The Kite Runner Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Mele 7
The Kite Runner Analysis Questions
1. A human's character is a mix of quite a few different things: among them are behaviors, experiences, and reactions to events. In The Kite Runner, Amir claims, “It's wrong what they say about the past … about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out” (1) Throughout the novel, this statement is validated to be true; Amir's life truly was dictated by his past. “The winter of 1975 came along … and made me what I am today” (2). What began to snowball Amir's life occurred even before he was born. Amir's father, referred to as Baba throughout the novel, had fathered a son, besides Amir. This son, Amir's “illegitimate half-brother” (237), had become Amir's servant and best friend; neither knew of their shared blood. “Under the same roof, we spoke out first words. Mine was “Baba”. His was “Amir”. I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975 – and all that followed – was already laid in those first words” (11). During

“I will never forget Baba's valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look on his face” (21). This single sentence is the sum of Amir's relationship with his father. Throughout his life, Amir felt like he constantly let his father down. Even when Amir was a child, Baba said to Rahim Khan, “There is something missing in that boy … A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything” (22). Eventually, after Baba's death, Amir got to prove that wrong. But as alienated as Amir felt from Baba as a child and an adult, Amir came to be much the same as his father. “As it turned out, Baba and I were more alike than I'd ever known. We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us” (226). While this is a negative declaration, it can also be seen in a positive light. While Baba didn't have the chance to repent for his sin, Amir did. “Rahim Khan had summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba's too”