In the book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses both simple and complex sentences, along with intriguing dialogue, to create a thought-provoking story. “My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later—but I felt healed” (Hosseini 289). A very simple, yet meaningful sentence, that displays an underlying irony. From the moment Amir witnesses Hassan’s rape, he is riddled with a guilt-he cannot escape. Finally, when he is brutally beaten by Assef, Amir starts to feel a sense of healing. This punishment is something he was somewhat looking forward to, because he felt that he deserved it. In fact, this scene also shows a parallelism between Amir and Assef that is often overlooked. Assef tells Amir a story about an incident when he was incarcerated. He says that he began to laugh when a guard kicked him, because it relieved the pain he felt from his kidney stone. When Amir is beaten by Assef, he also begins laughing. The laughing in both cases is stemmed from a relief of pain, and draws a parallel between the two men. The imagery used by Hosseini paints a vivid picture in our minds of the setting, characters, and situations. An example would be his use of imagery in the first chapter. ''The early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of miniature boats sailed, propelled by a crisp breeze” (Hosseini **). His diction ignites the reader’s senses, creating a landscape in our minds as if we were in the story itself. Imagery like this is captivation; it
Hosseini gives many examples of how political power such as the Taliban can bring out the evil in people but he also demonstrates how there is oppressive male power in relationships that also brings out the same human nature. He uses overbearing masculine characters in the The Kite Runner and gender roles to express how men were given the right to act in such horrific ways towards women. In Afghanistan there are many restrictions against women. Men have control over their wives and girlfriends. They have the dominant power and since it has been this way for so long it has become a social norm. Eastern culture is obviously different than Western culture when talking about gender roles but, Afghanistan men’s social power over them is immoral
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.
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.
One major theme that is evident in The Kite Runner is that scars are reminders of life’s pain and regret, and, though you can ease the regret and the scars will fade, neither will completely go away. We all have regrets and always will, but though it will be a long hard process we can lessen them through redemption. The majority of The Kite Runner is about the narrator and protagonist, Amir. Almost all of the characters in The Kite Runner have scars, whether they are physical or emotional. Baba has scars all down his back from fighting a bear, but he also has emotional scars from not being able to admit that Hassan was also his son. Hassan is born with a cleft lip, but for his birthday Baba pays for it to be fixed, which left a small scar above his mouth. Hassan also has emotional scars from being raped. The reader is probably shown the emotional scars of Amir the most. Amir has emotional scars because he feels that he killed his mother, and also because his father emotionally neglects him. In the end of the novel, Amir receives many physical scars from getting beaten up by Assef, when rescuing Sohrab. Though scars will never go away and are a reminder of the past, not all scars are bad.
“I thought about Hassan’s dream, the one about us swimming in the lake. There is no monster, he’s said, just water. Expect he’d been wrong about that. There was a monster in the lake… I was that monster.” When looking at this quote some may wonder who would be considered the monster; and in this case Amir would be. The idea of him redeeming himself from being a monster is a recurring theme in the story and the movie.
Throughout the story The Kite Runner an important central theme displayed by the other is the idea that it is important to be able to confront your past mistakes or else those mistakes will torture you for the rest of your life. Many of the main characters came face to face with this idea and each of them dealt with their mistakes in different ways. Despite this, it was made clear that the characters that were able to deal with their problems ended up much better off mentally than those of them that were unable to. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, teachers the reader that confronting past mistakes is better than running from them through Amir’s feelings following his betrayal of Hassan, how Soraya felt after telling Amir about her past, and Amir’s reaction to finding out Baba was Hassan’s father.
Cruelty eventually causes agony in the best of us. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the author uses cruelty in the novel to push the story and characters in a new direction. Cruelty acts as a driving force for the protagonist, Amir, and the people he interacts with. The author does this by placing the characters in unfamiliar situations and forcing them to react. Initially, Amir is placed in an unfamiliar situation when his friend, Hassan, is abused. His actions set off a chain reaction forcing him to deal with his decisions. Throughout the novel, Amir grows emotionally as a result of the cruelty around him.
