Similarities Between The Kite Runner And The Secret History

Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, and the novel The Secret History, by Donna Tartt, both present the progression of guilt and its formation. Guilt can be described as a bothered conscience or a feeling of culpability for offenses, often felt when responsibility is undertaken as a regretted action. There are several types of guilt, which include feelings of shame, unworthiness and embarrassment about one’s actions, as well as the guilt felt about a circumstance one is not responsible for. Hosseini and Tartt show the progression of guilt through a corrupted action, the search for approval, redemption, blaming an innocent and suffering and these different facets of guilt are explored through various literary devices. Guilt is multifaceted

and has the potential to consume the lives of individual if not controlled.

Both authors employ a corrupted action to demonstrate how guilt is initially stimulated and its progression in the protagonist’s respective. Tartt uses the characters Richard, Henry, Camilla, Francis and Charles to fuel the action of Bunny’s murder in her novel. The audience sense their development of regret and overcoming of guilt, from the “unthinkable [action, which] is undoable.” Tartt’s setting for the characters after the murder reveals the developing guilt, as the snow around them symbolizes winter and its association with the coldness of death.

Furthermore, Tartt’s narrator exclaims Bunny’s murder was in an American “November [that] was settling like a deadly oxymoron on the April landscape,” as it has “never… snowed so late in the year.” Traditionally, spring is associated with growth and birth, however the snow “kill[ed] all the flowers,” displaying how Tartt incorporates death within the spring. Tartt’s reverse symbolism suggests a new birth for her culprits, an awakening to carry the burden of their actions throughout life. Similarly, Hosseini uses the setting to highlight the innocent victim and symbolise the effect of the corrupted action in The Kite Runner. By emphasising the “blue kite... [and] Hassan’s brown corduroy pants laying amid the garbage,” Hosseini symbolises that his character’s innocence is ruined. Likewise, Hosseini employs an attack on a victim to portray the development of guilt and its initial beginning. Hosseini uses rape to show the physical attack on a Hassan, in addition to the attack on emotions and dignity. Rape is a motif within Hosseini’s text, which recurs throughout the novel, representing complete physical

and mental domination of those who do not have power. Hassan is described, as Amir’s servant who is “loyal as a dog,” and proves his loyalty to Amir by running after the kite which falls “like coming loose from a speeding car,” since he is “the greatest kite runner.” However, Hassan is raped, and his attacker’s complete domination over him is signified when “fear creeps into [Hassan’s] eyes.” The audience is positioned to sympathize with Hassan, as Hosseini’s imagery conveys that Amir is more willingly worried about pleasing his father than saving Hassan, who looks “innocent as a lamb.” Hosseini’s rape scene displays the significant impact it has on protagonist Amir, and is felt strongly by the audience as it perpetually haunts his dreams. Therefore an action of deceit affects not only the perpetrators but also all involved. Through the use of symbolism and setting, both authors display a degraded attack to portray the instigator of guilt and its development.

In addition Tartt and Hosseini’s protagonists search for approval, ultimately causing another to suffer, sparking the development of growth. Hosseini’s character Baba, Amir’s father, is reluctant to praise Amir, largely because he believes that “a boy who will not stand up for himself becomes a man who cannot stand up to anything.” This leaves Amir constantly craving approval and avoiding his father’s glare “like the heat of a blistering sun.” Hosseini utilizes imagery to position the audience to sympathize with Amir, although his actions convey selfishness and pride. As Amir searches for his father’s approval, his cowardice instigates Hassan’s rape, which Hosseini describes as “the lamb [that Amir] had to slay, to win Baba’s approval.” However, Amir’s guilt further increases and he chases after Hassan’s forgiveness “twenty years later.” Furthermore, the kite serves as a symbol of Amir’s happiness, as flying kites is the “key to Baba’s heart.” However, Hosseini alters the kite’s significance as a sign of Amir’s betrayal when he does not interrupt Hassan’s rape, since he desires for Baba’s approval, thus igniting his guilt. Likewise, Tartt’s characters also seek approval. Tartt describes the reasons for murdering Bunny; namely to “get rid of him” and to receive the approval from Julian, their educator, who was “delight[ed]” to hear of their first murder. However, Tartt uses character development to demonstrate the non-existent evolution of guilt within her characters, unlike Hosseini’s character whose guilt is shown to further develop. Individually, the narrator, Richard, is presented not interfering with Bunny’s murder, as he is too annoyed with Bunny’s “distasteful behaviour.” Therefore, through character development, the audience view Richard as wanting to stay within the comfort of his friendship group, for if not his “existence [would be] tainted, in some subtle way.” However, the quest for approval is apparent repeatedly within the novel. Tartt conveys to her audience that Julian’s “students are never interesting because [he] knows exactly what [they] will do.” Tartt’s audience comprehend that the group’s motive was to win over Julian, and once that was achieved, guilt was not felt but ignored. Both authors contrast the effects of guilt through imagery and characterisation, thus Tartt’s and Hosseini’s character on a quest for approval allows horrendous crimes to occur, in this case rape and murder, further emphasising the guilt that should be felt.

