Category Archives: The Kite Runner

When anarchy reigns, the sadistic thrive – The Kite Runner

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This is a great introduction to the novel.

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, uses Afghanistan’s revered pastime to transport the reader to the romantic side of Kabul—a stark contrast to the horrors of the Taliban.

Blows of brutality for many readers, the most engaging part of Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner is the poignant, detailed descriptions of exotic Afghanistan. Amir’s early memories of the outskirts of Kabul offer fascinating snapshots of life in this amazing part of the world. We read of the annual buzkashi in which highly skilled horsemen collect a carcass at full speed and attempt to deposit the dead sheep or goat in a ‘‘scoring circle’’ while the opposition does everything in its power to stop him.

We discover ancient Persian literature, the Shahnamah, and the classic Afghan poets from Amir’s school days. But of course, the kite running that inspired the book’s title grasps our imagination the most.A national sport in Afghanistan, kite running is revered by children and adults alike. The rich description and colours that fill the winter’s sky transport us into Kabul’s romantic world: ‘‘red, blue, and yellow kites glided and spun in the sky’’.

But not all is well with young Amir and his Hazara servant, Hassan. Much is made of Amir’s obsession with gaining his father’s approval and love. Coupled with the young boy’s feeble attempts at sport and his love of literature rather than traditional machismo behaviour, Baba’s barely concealed contempt for his son leaves the young boy desperate to win respect.

Read the rest here.

Amir as a narrator

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We are just starting our study if The Kite Runner and a good place to start is looking at Amir as a narrator. I have posted a link to this article before but it is well worth reading.

Multi-layered and thematically rich, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is especially intriguing for its treatment of the first-person narrator.

Towards the end of the novel, the older Amir indulges in some serious navel-gazing: ”You’re gutless. It’s how you were made. And that’s not such a bad thing because your saving grace is that you’ve never lied to yourself about it … But when a coward stops remembering who he is … God help him.’’

Self-flagellation is nothing new to our narrator, who emphasises throughout the course of the story his weakness and unworthiness. This is an unusual approach and readers would do well to raise their antennae. Does the narrator want our sympathy? Are we being manipulated? Is the story skewed?

Read the rest at The Age.

Spark Notes – The Search for Redemption

Another popular site that has a study guide to The Kite Runner is Spark Notes. Here’s an extract from the guide on redemption:

The Search For Redemption

Amir’s quest to redeem himself makes up the heart of the novel. Early on, Amir strives to redeem himself in Baba’s eyes, primarily because his mother died giving birth to him, and he feels responsible. To redeem himself to Baba, Amir thinks he must win the kite-tournament and bring Baba the losing kite, both of which are inciting incidents that set the rest of the novel in motion. The more substantial part of Amir’s search for redemption, however, stems from his guilt regarding Hassan. That guilt drives the climactic events of the story, including Amir’s journey to Kabul to find Sohrab and his confrontation with Assef. The moral standard Amir must meet to earn his redemption is set early in the book, when Baba says that a boy who doesn’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything. As a boy, Amir fails to stand up for himself. As an adult, he can only redeem himself by proving he has the courage to stand up for what is right.

 

Study Guide #1 – Sin and Redemption

Hopefully, some of you are revising on this wet and windy day. If you want a revision site that has a study guide to The Kite Runner try Gradesaver. Lots of notes on characters, chapters and themes. Here’s a little from the notes on theme – sin and redemption:

In The Kite Runner, redemption is so important because sin is so enduring. Amir opens the story by telling us not about how exactly he sinned, but about sin’s endurance: “… It’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.” Hosseini uses structure to emphasize the themes of sin and redemption. Because Amir tells the story in retrospect, every memory, even the blissful ones of his childhood before the rape, are tainted with it. If the timeline of the novel was strictly chronological, we would not have the power of hindsight. Hosseini uses the first chapter almost like a thesis for the novel. As Amir retells the story of his life, he weighs each event against his sin, his betrayal of Hassan. As we learn towards the novel’s end, Amir is not the only character who needs redemption, Assef notwithstanding. Until Rahim Khan reveals Baba’s secret, Amir thinks he is the only sinner among his family and friends. Even before Amir betrays him, Hassan makes him feel guilty simply by being such a righteous person. Amir is constantly trying to measure up to Baba, because he does not realize that Baba is so hard on him because of his guilt over his own sin.

