On May 29, 2003, Khaled Hosseini published his first book, The Kite Runner. It is a tale of Amir, an Afghan boy trying to atone for the mistakes of his childhood. Many different stylistic choices were made in this writing from the use of fragments and changes in point of view to the overwhelming imagery. Sometimes all three choices show up in one single paragraph, just to add more character to the overall novel.
Hosseini used fragments often, particularly with single verbs meant to emphasize a part in the writing. When Amir is meeting Sohrab for the first time, “His eyes fell on me. Lingered. Then he looked away. Looked down at his naked feet ” (280), is one such example. Hosseini could have connected the two, but he wanted the reader to notice
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Smiled ” (131). This was a proud moment for Amir since it is one of the few times that Baba ever smiled at him. Hosseini has described a father-son relationship with little affection, so Amir noticed that smile and took pleasure from it. Hosseini does not describe the smile that Baba gives to Amir. The readers know that this is during Amir’s graduation, so most would assume that it is a proud, genuine smile. Baba was proud of a lot of things from his successful business to his beautiful wife. According to Amir though Baba was never really proud of him as a child. This makes this moment all the more special and gives both the reader and Amir a feeling of affection. Another instance of fragments containing a single word occurred when Amir visited Rahim Khan in Pakistan. “I walked up the creaky stairs to the second floor, down a dim hallway to the last door on the right. Checked the address on the piece of stationery paper in my palm. Knocked ” (197). It is a suspended moment, a second before everything comes crashing down, a second before Amir’s entire childhood is revealed as a lie and everything changes. This one second in time expresses the hesitation that Amir feels, that he is instinctively wary of entering. Hosseini cleverly wrote this …show more content…
Imagery is seen through Hosseini’s usage of analogies especially when he writes “Suddenly you’re breathing through a drinking straw ”(121) is one such instance of imagery. Readers would have experienced this feeling and know how difficult it is to draw in a full breath of air through a drinking straw. It shows how Amir’s breathing is constricted and tight, but does it in a very skillful way instead of just saying that Amir could not breathe. Another analogy is “...a dam has cracked open and a flood of cold sweat spills, drenches your body” (121). A concrete dam cracks after pressure has been put on it for a long time, and Hosseini makes it a symbol of Amir’s mind cracking under the pressure. Amir has so much guilt and fear hanging over him that being stuck in the dark “cracks” him. Darkness is a place filled with sin, and the dam releases all the demons contained within him. These analogies add depth to the writing and allow the readers to relate to Amir’s condition. Hosseini used these analogies to help the readers clearly visualize the panic attack and better understand what was
The Kite Runner, is the first novel written by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan before the war in the city of Kabul, and then eventually in America. The novel relays the struggles of Amir (A young Shi’ boy), Hassan (a young Hazera servant boy) and Baba (Amir’s father) as they are growing up in an ever-changing Afghanistan. The young boys face difficult challenges most adults will never have to experience. Amir, Hassan, and even Baba must overcome cruelty in every aspect of their lives.
Betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness are all major themes in The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini. The novel also focuses around the theme of a broken relationship between father and son as well as facing difficult situations from ones past. Amir and Hassan are best friends with two completely different personalities. Each character in the novel faces their own hardships and eventually learns to overcome those difficulties. Beginning with betrayal then the characters have to make their way to gaining redemption and forgiveness from others, as well as their self, is carried on throughout the novel. It is a continuous story of the relationships between Amir and his father Baba and facing their challenges from the past every day of their present.
Khaled Hosseini’s direct and indirect characterization of Amir in chapters twenty through twenty-three of The Kite Runner are used in order to advance the plot and Amir’s personality.
Literary value can be defined as a plot that follows the guideline that Joseph Campbell set before his theory of “monomyth,” inferring from the two videos and Foster’s ideas. Understanding this concept allows us to confirm that the book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, contains an ample amount of literary value. Amir’s journey to Afghanistan serves as the prototype that Campbell constructed when producing his hypothesis. The two videos and Foster’s book lays out the conditions of a book containing literary value through Campbell’s ideas.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, focuses on the character Amir who fails to help his friend Hassan in an alley when they are both children. This incident occurs because of the simple reason that Amir is a coward even when he knows deep down that Hassan would do anything for Amir. This betrayal towards Hassan turns out to cause Amir a lifetime guilt throughout the rest of the novel. Later on when Amir moves to America, gets married, and becomes a successful writer, Amir is still incapable of forgetting the incident. Amir’s actions as an adult stem from his desire for redemption and start forgiving himself for the mistakes of his past. Amir is an accurate portrayal of a tragic hero based on his inherent guilt, well deserved punishments, and
The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, talks about Amir’s life in first person point of view. The book talks about Amir’s childhood, the war in Afghanistan, and his self-salvation. Hassan is the servant’s son in Amir’s family. Hassan and his father, Ali, are Hazaras, who were despised by the Pashtuns. Hassan and Amir are fed from the same breast and they are best friends. Hassan is loyal to Amir all the time and he is always ready to be the scapegoat for Amir.
