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The Kite Runner book review essays
The Kite Runner book review essays
Personal reflection on the kite runner
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In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, he tells a story about a boy, but he ultimately tells a story about Afghanistan. Division in relationships is a common theme throughout the book and one of the main examples of this is the social separation of Hazaras and Pashtuns. Hosseini includes the historical, yet horrific, massacre of Hazaras in Mazar-I Sharif in 1998 to maintain a consistent timeline of Afghanistan and further support the theme of disconnection. The conflict between Pashtuns and Hazaras dates back to the time when the Mongols had conquered most of Asia, the Middle East, and were invading Eastern Europe. Within the Middle East, Afghanistan was filled with Sunni Pashtuns until the Mongols (Who some say Hazaras are direct descendants
Page 2 - “I sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an afterthought. I looked up at those twin kites.”
Pashtuns have more control over things, as Hosseini talked about in the novel, they had more control in their history. When Amir was describing his father as, “…a towering Pashtun specimen with a thick beard, a way ward crop of curly brown hair…” (Page 12), was way different compared to the way he described Ali, a Hazara. Amir did not realize that he was describing the Pashtuns as they were better than the Hazara’s, also when Amir mentioned Hassan he said how he did not call him his friend because Hassan was a Hazara and he was his servant. Although he did say they were like brothers because they grew up together but never did he say friends. The tragedy that happened in the novel when Hassan was rape, sometimes it can be seen as a betrayal because Amir did not help Hassan, Pashtun betraying a Hazara.
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, in 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 life. The four literary elements that will be used in this essay that Hosseini strategically uses in this book are: irony, simile, Metaphor, and personification.
Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner tells the haunting story of a young boy named Amir who grows up in Afghanistan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The books later advances into the early 2000s and was published in 2003. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde tells the story of troubled young man, Dorian Gray, who is far too caught up in his own beauty and the damage his troubling behavior does too his appearance. The book takes place in London during the 1890s. Although the books take place almost one hundred years apart, they have striking similarities in how they were written and the stories that take place within the books. Both authors use similar literary devices to create their books. Khaled Hosseini and Oscar Wilde use a combination
“Some say it 's better to be a true hero rather than look and act like one” A true hero is someone who is admired or idealized by their bravery, their sacrificed and their outstanding achievement for someone else life to be much better. Khaled Hosseini’s- A author who wrote this book “ The kite runner” talk about two childhood best friends who grew up together living a completely two different world. One living wealthy(Amir) and other living poorly (Hassan) Even Though, their life is completely different, both of them face a social, life and political problem when they are growing up, this can lead these two characters to change, however, Hassan remain the same with his loyalty, selfless and bravery character traits from the start through his death , which is why he fit for the heroine in this book.
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.
Someone’s identity is built through a lifetime of events. There will be moments of pure joy and happiness, followed by times of grief and sadness. The moments of grief and sadness may be caused by sinful behavior, whether the sin is big or small a person becomes grief stricken. The book The Kite Runner by Kahled Hosseini is a perfect example of how lifetime events and grief can shape one’s identity. Kahled Hosseini uses many “conventions” from the “grammar of literature” to develop his plot and to entice his readers. These “conventions” can be identified by the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, and will help identify the overall purpose of the book The Kite Runner.