Furthermore, both authors employ the theme of redemption to present the progression of guilt and how individuals cope with the consequences. The nature of guilt describes that one is likely to seek for salvation as well as struggle with making amends for past misdemeanours. Symbols act as a device for Hosseini, displaying Baba’s search for redemption to the audience. A "cleft" is a division, and Hosseini’s symbol of Hassan's cleft lip represents the divide that exists between the Pashtuns and Hazaras in Afghanistan. The symbol signifies Hassan’s poverty that “pollutes [the] homeland” and positions the audience to sympathize with Hassan; it is this prejudice that led to his attack, and the cleft lip indicates his inability to fix his deformity. This deformity is both physical, cleft lip, and metaphorical of his inability to fix the divide between him and Baba. Hosseini expresses Baba’s wish to make a secret improvement with Hassan, by fixing the indication of his status, since he cannot acknowledge Hassan as his son, further emerging his guilt. Thus, he can only redeem himself from Hassan indirectly by paying for Hassan’s lip surgery, leaving only a “faint scar.” Similarly, Tartt employs dialogue to show the contrast in the act of redemption to Hosseini. In comparison to Hosseini’s Baba who learns to redeem himself, Tartt’s characters run away from redemption. Tartt’s characters are presented maliciously, as their innocence is lost from making a series of pragmatic, immoral decisions. Initially, Bunny’s murder was cold-blooded, a “rush to kill [Bunny]” and to “get [the murder] over with.” As a result, blame, rather than redemption, occurs. Tartt displays her characters without the “slightest tinge of pity or regret.” However, blame is placed upon Henry for “having the idea in the first place.” Therefore, the audience view that Tartt’s characters explore conflicting ideas of redemption to Hosseini’s characters. Consequently redemption is explored by both authors, however only within Hosseini’s novel is it acted upon.

Moreover, both authors show how the development of guilt leads to the blaming of an innocent.

Blame is revealed to control the characters, as it is seen within both novels that the innocent victims are liable for another’s actions. Throughout the Kite Runner blame occurs during the timeline of events narrated by Amir, and Hosseini positions the audience to gain knowledge of Amir’s increasing guilt. Amir’s character development, as a result of his guilt, illustrates to the audience his attempt to regain his soul after he frames Hassan for “stealing his watch.” However, Hosseini reverses Amir’s anticipation and uses Hassan to control the situation. The audience is positioned to observe an act of unconditional love, as Hosseini employs Hassan to accept the blame. Imagery is utilized to place emphasis on the unawareness of “Hassan’s final sacrifice for [Amir],” which was “like [Amir had] been slapped.” Pathetic fallacy is also used by Hosseini to determine the sacrificial blame Hassan takes for Amir. Hosseini situates Hassan’s blame during summer where the “sun [is] like a branding iron” however “it rained the afternoon” of the sacrifice. The rain reflects Amir’s grief and guilt, which plagues him for years to come. This dramatic effect used by Hosseini conveys to audience the abnormality of the circumstance; the blame of an innocent. Similarly, Tartt suggests that the victim takes the blame. Within the novel, Tartt’s characters question whether they will be caught for the

murder. However, dialogue is employed to suggest, “Bunny will be doing most of the work.” The audience deduces that Richard, Henry, Camilla, Francis and Charles are not stricken with guilt as they plan Bunny’s murder to be an “accident.” Tartt shows that her characters are affected with guilt as they place the blame onto someone else; however, Hosseini establishes that although the blame of an innocent takes place, Amir redeems himself “twenty years later.” Both authors employ their characters to show how blaming an innocent, relieves the amount of guilt one feels and persisting in it instead of proactively making changes betters the situation.

Additionally, the characters of innocence and guilt in both novels suffer consequences being the final stage of guilt’s progression. Hosseini portrays how Amir is unable to comprehend anything that reminds him of his cowardice, through dialogue, leading him to accusing Hassan of stealing his “watch,” which Amir hopes “would be the last in a long line of shameful lies.” Thus, Hosseini employs dialogue to cause the audience to sympathise with Baba as Amir suggests getting “new servants,” which pains Baba due to his connection with Hassan’s family. Hence, Amir is positioned to suffer the consequences after not stopping Hassan’s rape, however, his development of guilt initiates Hassan’s suffering as well. Hosseini portrays Amir guiding Baba’s decision to fire Hassan, and is therefore affected by Hassan’s suffering. Similarly, Tartt’s characters suffer from their guilt through narrative voice and perspective. Initially, the ripple of guilt occurs when Henry commits suicide. Tartt explains to the audience that Henry is the group “leader,” who originally had the idea to murder Bunny. Tartt employs the narrator to describe Henry's death as having cut the cord between the group, “like the thread which bound [them] had been abruptly severed.” Since the leader of the group has been removed, the audience determines that the others are left to decay, seen through the narrator’s perspective. Tartt heavily uses imagery to convey the suffering that her characters undertake. Tartt’s narrator, Richard, has unrequited love for Camilla. A comparison is made when his loss of love and development of isolation is “like poor Orpheus turning for a… glance at the ghost of his only love.” Additionally, the characters Camilla and Francis are haunted by guilt. Tartt conveys this to the audiences through the narrator’s descriptions that Camilla’s appearance is “like a ghost” and Francis who looked “as pale as a corpse.” The use of the simile conveys the distraught nature that Charles brought upon his family, “breaking [his] Nana’s heart” when he run away and became an “alcoholic.” Furthermore, the imagery utilised by Tartt positions the readers to sympathise and feel sorrowful for the individuals that committed the horrendous crimes. Both authors use the narrator or a central protagonist to illustrate the consequences of guilt, and Tartt emphasises this with imagery and Hosseini with narration, ultimately revealing the tormenting nature of guilt.

Khaled Hosseini’s novel the Kite Runner and Donna Tartt’s novel the Secret History are both used by the authors to convey the development of guilt. This idea is shown through an initial attack, quest for approval, redemption, blame and suffering. The audiences respond to this idea, common to both, which is presented though dialogue, literary techniques and the use of characters as each reflect the nature of guilt. When guilt is left unatoned for, it escalates and consumes the lives of those involved. The difference is that Hosseini presents how guilt plagues Amir, who is to blame for Hassan’s misery, whereas Tart reveals how others suffer consequences.