This irony demonstrates the separation of Amir’s body and mind, specifically how emotionally he was relieved but physically he was torn apart. Additionally, he stated “everything hurt. But I was laughing and laughing. And the harder I laughed the harder he kicked” (Hosseini 289). This irony further demonstrated that Amir’s mind was elsewhere, which was clarified when he states “for the first time since Winter of 1975 I felt at peace […] I’ve been looking forward to this […] my body was broken[…] but I felt healed” (Hosseini 289), demonstrating that after over a decade, Amir finally felt the relief of his guilt. The author tied up the importance of his rhetorical devices with some lasting imagery, the scene shot to the croak of Sohrab's voice stating “Bas,” or stop, another irony that such a little boy began to intimidate a man as malevolent as Assef. He went on to “cock his hand […] holding his slingshot […] pointed at Assef’s face” (Hosseini 290) and then he let go, “blood oozed between his fingers” (Hosseini
The novel, The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a story about betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption that revolves around that two main characters, Amir and Hassan. Amir is a young selfish boy who constantly manipulates and exploits Hassan for personal gains. He uses Hassan as a scapegoat to win Baba, but upon accomplishing this task, he is riddled with guilt. Amir uses his friendship with Hassan for ulterior motives. His lack of action caused severe guilt, which he tries to escape throughout the entire story. He uses various scapegoats to rid himself of his guilty conscience.
The film version of The Kite Runner omitted a scene from the book that vividly described a suicide attempt by a child. This scene was likely cut due to time constraints and the reality that a suicide attempt by a child would be very upsetting to many viewers. A scene as harsh as child suicide is not something that can be quickly processed and move on to the next scene. I believe the audience would require ample time to absorb what happened from beginning to end through the emotions of the characters; no doubt this scene would be too lengthy to include as a side-note to the main story. In addition, the scene might be so disturbing to some people they may not wish to see the film at all.
The pursuit of redemption can be a road that obsesses individuals as it doesn’t allow them to live life without regret. Displayed in the novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini vividly introduces the theme of redemption. As Hosseini utilizes the idea of redemption throughout the novel to give it significance and particular importance since one must experience a course of obstacles in order to redeem themselves fully. For example, many characters throughout the novel regret their actions that they made in the past, actions such as the ones that happened in the vicious city of Afghanistan. Hosseini always raises the thought of reclamation and reminds that recovery can't change the past occasions, however can change the point of view of an individual such as to edify themselves. This result throughout the novel by the protagonist Amir experiencing challenges so as to reclaim and self find himself. An individual must undergo a road that doesn’t make them live under regret but rather they must shape their past so their could live the future.
This was an extremely bold and alarming decision to consider due to the violent conditions in Kabul, which was occupied and run by the infamous Taliban. As a result, Amir goes to Afghanistan and finds himself in a bloody fight with Assef, Amir’s childhood bully who raped Hassan, in order to safe Hassan. The fact that Amir was willing to face Assef to save Sohrab is noteworthy because it contradicts to numerous times that Amir was belittled by his father for being a “coward.” As a result, the revelation of the secret impacted the plot by introducing and accelerating the climax, which was the fight between Amir and
Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a story of a boy as he unravels his journey throughout his life. The novel consists of multiple themes such as love, friendship, betrayal, guilt, , secrets, loyalty, and redemption. As the main character, Amir recalls his past events, all of these themes start to unravel specific events that occurred in his life. “There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 2) is where the novel unfolds the deep dark life of Amir’s regret and guilt, Baba’s secret, and Hassan’s devotion. The book is a true masterpiece which keeps the readers glued to the story as it unfolds. One of the reasons, the story attracts many readers is due to The United States recent conflict with Afghanistan. However, the story has a personal
On a day to day basis, an individual is faced with an obstacle they must overcome, ultimately defining their morals and values. In the literature perspective, the novel The Kite Runner delivers multiple thematic ideas that portray the struggles of characters in their ordinary lives. Khaled Hosseini, author and physician, released his debut novel The Kite Runner in the year of 2003. This novel is written in the first person narration of Amir, a Pashtun boy that lives with his father whom he addresses as “Baba” in a large estate in Kabul, Afghanistan. Hassan and his father, Ali, are servants that works for Amir’s father