“I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” In Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, Amir, the young protagonist, lives a lavish lifestyle with his father, Baba. Until the Soviets invade and the Taliban become the dominant influence in Afghanistan. Amir’s sumptuous lifestyle comes to an end, and the values of not only his father but also his society begin to impact him and he realizes how much he does not belong in his own culture. Amir is taught the virtues of being a good man, however when the opportunity presents itself to demonstrate his teachings; Amir realizes how different he is from the ways of his father.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a story about a young boy named Amir that begins in 1975 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As a child, he mistreats his servant, Hassan, who is like a brother to him. After failing to intervene in Hassan 's rape, Amir lives with guilt until his late thirties when he is presented with a chance at redemption. Amir 's father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, called from Pakistan to summon Amir to him. Upon his arrival, Amir learns that Hassan is his illegitimate half-brother. Hassan had been killed and his son had become an orphan. Amir then goes to drastic lengths to find and retrieve Hassan 's son, Sohrab. During this time Amir faces the guilt of his past and finds peace with himself while saving Sohrab
Not only that, just two nights before, he’d asked me if I wanted to see El Cid with Charlton Heston at Cinema Aryana” (81). Amir seems to love this kind of treatment from Baba. The rape is still a lingering thought in the back of Amir’s mind that is trying to escape. Does Amir tell somebody about the rape and ruin his own reputation, or does he keep it a secret and let Hassan suffer from the pain he feels? Amir chooses the latter. Some would say that this decision was brought on by Baba’s treatment of Amir. If Baba would have treated Amir like a son and not favored Hassan throughout his childhood, he might not yearn for Baba’s approval so deeply. Not only does Amir keep the rape a secret, he also tries to completely remove Hassan and Ali from his life by getting them fired as servants. Amir tries to get rid of his guilt by committing more immoral
It is difficult to face anything in the world when you cannot even face your own reality. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses kites to bring out the major themes of the novel in order to create a truly captivating story of a young boy’s quest to redeem his past mistakes. Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the story and throughout the entire novel, he faces enormous guilt following the horrible incident that happened to his closest friend, Hassan. This incident grows on Amir and fuels his quest for redemption, struggling to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes. In Hosseini’s novel, kites highlight aspects of Afghanistan’s ethnic caste system and emphasizes the story’s major themes of guilt, redemption and freedom.
The Kite Runner is a book about a young boy, Amir, who faces many struggles as he grows up in Kabul and later moves to America to flee from the Taliban. His best friend and brother , Hassan, was a big part of his life, but also a big part of guilt he held onto for many years. The book describes Amir’s attempt to make up for the past and resolve his sins so he can clear his conscious. Amir is worthy of forgiveness because although he was selfish, he was very brave and faced his past.
The world-renowned novel, The Kite Runner, was written by Afghanistan-born American novelist Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini was born into a Shia Muslim family in Kabul. Later in life, he decided to move to Paris. Hosseini was unable to return to Kabul due to the Taliban take over, this caused the Hosseini family to seek political asylum in America. The actions that Hosseini witnessed in his beloved home country influenced his novel with the themes of guilt and redemption.
Kite Runner depicts the story of Amir, a boy living in Afghanistan, and his journey throughout life. He experiences periods of happiness, sorrow, and confusion as he matures. Amir is shocked by atrocities and blessed by beneficial relationships both in his homeland and the United States. Reviewers have chosen sides and waged a war of words against one another over the notoriety of the book. Many critics of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, argue that the novel would not have reached a lofty level of success if the U.S. had not had recent dealings with the Middle East, yet other critics accurately relate the novel’s success to its internal aspects.
Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, grew up in prejudiced Afghanistan during the 1960’s as a middle-class Pashtun living with Hazaras working for his family. His move to America after the Communist Coup proved difficult for his family, especially his father. In his novel, Hosseini writes through a young boy, Amir, very similar to himself, who grows up with his father and two Hazara servants in Afghanistan at the time of the Taliban attacks. Both Amir and his father, Baba, treat their servants, Hassan and Ali, like family. Society, however, does not approve of such relationships between Pashtuns and Hazaras. As Amir hides and watches horrified, another Pashtun boy rapes Hassan. This leads to the continuation of Amir’s internal conflict about the treatment of Hazaras by the public, and also makes him feel guilty and self-conscious throughout his entire life. In addition, Amir strives for affection and attention from his rather indifferent father. Amir’s outward conformity to societal values in his relationships with both Hassan and Baba, as a result of his inner struggle and guilt, contribute greatly to the significance of The Kite Runner.
War establishes many controversial issues and problems within society and can often expose an individual to many economic and sociopolitical hardships; thus creating an altercation in the way they view life. Amir, from the novel The Kite Runner and the novel’s author Khaled Hosseini, both saw the harsh treatment toward the people of Afghanistan through a series of wars, invasions, and the active power of a Pashtun movement known as the Taliban. Amir, much like Hosseini, lived a luxurious and wealthy life in Kabul. He is well educated and immerses himself in reading and writing. After transitioning from a life in Afghanistan to a life in the United States, both Hosseini and Amir faced obstacles in order to assimilate to American society. In The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist Amir parallels the experiences and hardships that Hosseini endured in his own lifetime.