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The kite runner comparative essay
The relation of literature and society
The relation of literature and society
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Hidden Knowledge A noun also known as realism—verisimilitude. The technique is used overall in writing. Authors write historical fiction books with hints toward real life events or seem as if these could happen today; therefore, these books possess a high verisimilitude. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a historical fiction book. The book is about a boy, Amir, that grows up in Afghanistan with a close friend, Hassan, who he later finds out is his half-brother. While in America during the Taliban takeover, Amir returns to Afghanistan to retrieve Hassan’s son Sohrab after Hassan is killed. These events are actual happenings in Afghanistan during the war time. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, contains a high verisimilitude. A high …show more content…
verisimilitude becomes very present in the book when Hosseini tells of the people of Kabul and their experience with the Taliban. On page 200-201 Hosseini writes, “ ‘So when the Taliban came…’ ‘They were heroes,’ Rahim Khan said. ‘Peace at last.’ ‘Yes, hope is a strange thing. Peace at last. But at what price?’ “Rahim Khan is discussing what happened to Kabul while Amir was in America. Initially everyone thought that the Taliban were saviors. This scene demonstrates the real-world conflicts of Kabul. A war was taking place in Afghanistan with different rulers and fights happening at a constant rate. The people of Kabul were tired of the war, and with little to no hope, the Taliban come. In the eyes of the hopeless Kabul people, the Taliban are glorious heroes that came to save them from the stressful fight; however, the fear overcomes the people and these new heroes are their worst nightmare. The Taliban takeover is accurate to history because the Taliban came to Afghanistan during the war. The high verisimilitude of the Taliban in Kabul is shown, but there is also a high verisimilitude when Amir sees the number of orphans in Afghanistan.
Hosseini writes, “ ‘How many orphans live here?’ Farid asked. ‘More than we have room for. About two hundred and fifty, ‘Zaman said over his shoulder. ‘But they’re not all yateem. Many of them have lost their fathers in the war and their mothers can’t feed them because the Taliban don’t allow them to work. So they bring their children here’ ”(253). An orphanage owner, Zaman, describes the current problems for the children of Pakistan. This scene shows the high verisimilitude of The Kite Runner. Conflicts with food and housing for orphans is a real problem; as well as, parents giving up their children so they can eat. This is all caused by the Taliban and the previous war raging in Afghanistan. The Taliban do not give opportunities for work or food to the parents who are still left to fend for their children. Fear is felt by all Afghans who even come in close contact with a Taliban member because the treatment Afghans have been given. Hosseini writes about the orphans to show that these problems can and will keep happening. Hosseini wants to prove how real his book can
be. Aside from the abundance of orphans, Hosseini expresses a high verisimilitude when describing kite flying in the winter. On pages 49 and 50 Hosseini tells about kites, “Every winter, districts in Kabul held a kite-fighting tournament. And if you were a boy living in Kabul, the day of the tournament was undeniably the highlight of the cold season.” Amir is telling of what the boys in Kabul do every year during the winter. This scene exhibits the real life of a young boy from Kabul. A very popular event in Afghanistan is kite-fighting tournaments where young boys train and practice, with help from their fathers, to succeed. This is a very popular activity, because unless the family is rich there is little for children to do in Afghanistan. In the tournament, the goal is to cut the other’s kite strings; therefore, eliminating the kite from the competition. Kids called “runners”, run after the fallen kites to keep them as a prize. Kids often fight more and more over fallen kites as the number of kites in the competition dwindle down. The cut kites are a trophy or prize. Hosseini's book, The Kite Runner, has multiple occurrences of high verisimilitude. Afghanistan’s conflicts inform readers throughout the book of an Afghan’s way of life. Hosseini does this while still maintaining the plot. Renowned issues and cultures are evident in books with verisimilitude. Verisimilitude is transferring data from textbooks to novels, leaving the audience asking for more hidden knowledge.