Khaled Hosseini’s uses of a variety of literary devices in The Kite Runner, most prominently juxtaposition and metaphor, materially help to reveal motifs based around its conflict as well as the theme of the text. By employing these devices, Hosseini highlights a plethora of the book’s motifs, such as redemption and regret; moreover, he exudes the book’s central theme, which pertains to the enjoyment of life and search for inner peace. Other than radiating the implicit messages of the book, the aforementioned stylistic choices also are necessary to develop both the story’s characters and plot. In particular, the character arc of Amir, the main protagonist of the book, uses the three devices to identify his internal and external struggle. Furthermore,
And two years later, in 1998, they massacred the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif.” The massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif is not necessarily linked to the banning of the kites, however, until this point we have seen how Amir and Hassan, a Pashtun and Hazara respectively, bond especially through their passion for kites and kite fighting. The banning of the kite fighting tournament lead to a further divide between Pashtuns and Hazaras, as they no longer had a common interest. The presence of the kites in the novel signifies prosperity, friendship, peace, and joy, whereas the absence of kites signifies the opposite; violence, rape, and
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel portraying a young boy named Amir which takes place in 1975 in Kabul, Afghanistan. As a child, he mistreats his servant, Hassan, who resembles a brother. After failing to intervene in Hassan's rape, Amir lives with guilt until his late thirties when redemption for the guilt of his past presents itself. Amir's father’s old friend, Rahim Khan, called from Pakistan to summon Amir. Upon his arrival, Amir learns that Hassan is his illegitimate half-brother and that Assef murdered him, rendering his son an orphan. Through drastic lengths, Amir attempts to find and retrieve Hassan's son, Sohrab. During his return to Afghanistan, Amir faces the guilt of his past and finds peace with himself while saving Sohrab from the war torn country of Afghanistan. Through an abundance of symbols, themes, and irony, The Kite Runner
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.
In The Kite Runner, Baba and Amir are very different when it comes to their mannerisms while dealing with situations. Baba is an extrovert and faces situations head on, while Amir is an introvert and tries to avoid the problem until he has to face the consequences. That being said all though they face situations differently their character always leads them to the same result dishonesty. Both men hold the idea that lying is stealing someone's right to the truth but they are hypocritical in their thinking and lie to gain respect of their peers, out of fear from those they love and because they were never taught the importance of honesty as children. With this being said dishonesty among characters is a central theme to the plot that plays an
A climax is the most intense or important point of a piece of text. Within the Kite Runner, the climax occurs when Amir goes to meet Assef who becomes a Taliban and who has imprisoned Sohrab under his control . Amir goes to rescue him and a fight breaks out. Sohrab who is like his father, without hesitation saves Amir with a deadly slingshot. The climax of the novel is significant as it brings to light the progression of Amir as a character, who effectively distances himself from his old self and matures as a character through atoning not just his sins ‘but for Baba’s too’. He had previously failed to act upon his mistakes as he continued to suffer from an addiction that required him to try and seek Baba’s approval, which seamlessly remained lost in Amir’s life, therefore he fell into a lost of direction as to what was right and wrong. The climax shifts the novel from a search of father’s affection to a novel of a search of redemption for past sins, which in the novel have acted like a plague on Amir, who continues to suffer both mentally and physically from his guilt eating him alive. The bloodshed through the beating Amir gets from Assef marks a comparison to the bloodshed by Hassan during his rape in chapter 7. By suggesting that blood symbolizes an establishment of connection, it could be argued that Amir’s sacrifice in the climax for Sohrab re-establishes his connection with Hassan, who in chapter 7 and chapter 17 sacrificed himself for Amir. Hosseini through the symbolism of blood instills how ‘blood is a powerful thing’ and how connections between family can be strengthened by the worse of events that inflict pain and guilt, but also carry an individual’s responsibility to search for peace.
Award winning author Judy Blume wrote “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret to spotlight young girls better with self-image, however critics allowed for it to be banned because they thought it was irresponsible.
Who are the Pashtuns And Hazaras? Pashtuns and Hazaras are two different ethnic groups living in Afghanistan. There has been conflict between the two groups for centuries. (ehow.com) The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a story set in Kabul, Afghanistan told by Amir, a Pashtun, about growing up with Hassan, a Hazara. As a Hazara growing up in Kabul, Hassan faced conflict all his life because of his ethnicity. In The Kite Runner, ethnic conflict between Hazaras and Pashtuns is a major theme and is supported in the story with details of the Hazara role in Pashtun households, name calling and abuse from other Pashtuns, and persecution of Hazaras by Pashtuns.