The Kite Runner Compare And Contrast Essay

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The movie The Kite Runner is based on the book and it contains both subtle and explicit differences as all books and movies do. Both the book and the movie have very compelling and moralistic themes though at times the movie’s themes seem limited. The themes presented throughout the movie and the book are penance, loyalty, prejudice, religion and growing up. The characterization, overall plot of the movie and the setting of the book seem to be consistent with each other though at times they both may vary both slightly and drastically. One of the major themes in both the movie and the book seems to be penance. The story The Kite Runner is centered around learning “to be good again.” Both the movie and the book share the idea that the sins of In the book Amir can be seen as a troubled young boy who is struggling with a tremendous amount of guilty. It is easy to blame Amir’s actions on his guilty and his father’s lack of love for him. The movie does not allow this. The movie characterizes Amir as a young boy who is to blind by his owns needs to be a decent and noble friend. The movie does not do a good job of showing that Amir felt horribly guilty about what he did to Hassan. It portrays Amir as uncaring and selfish. The movie also changes the depiction of Amir as an adult. While the book shows Amir as a man who has not yet learned to stand for what is right until he comes face to face with his past all over again, the movie jumps the gun and shows the change earlier with the change of a scene. The scene that is changed is when Amir and Farid visit the orphanage where Sohrab is supposed to be. In the scene Amir is the one to try and kill the orphanage owner instead of Farid which takes away from Amir’s cowardice persona that is portrayed in the book. The movie makes Amir seem stronger before his time while the book keeps up his weakling persona until he is faced with a situation he cannot help but stand up to. Similarly the characterization of Hassan is just as lacking as Amir’s in the movie. In the book, Hassan is shown as being selfless beyond a doubt and loyal to a fault. The characterizations of the main characters are not so much different in the movie than in the book but are incomplete. The movie does not show the depth and secret desires that motivate the characters and does not allow for on to sympathize and really get to know the characters. The movie follows the basic outline of the books plot but does not incorporate all of the small details that make the book so profound. In contrast, the setting in the movie and the book is mostly identical. One line in the book tells the whole story of Amir. The line is said by Rham Khan and it is “There is away to be good again.” The line tells Amir’s true desire and that is to atone for his sins as a kid. Since both the movie and the book focus on that one line they are both more similar than different. In conclusion, although, the movie was not just like the book and emphasized certain themes more than others it still told the story and shared the lessons the book

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