The Kite Runner Analysis

When Khaled Hosseini wrote The Kite Runner, he made several important choices involving narration. He chose to write the story in first person from a limited point of view. This is a very fitting decision because, writing in the first person adds a sense of intimacy that is crucial to this story; writing from a limited perspective allows the reader to make their own conclusions about what the characters are thinking. The way Hosseini writes The Kite Runner makes it very intimate, and feels like a person telling their life story. If The Kite Runner had been written in third person, or omnisciently, the story would not have impacted readers as much, and would have been too cold and impersonal to create emotional connections with the reader.

Even avoiding Hassan cannot erase the memory Amir is trying so hardly to forget. He is constantly followed by the guilt which immediately followed his actions. It is suffocating him, stealing the air from his body. Seeing Hassan magnifies the inescapable feeling that builds in his chest, and seeing him when he is not present angers Amir. Hassan is well aware of Amir’s betrayal, but he continues to be a faithful friend and an obedient servant and this frustrates and confuses Amir. He cannot understand why Hassan treats him well when he deserves the exact opposite. This irrational anger towards Hassan drives Amir to sabotage Hassan and his father’s place in Baba’s household. Amir hides money under Hassan’s bed in his hut for Baba to find later. Though Baba immediately forgives Hassan’s supposed crime of theft, he and his father, Ali, make the decision to leave the property and live on their

The Kite Runner is the first novel of Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, whose closest friend is Hassan, a young Hazara servant. Novel turns around these two characters and Baba, Amir’s father, by telling their tragic stories, guilt and redemption that are woven throughout the novel. Even in the difficult moments, characters build up to their guilt and later on to their redemption. Their sins and faults alter the lives of innocent people. First, Amir and Baba fail to take action on the path to justice for Ali and Hassan. Moreover, Amir and Baba continue to build up their guilt due to their decisions and actions. Although Amir builds up more guilt than Baba throughout the novel, he eventually succeeds in the road to redemption unlike his father. After all, Amir and Baba have many chances to fix their atonements but Baba chooses not to and Amir does. Baba uses his wealth to cover up his sins but never atone himself while Amir decides to stand up and save Sohrab and finally finds peace. Amir and Baba’s reaction to sins essentially indicate their peace of mind and how they react to guilt and injustice.

A factor which helped to define the selfish character that Amir had become, was the rape incident that Hassan was a victim to. Kite flying was a traditional event that happened many times

After Amir puts his watch under Hassan’s bed, Baba calls Hassan and Ali to question them and although it is a lie, Hassan admits to stealing the watch. Amir realizes this is “Hassan’s final sacrifice for me…[even though] knows I’d seen everything in that alley...He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again” (111). Hassan has every right to reveal the truth about what Amir is doing, but he has always been loyal to him by taking the blame; this time it is not any different. However, his loyalty, or his “final sacrifice” causes him to move out of the only home he has ever known. Additionally, children should not keep secrets as it puts an immense amount of pressure on their shoulders. Hassan’s loyalty is also shown after the kite tournament when Assef wants the blue kite: “Amir agha won the tournament and I [Hassan] ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly and this is his kite” (77). Hassan’s self-expectation to be loyal to Amir; by not handing over the kite; prompts Assef to sexually assault him. After this incident, Hassan does not smile for a long time as it resonates with him for his whole life. Ultimately, the expectation Hassan has for himself to be loyal to Amir results in the loss of essential parts of his

First, Amir’s constant regrets prevent him from feeling satisfied with his life, contrast to Hassan’s minimal regrets. Amir’s most haunting regret is that he did not stand up to Assef while Hassan was getting raped in an alleyway. Amir's regret of not standing up for Hassan, starts to haunt him when he states, “I understood the nature of my new curse: I was going to get away with it...That was the night I became an insomniac”(86). This quote shows that the mistake Amir made is going to stay with him and negatively affect how he lives his life. Amir could have helped Hassan, and it would have helped Amir toward a happier future. Hassan grows up not having any major regrets, so nothing will come back to prevent him from being happy. Even after Hassan underwent getting raped for the kite, he does hold that as a regret. Hassan letting go of the event is shown when he tries to keep his friendship alive with Amir and does not

Amir had great influences on him as a child; Baba was a brave person, generous to everyone, and should’ve influenced Amir to be the same. On the contrary, Amir was selfish and chose not to stand up for his friend, even when the situation desperately needs it. This is not because of how he grew up, of his environment. Amir’s genetics made him to be fearful and mean, as shown throughout the book. “I knew I was being cruel, like when I’d taunt him if he didn’t know some big word. But there was something fascinating - albeit in a sick way - about teasing Hassan.” (Hosseini 54). Even though Amir had great influences growing up, Hassan took the brunt of his attacks and neglect. Near the beginning of the book, Hassan is raped in the alleys running a kite for Amir. Going after Hassan, Amir finds Hassan while this is going on but does not stop the rapist or stand up for his friend. Instead, Amir ran away and proceeded to abandon Hassan emotionally after the event. Baba was a brave man and would’ve stood up for Hassan, regardless of the danger to him, but Amir was not influenced nearly as much by his positive environment rather than his negative cowardice, or

