven of his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster examines violence in literature, and particularly the way violence functions on multiple levels. Foster identifies two different kinds of violence in literature, and discusses how those two different kinds create different literal and literary meanings. By examining Foster's categories of violence in more detail, one can see how violence in literature serves as an important link between the internal events of a story and the story itself.
Within every person, there exists some type of power, but it is the way one uses it that defines if they are good or evil. Power is always unpredictable, it captivates the worst and corrupts the best. In rough times people need leaders to look up to, a voice to guide them and actions to be taken. This leader can either abuse or use the power correctly. For example, in Afghanistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the political conflicts caused many people to flee, but some brave individuals stood around to take over the violent and oppressive rulers. This power isn’t just used in political complications but it is also expressed in social life. It is used in homosexual and heterosexual relationships. Usually, one half feels as though they
The Kite Runner is a powerful story of love and trust blended with elements of deception and human wickedness at its worst. The full beauty of the story lies in the sundry
In the novel ,The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the main character Amir is a coward. Amir lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. His best friend Hassan lives with him and is his best friend. In reality Amir is Hassan’s owner. Baba adopted Hassan when he was a baby and he became their servant. Amir becomes very jealous of him and then becomes a coward.
“There is a way to be good again” (2). This is the line that rolls through Amir's mind over and over throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner. This is the story of a mans struggle to find redemption. The author illustrates with the story of Amir that it is not possible to make wrongs completely right again because its too late to change past. In this novel Hosseini is telling us that redemption is obtainable, and by allowing us to see Amirs thought process throughout the novel, Hosseini shows us that it guilt is the primary motivation for someone who seeks redemption. Hosseini also uses not only the main character, but other secondary characters to show how big of a part that guilt plays in the desire for redemption. In this
In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini tells a notable coming-of-age story portraying the actions and thoughts of Amir, a penitent adult living in the United States and his reminiscence of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. Throughout the novel Khaled Hosseini uses character description to display his thoughts on sin and redemption.
The plot and meaning of a story can be deployed in a variety of methods. The past events and history of a character are the biggest aspects that influence how that character acts and feels in the present. In The Kite Runner by Hosseini, the main character named Amir spends a majority of his life suffering from the guilt that he has accumulated as he failed to prevent the rape of his half-brother named Hassan. Amir’s shameful relationship with his past allows Hosseini to express the meaning of the work as a whole as he can show the significance of redemption, kinship, and the rapidly changing political and social events in Afghanistan.
Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runner is a historical fiction depicting the grim reality of Afghanistan, the Soviet Union’s invasion of 1979, and those affected by the events. Hosseini provides a vivid rendition of turmoil in Afghanistan by telling the tale of the protagonist, Amir, and his struggles throughout his life. The events of the novel force Amir to flee war in Afghanistan and find safety in America. Eventually, however, Amir must return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in order to find redemption for his dark past. His return culminates into a run-in with members of the Taliban as he attempts to free Assef, a character that will ultimately lead Amir to complete atonement. Amir engages in a physical confrontation with the Taliban members and, although he is successful in his fight, the injuries he sustains are life-threatening. An orbital fracture, a split upper lip, a punctured lung, a few broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and broken jaw. Amir’s injuries, however, represent more than the fight for Assef’s freedom; these injuries symbolize Amir’s negative past with his father, Baba, his childhood friend, Hassan, and himself and prove the necessity of both physical and mental healing.
Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a remarkable coming-of-age novel describing and revealing the thoughts and actions of Amir, a compunctious adult in the United States and his memories of his affluent childhood in the unstable political environment of Afghanistan. The novel showcases the simplistic yet powerful ability of guilt to influence decisions and cause conflict which arises between Amir’s childhood friend and half-brother, Hassan; Amir’s father, Baba; and importantly, himself. Difference in class The quest to become “good again” causes a reflection in Amir to atone for his sins and transform into the person of which he chooses to be.
From generation to generation, the constant struggle for males to live up to the expectations of their fathers often affects the choices made and actions taken by the sons. Perhaps, the overbearing testosterone levels claim responsibility for the apparent need for sons to impress their fathers, but not all boys consider the realistic consequences of their decisions. In Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, young Amir's admiration for his father Baba, coupled with the constant tension in their relationship obscures his mind from making clear decisions as he strives to obtain his father's love and approval.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the maturation of Amir, a boy from Afghanistan, as he discovers what it means to stand up for what he believes in. His quest to redeem himself after betraying his friend and brother, Hassan, makes up the heart of the novel. When Amir hears that his father’s old business partner, Rahim Khan, is sick and dying, he travels to Pakistan to say his goodbyes. Rahim Khan tells Amir about Hassan’s life and eventual death; the Taliban murdered Hassan while he was living in Amir’s childhood home. As his dying wish, Rahim Khan asks Amir to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from an orphanage in Afghanistan. Although Amir refuses at first, he thinks about what Rahim Khan had always told him: “There is a way to be
Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, has a writing style unique to him in a way that the majority of his sentences are short and non-complex. Although there are numerous words in Farsi, most are explained right away to limit confusion. “‘You look khoshteep’, Baba said. Handsome” ( Hosseini 166). Hosseini incorporates an abundance of figurative language in his book, an example of this is repetition. The line, “There is a way to be good again” is said several times throughout the book to show its significance in the novel (Hosseini 2). Figurative language is extremely important because it adds a meaning and value that is much stronger than saying it differently.