The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

1501 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Where is the power of ethnicity present in the kite runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini This essay will discuss the central themes of the book The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Because the story is told at a time before the War on Terror, it brings the reader back to an Afghanistan the average American never knew existed and presents the current socio-economic reality of a United States one may choose to ignore. The description of Afghanistan before its many "occupations" is a tragedy in itself. The Author portrays a country on the cusp of greatness, which of course makes the inevitable future occupations all the more tragic. When Amir returns to Afghanistan after nearly twenty years, his shock is palpable. He has come back to an entirely different country, and only fragments remain from his past. It is Amir's journey to redemption that is the premise of this tale. We see that he is essentially a good boy and man, but that he made serious mistakes in his quest for his father's love and attention. As a man, then, he is called to compensate the sins of his past and "do good again." His small successes provide the reader with a sense of familiarity as one faces the daily battle of what is right and what is easy. The story begins in Afghanistan in the 1970s and spans over 20 years. It is told from the perspective of Amir, a rich Afghani boy who lives with his father and their Hazara (low caste Shi'a) servants. Amir, an only child, spends much of his childhood with Hassan, the son of his father's loyal servant Ali and also the best "kite runner" in Kabul. The boys grow up as brothers despite the social differences, but this relationship is put to the test after an important kite flying tournament. Amir is overwhelmed with guilt when he allows Hassan to be beaten and raped ... ... middle of paper ... ...icult for anyone to marry into another class and the Hazara are often victims of physical, emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of Pashtuns. This is partly why Amir does not come to Hassan's rescue when he is attacked by Assef. The contradicting sentiment of duty and birth in a class society has plagued nations for centuries. The irony of this particular story is the fact that the United States is seen as a classless society for those seeking asylum from persecution in their homelands. Upon arriving, the once wealthy Amir and his father are reduced to the plight of the average American immigrant. Forced to live in meager conditions, in small ethnic societies, their once affluent lives quickly become the exact opposite. By living essentially the same life as Hassan in the United States, it is bittersweet redemption for Amir and his father. In Conclusion,

Show More
Related

  • The Power of Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

    2126 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Pomegranate Tree in The Kite Runner

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e relives the adventures that he shared with Hassan. All three experiences with the pomegranate tree, are unique, because they highlight important, and different parts of their relationship with one another. The relationships that were built, and torn apart at the pomegranate tree made it evident that after years of guilt and regret for Amir, he was proud of the relationship he had with Hassan, and is hopeful for the wellbeing of the relationship with Hassan’s son, Sohrab.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Lying And Deceit In The Kite Runner

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    Amir’s development from being “a boy who won’t stand up for himself,” to a man that stands up for the morally responsible thing to do (22, Hosseini). When Amir was a child, he tried to escape from his sins in the past by hiding them with lies. However, this only made it worse for Amir, causing him to be an insomniac for much of his life and putting himself through constant torment. Only when Amir became a man, like Baba wanted him to be, was Amir able to face the truth of what he done and put himself on the path of redemption. Even when Amir was suffering a violent beating from Assef, Amir was able to laugh because he knew he was doing what he should have for Hassan years ago. Amir’s development from a child, who lies in order to cower from their own mistakes, into a man, someone who is not only able to admit his sins, but atone for them, is essential to communicating the theme of redemption being the only way to settle with your

    Read More

  • A Cultural Blockade in Khaled Hosseini´s The Kite Runner

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

    1710 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, follows the maturation of Amir, a boy from Afghanistan, as he discovers what it means to stand up for what he believes in. His quest to redeem himself after betraying his friend and brother, Hassan, makes up the heart of the novel. When Amir hears that his father’s old business partner, Rahim Khan, is sick and dying, he travels to Pakistan to say his goodbyes. Rahim Khan tells Amir about Hassan’s life and eventual death; the Taliban murdered Hassan while he was living in Amir’s childhood home. As his dying wish, Rahim Khan asks Amir to rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, from an orphanage in Afghanistan. Although Amir refuses at first, he thinks about what Rahim Khan had always told him: “There is a way to be good again…” (226), which gives him the incentive he needs to return to Afghanistan and find Sohrab. Hosseini draws parallels between Amir’s relationship with Hassan and Amir’s relationship with Sohrab in order to demonstrate the potential of redemption.

    Read More

  • Redemption in The Kite Runner

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    To begin, the first instance of redemption is found and portrayed through irony. As Amir's mother died giving birth to him, he has always felt guilty. Leading up to the annual kite-fighting tournament, Amir feels as if winning will redeem her death, and solidify his relationship with Baba. When he comes upon Hassan who is cornered by Assef, Amir feels as if his rape might be justified: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay to win Baba. Or was it a fair price?” (Hosseini, 82) If Amir gains the kite, he wins Baba's heart. Ironically, the sacrifice of Hassan is the catalyst to Amir's need for redemption. Instead of redeemi...