Hassan’s character development is exclusive to ‘pre-rape’ to ‘post-rape’ times. Hassan goes from a loving, brotherly relationship with Amir, to cold and distant. As exemplified through these ‘pre-rape’ and ‘post-rape’ quotes: “I spent most of the first twelve years of my life playing with

In the novel, Hassan got the kite for Amir but was then cornered by Assef and his friends. As said in the book, Amir just watched as Hassan was getting raped and chose to run away “I could step into that alley and stand up for Hassan-the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past- and accept whatever happened to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” The film showed exactly what everyone would expect to see.

Fatherhood in this novel is seen by different shade of colour, not knowing what the true shade really is. There are many turning points which show various stages in being a true father. Therefore, being a father is very difficult, having to overcome obstacles and being strong for each other. A well-known saying “like father, like son” is evident in this novel by the different ties of relationship each character had. In the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini proves that there is need of a fatherly figure when growing up. Having a father-son bond helps the child differentiate right from wrong. The relationship which demonstrates the need of a father figure is depicted by Baba and Amir, Hassan and Sohrab as well as Amir and Sohrab.

If Amir participated in and won a kite tournament, his father would be proud of him for once in his life. After triumphantly winning this tournament Amir catches a glimpse of Baba “pumping both of his fists.” (Hosseini 66) This was very significant to the character because this was confirmation that Amir had finally done something right in his father’s eyes. To ultimately gain his father’s approval he had to bring home the kite he cut, so Hassan faithfully vouched to retrieve it for him. Unfortunately, Hassan crossed paths with the protagonist, Assef and his friends, and consequently gets raped to keep the kite, he promised to bring to Amir safely. Amir witnesses the atrocious event and runs off only to meet up with him right after. He was trying not to compromise the condition of the kite or permanently lose it; so Amir steps back from the rape, which leads to his guilt and suffering. After that day, Hassan did not return to his normal self and says nothing about it to Amir, which only makes him feel worse. He felt as if he deserved some kind of punishment to make all his actions justified, but he never got one; at least not from Hassan. The severity of the conflict was too intense for either character to recover from; it would be something Amir would have to live with for the rest of his life unless

Amir stumbles upon an alley. In the alley, he sees the Hassan trap by three boys named Assef, Kamal, and Wali. All they asked of Hassan is to give up the blue kite. However, Hassan’s loyalty and friendship toward Amir prevented Hassan to give up the kite. As the tension built, Assef lets Hassan have the kite, but in-return he does unthinkable. Assef rapes Hassan as Amir watched unnoticeably from the alley (Hosseini 62-66). This was Amir’s chance to prove his true friendship by stepping in to save Hassan. Instead, Amir ran “because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he could do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan” (Hosseini 68). According to Amir, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (Hosseini 68). “He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (Hosseini 68).

Although Amir and Hassan are best friends, Amir betrays Hassan when Hassan needs him the most. Amir does this all for his father’s pride. Amir has just won a kite tournament with Hassan. Winning is the first step to the kite tournament, but the next step is to secure the last kite by running it. As Hassan runs the kite he gets cornered by Assef and his two other friends. If Amir does not help Hassan then Assef will rape Hassan. While Amir is watching, he knows that “[he] has one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who [he] is going to be. [He can] step into that alley, stand up for Hassan-the way [he has] stood up for [Amir] all those times in the past- and accept whatever [will] happen to [him].

Amir and Hassan spent their time watching movies together, flying kites and listening to Amir’s stories. Hassan did not feel as smart at Amir, but he knew how to stand up for himself. He carried a slingshot with him as a weapon and made threats to kids to leave him and Amir alone. Hassan’s other talents included chasing kites that got cut by another, and by following the shadow. Hassan had won Baba’s heart because he was actually Baba’s son. Something that Amir never knew until he was an adult. At one of the kite flying events, Hassan put himself in a terrible position and was raped. This event triggered Amir to feel guilty. He watched his friend get treated like a wild animal in control by three boys. Amir could see the fear in Hassan’s eyes but Amir did not react. Even at this low moment in Hassan’s life, he still went out of this to make sure his friend Amir had the losing kite to take home to his father. He was always putting Amir first because he was loyal. This was a

Many different themes emerge as the course of The Kite Runner , but the most significant of them is the idea that violence makes people scared , it makes people always escape and does not have courage to stand up , which Hosseini primarily conveys through he uses juxtaposition, and symbolism to shows Amir's guilty and cowardly run away, while he allows Assef rapes Hassan and after a lengthy struggle , finally he decides to do thing to fix his faults when knowing Hassan is his half-brother . Amir's guilty and cowardly run away will be the focus in this section . The events are he allowed Assef rape Hassan and how the guilt affects his actions .