The Power of the Written Word in The Kite Runner by Hosseini

The Power of the Written Word

The Kite Runner is a powerful story of love and trust blended with elements of deception and human wickedness at its worst. The full beauty of the story lies in the sundry

emotions and subtle nuances provided by the author in the book, and many of the deeper feelings and emotions therein are missed entirely, or touched on much too briefly

when viewing the film.

Within the very first chapter of the book, Hassan is referred to as "Hassan the harelipped kite runner" (Hosseini, 2003, p. 8). The fact that Hassan is a harelip, as well as

the author deeming it necessary to mention this physical defect lends a particular importance to this fact as the story unfolds. Evidently this physical flaw gave Amir a reason

to believe he was somewhat superior to Hassan, consequently causing him to behave in an unpleasant manner toward him. The film does not refer to this physical defect at

all, and as a result, no reference is made to Hassan's eleventh birthday, the facial surgery, or its final results on Hassan's physical features (Hosseini, 2003, p. 54). Again in

chapter two, Hassan's own mother, Sanaubar, had taken one look at her son's cleft lip and mocked him. She referred to him as an "idiot child" (Hosseini, 2003, p. 16).

Amir later refers to Hassan as "the face of Afghanistan," and that it was "a face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile" (Hosseini, 2003, p. 31). The importance of this is

evident when Amir takes the opportunity to ridicule Hassan about his ignorance, possibly because of their disparity in social class, or perhaps because Hassan was a harelip,

and therefore even more worthy of ridicule. The passage in chapter four where Amir intentionally misleads ...

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...st or heart of the story is often compromised, losing the power to grip an audience with its strong emotional or tragic plot. Furthermore, in the

instance of The Kite Runner, one of the most notable aspects of the story is the relationship between Baba and Amir. The feelings between father and son are deeply

intertwined throughout the entire plot, therefore making the story what it is. The compelling plot of the book is weakened by eliminating Hassan's harelip. This physical

flaw marred the features of this child, consequently making it one of the factors influencing how he is treated by not only his father, but by Baba and Amir as well. Finally,

the brutal assault by Assef was probably the most critical feature of the entire plot, lending weight and essential substance to the story, warranting it much more attention than

it received in the film.