    Read More

  • Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner

    1429 Words  | 3 Pages

    An important stepping stone in every child's life is when a child makes a vow to be best friends forever with another child. Many girls cement this promise by buying a necklace with half hearts on them, while boys may carve their names into trees, but either way this promise is very important for children to prove that they have someone who they can trust. In Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel The Kite Runner, two boys, Hassan and Amir, have a friendship that is not as typical as most children's. Although they do carve into a tree that they are the "sultans of Kabul" (Hosseini 27), their friendship is weak and one sided. These boys grew up in Kabul, and although their childhood friendship may have seemed like something out of a book, complete with pomegranate trees and story telling, it was dark and emotionally wearing. A main reason for this was because of the one subtle difference between these boys, omitting the differences in character; Hassan is a Hazara and Amir is a Pashtun. For this reason the Afghan society has classified Hassan as a lower human being and he, along with his father, is in servitude towards Amir and his family. Amirs lack of self-confidence throughout the novel hinders his ablity to have a true friendship with Hassan. Amir ruins the chance for friendship between himself and Hassan because he is jealous of Hassan, he thinks of Hassan as a lower human, and because of his bitter resentment.

    Read More

  • Justice in The Kite Runner

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the literature, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the idea and representation of justice, and its relationship to that of the treatment of women in Afghan society, the ever-changing politics of Afghanistan, and the desired results of redemption and forgiveness, become illustrated through the novel’s characters and motives. Justice can be defined as the quality of being guided by truth, reason, and fairness. The Kite Runner illustrates the power of influence from an outside power and its effects on society, and the minds and lifestyles of the people. In relationship to the Cheverus High School Grad-at-Grad profile the actions and wrongdoings that take place in the The Kite Runner and in Afghanistan prove to be injustice.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of The American Dream In Shakespeare's The Kite Runner

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amir now has the skills needed to continue his life in America as being independent and the man of the house. The future is bright for Amir, as one can see a fortified, relieved, and joyful version of him compared to the accustomed one in Kabul. Amir is able to purge his sin of silence and lying by using his newfound life to forget all that has occurred in Kabul. This new land of opportunity also brings Baba and Amir closer, for they need to look out for each other as a way to be successful and survive in the land of the free.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, from minor to major mistakes. But the most important part is not the mistake itself, but how hard that person is trying to fix that mistake. This also applies to the novel The Kite Runner. The story revolves around the main character Amir, and his childhood friend, Hassan. After Amir came to America with Baba, his father, he still regrets the things he had done to his childhood friend. He left Hassan getting raped by Assef in a small alley in 1975. Thereafter, Amir always feel regret and seeks for redemption. Hosseini -the author, argues that redemption can be achieved by helping others, teach others not to repeat the same mistake and acknowledge your mistake and try to fix it.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    The other source of tension in Amir’s life is his relationship with Baba, his hard-driving and demanding father. Desperate to win his father’s affection and respect, Amir turns to the sport of kite flying, and at the age of 12, with the assistance of Hassan, he wins the annual tournament in Kabul. Amir’s victory soon is tarnished when he witnesses a vicious assault against his friend, who raced through the streets of Kabul to retrieve the last kite, Amir had sliced from the sky, and fails to come to his aid. Amir’s cowardness is compounded by a later act of betrayal that causes Ali and Hassan to leave their home, and he now faces the nightmare, bearing the burden of his poor choices for the rest of his life.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many oversimplifications and stereotypes, even if they may be from a reality-based ideology. The ethnic group of the Hazara and the Pashtun is not entirely developed. Amir was always referred to as a Pashtun but the background of the Pashtun isn't fully touched upon. The narrator only focuses on the Mongolian-like physical features of the Hazara's, and because of this diversity, they are considered a more lowly class than Pashtuns.

    Read More

  • Afghan Culture In The Kite Runner

    2320 Words  | 5 Pages

    In The Kite Runner, Hosseini describes the life of a Pashtun Amir and a Hazara Hassan. Pashtuns make up the biggest ethnic group within Afghanistan. They have been seen as the ruling group and dominant many of the other minorities. Hazara’s comprise just nine percent of Afghanistan’s population. They sometimes have difficulty in acquiring suitable professions due to their ethnicity and choice of religion. The Hazaras were the first ethnic group to revolt against the expansion of leader, Pashtun Rahman. This rebellion caused the persecution of many Hazaras, by the hands of Pashtun tribes and is the reason behind a lot of the tension between the two. Because Pashtuns are part of the richer upper class, they feel a self-righteousness over Hazara groups and hold many positions in Afghan government. They have better opportunities when it comes to getting an education and job (Chiovenda). Hazara minorities have faced discrimination and violence from many of the other ethnic groups, especially those of Pashtun communities. In Afghan culture, the class system plays a major role in how people are looked at and

    Read More

  • What Is Amir's Childhood In The Kite Runner

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Pashtun is someone who’s Muslim but is a Sunni Muslim. On the other hand, a Hazara is someone who’s also Muslim but is part of another group of Muslims; Shi’a. Furthermore, Hazaras are discriminated a lot in their town due to most people not being Hazaras. Hassan and his dad are faced with many rude insults and are discriminated from their neighbourhood. Amir seems to think that Baba dislikes him due to him liking poetry and not being that strong of a guy.

    Read More

  • The Kite Runner Theme Essay

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a very interesting novel that has a very bold and challenging theme. This theme is seen early on in the novel, but becomes increasingly more and more intricate throughout the reading. The Kite Runner is a novel based on a man named Amir, who grew up in Afghanistan and lives his whole life dealing with betrayal and redemption. Throughout this book, Amir has a gigantic flashback describing his whole intoxicatingly sad life. Hosseini creeps into a dark emotional depth as he talks about all the struggles of an Afghani child during the 1970’s who’s father treated him like less of a child than his servant. He talks about the struggles of a boy that betrays his best friend, only later finding

    Read More

More about The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Open Document