The use of the first-person narrator in The Kite Runner

An author makes a critical decision when choosing the narrative perspective from which a story will be told.  One type of point of view is no better or worse than another, the decision is based on what the author wants to communicate to the reader.  The first person narrator is often used in novels. This is where the author uses the word “I” to give the impression that the character, not the author, is telling the story. It engages the reader, gives eye witness immediacy to the story and controls the point of view. However, the narrator must have witnessed the events being told and this may lead to bias.

The first person retrospective narrator gives dual perspective – the adult and the younger self. The narrator has the benefit of hindsight and maturity, and can offer insight and judgment on their earlier experiences.

The first person narrative perspective of Amir allows the reader to really get into his thoughts and feelings regarding his family and his feelings about betraying Hassan.  One of the major themes of the novel is about personal redemption, and the reader walks through this journey as Amir battles with trying to atone for his past mistakes.  If the point of view changes, the events of the story might very well be the same, but the reader would lose the inner connection with Amir.

Sin and Redemption in The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is a very popular and much studied novel. There are lots of study guides to help you understand the book and one that may interest you is Gradesaver. Below is an extract from their notes on Sin and Redemption, a theme we have talked a great deal about.

Sin and Redemption

In The Kite Runner, redemption is so important because sin is so enduring. Amir opens the story by telling us not about how exactly he sinned, but about sin’s endurance: “… It’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.” Hosseini uses structure to emphasize the themes of sin and redemption. Because Amir tells the story in retrospect, every memory, even the blissful ones of his childhood before the rape, are tainted with it. If the timeline of the novel was strictly chronological, we would not have the power of hindsight. Hosseini uses the first chapter almost like a thesis for the novel. As Amir retells the story of his life, he weighs each event against his sin, his betrayal of Hassan. As we learn towards the novel’s end, Amir is not the only character who needs redemption, Assef notwithstanding. Until Rahim Khan reveals Baba’s secret, Amir thinks he is the only sinner among his family and friends. Even before Amir betrays him, Hassan makes him feel guilty simply by being such a righteous person. Amir is constantly trying to measure up to Baba, because he does not realize that Baba is so hard on him because of his guilt over his own sin.

Read more here.

 

Feedback on Kite Runner Essays

Thank you to the students who have sent me essays on The Kite Runner. I have enjoyed reading them and I thought I would share some of the ideas from the essays. It has been wonderful to note how many of you have really engaged with the text and made insightful comments.

I have paraphrased some of your ideas below:

  • A common thread in the essays is Baba’s role as a cause of Amir’s weakness of character. As he is such a dominant person he shapes people around him. If Baba truly lived by his definition of moral courage he would have been more open and this would have given Amir the strength to behave differently. Many of you saw Baba’s pride and his lack of honesty as a cause of Amir’s weaknesses. However, several of you have noted that Baba is a product of his environment and that Hosseini is suggesting that it is time for Afghanistan to move away from its past ways.
  • The ending was discussed in some essays. Is it a satisfying one? We know that Hassan is dead, he has lost close friends, his family is gone and he is childless. Is this a happy ending? However, if we look at things from another perspective we see that he has saved Sohrab and brought him to America and finally redeemed himself. Is it more true to life to have such an ambiguous ending? What we do know is that the final scene in the book is a reversal of Amir and Hassan’s kite flying days. Amir is now the kite runner for Sohrab. He is a good man. He has atoned. He has redemption.

Brothers in The Kite Runner

Baba would buy us each three identical kites and spools of glass string. If I changed my mind and asked for a bigger and fancier kite, Baba would buy it for me – but then he’d buy it for Hassan too. Sometimes I wished he wouldn’t do that. Wished he’d let me be the favourite.

Amir and Hassan grew up together, inseparable. However, Amir was sometimes cruel to Hassan, eventually betraying him when he looked on as Hassan was raped. Hassan had proven himself over and over again to Amir, defending him against bullies, encouraging him when he felt down and also fitting the role of servant. Hassan put up with Amir’s occasional cruel taunts and superior attitude. When he watched Hassan’s rape, Amir could only compare Hassan’s look to that of a sacrificial lamb.

Even though Amir was forgiven by Hassan he was never able to redeem himself with his brother and friend. He did that through his heroic rescue of Hassan’s son, Sohrab.