Throughout Amir’s journey to absolve himself from the internal and distressing pain he has felt ever since witnessing the devastating altercation in the alley, trying to reach a standard his father, Baba, would approve of also took a toll on his childhood. Baba often speaks of how he cannot fathom the fact that Amir is a part of his bloodline. (quotes quotes quotes) Trying to achieve the perfect son status that Baba wanted Amir to be clouded his mind so greatly that, during the moment, Amir did not show compassion towards Hassan’s troubling moment of need. What matter most was retrieving the last fallen kite to his father to prove he was not a mistake that Baba made Amir believe he was. Even after Baba’s death, his actions brought more despair and uncertainty to Amir’s complicated life. The secrets and lies that were kept from Amir and even Hassan could have altered the fate of both men. (quote quote quote) Throughout the novel, Amir could arguably be considered as selfish, rude and mean toward his half-brother Hassan. However, since Baba never told the two about their true relationship Amir grew up disliking Hassan because he did not know that they shared blood. Knowing their true identities possibly could
Actions made in a moment of pain, anger or simple immaturity can take anyone to make mistakes that can change their lives completely. Everyone has something in the past that is shameful, embarrassing and regrettable that is kept present daily. Whether this event happened during childhood, adolescence or early adulthood, this event could haunt and have shaped that person’s life into what he or she is today. In a similar way, the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is shaped by a tragic and eventful past that has shaped Amir’s, Baba’s, and Hassan’s lives. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, metaphor, and personification.
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.
Redemption is defined as the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. Throughout life, individuals are faced with numerous incidences of redemption that can be taken up or ignored. Those who choose to take the opportunity are often able to grow mentally and accelerate much further than those who do not. However, what must be taken into account is that true redemption is for oneself rather than for others. For example, redemption by finally getting a well-deserved promotion which impresses others is not truly beneficial redemption. What must occur is happiness for the promotion within. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the employment of redemption as a central idea prevails throughout the novel, specifically in the life
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”(Eleanor Roosevelt). Courage and bravery are two of the well-demonstrated themes in the novel “The Kite Runner”. The novel establishes courage through consistently maintaining responsibilities and the ability to redeem and persevere events and actions. Rather, bravery is demonstrated in the novel as the ability to stand up for anything that goes against teaching and values. Bravery also goes above and beyond courage, and can be seen as an act that may challenge someone physically, emotionally and mentally. The novel is
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.
Notwithstanding difficult and exhausting, characters in The Kite Runner try to prove that redemption is feasible. Amir, a young, cowardly Pashtun boy brought up in riches and luxuries, Baba, a father that works hard to prove his worth, and Sanubar, a mother and wife who abandoned her family in search of a more gratifying life each have their own stories filled with heart wrenching and unanticipated circumstances that lead to the questions, why did they choose to search for redemption? And had they ever attained it?
In Kite Runner there are many lesson that could be learned and many things are shown to the reader that the author is trying to point out. “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir” he said” (Hosseini 142). One thing you do can change your whole life and make things either more difficult or easier. The scene in which Baba tells Amir about Soraya past in Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, is important because Hosseini uses it to establish one thing you do can change your whole life and make things either more difficult or easier through Soraya running off with a guy, Amir watching Hassan get raped, and Baba lies.
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.
*Hassan was crying because of the shame he felt after the encounter with the soldier who said he had slep with his mother at some point.
Throughout the thought provoking and eye opening narrative, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini provides a vivid and in depth story told through the eyes of a privileged young narrator who is forced to come of age in the capital of Afghanistan. As a story told from a different cultural perspective,culture and morals in this society are different from foreign beliefs. A reader will not fully comprehend The Kite Runner without discerning the differences between social classes and understanding the importance of honor in the Afghanistan culture.
In both of his novels, Hosseini has both protagonists and antagonists originating from Afghanistan. He depicts the flaws of the broad generalizations many people believe due to a lack of information or insight into the concerning situations occurring in Afghanistan. As awareness about the indecencies taking place in Afghanistan increases, hopefully more individuals will take action to aide those being oppressed and help solve the turmoil occurring due to the presence of the Taliban. Works Cited Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner.
In conclusion, The Kite Runner is a story of love, war, and ultimately redemption. It is a prime example of how leisure reading can provide insights and concepts in different cultures and lifestyles while broadening the readers’ ideas about diversity. I really enjoyed the story and feel like I learned a lot about people and how the culture one is raised in has a tremendous affect on who that person becomes.
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.