THE KITE RUNNER, Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, is one the bestselling novels of our time. The fact that it has sold over four million copies, only in the US, is a hint of how successful it is.
The first chapter of the book takes place in San Francisco, the year 2001. A man in his fifties sits in a café, reflecting upon his childhood in Kabul. He’s the narrator, so the book is written in first person perspective. The overall language is not sloppy and not strict; it’s mostly everyday language.
The story focuses on the relationship between two Afghan boys --- Amir, the novel’s narrator and the son of a respected Kabul businessman, and Hassan, the son of Ali, a servant in the household of Amir’s father. Hassan is as loyal as you can be to Amir, even thought Amir occasionally treats him bad. And when the districts bully, Assef, beats Amir to the ground, Hassan steps between them and take all
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In the book, redemption is so important because sin is lasting. A great quote from the book is “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.” It’s Amir who says this, referring to his betrayal of Hassan, and how he always is reminded by his …show more content…
It’s got everything that a book needs; friendship, betrayal, love and the power of forgiveness. The first part, about Amirs life in Kabol is, in my opinion, close to perfect. With just a sentence here and there, Hosseini manages to express the mood between the characters. And the way he describes the details -- the beauty of a winter morning in Kabul, the sights and smells of the marketplace and the thrill of the kite flying tournament -- is very capturing. On the negative side, I think the second part, isn’t as good as the first. I don’t know why, but it just not as capturing. But overall, the book is fantastic, and it’s no surprise that the book has become so
The protagonist, Amir, is a Sunni, Pashtun and the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant. Throughout his life, Amir has received every materialistic want but has always felt the need to please his father, his Baba, and share a deeper connection with him. This is shown when Amir says, “We’d had a fleeting good moment-it wasn’t often Baba talked to me, let alone on his lap-and I’d been a fool to waste it.” And “I didn’t want to disappoint him again.” Likewise, Amir feels a sense of jealousy every time Baba praises Hassan and he receives the attention that Amir constantly longs for.
Amir can not be forgiven for how he treats Hassan because Hassan is loyal to Amir but Amir isn’t loyal and wouldn’t help him with anything as shown in the book. Amir just stood at the end of the valley while Hassan was rapped. Hassan stood up for Amir when kids were bullying him. Hassan shot one of the bullies in the eye with a slingshot. This is said in the book “But perhaps you didn’t notice that I’m the one holding the slingshot.
For the most part I enjoyed the novel as I began reading because I am intrigued by different cultures like to compare and contrast between each other. One of the things that I liked about the book, was that it was fairly fast paced and not as dull or slow as some of the other books that I have read throughout other classes. Just reading up to where we are I found the messages in the previous chapters to be quite moving especially the one where Hassan smashes the pomegranate on his head, symbolizing the second rape, in front of Amir. The “conflict” between Hassan and Amir, I feel makes the reader pick sides, which many of whom would be on the side of Hassan. Due to the fact that throughout the novel he doesn 't let go of the loyalty he has to his best friend, despite what Amir has done to him.
Since he was a child, Amir has been struggling with the guilt he has because of his betrayal to Hassan. Khaled Hosseini uses the theme of redemption to show the reader the difficulty of Amir trying to make up for his actions. Amir goes through many difficult trials through his life but the most prominent is the road to redemption he goes on to forgive himself for his betrayal to Hassan. At the beginning of the novel we see Amir in America answering a call from Rahim Khan. After the call Amir says “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it.
Amir is not capable of asking for forgiveness from Hassan. He rather have the guilt reside in him then apologize. His reluctance to apologize for his actions prolongs the time he holds his guilt. Amir’s pride had stopped him from ever fully redeeming
The author provides the reader with mixed feeling about Amir. In his childhood in Kabul Amir comes off as heartless person. He is this because he has done evil stuff in his life. In the beginning of the story something bad happens to Hassan, Amir says,¨In the end, I ran.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini explicates the life of the main character Amir, and his relationship with his childhood best friend Hassan. Throughout the novel, Hosseini uses irony to show the growth and improvement of Amir’s character. Back when Amir and Hassan were little they used to be close. As children, they used to participate in Kite Fighting tournaments. One day, they went to Kabul with Amir’s father, Baba, to buy kites for the new season.
The connection between the relationships of Hassan and Amir and then Amir and Sohrab thrive off of the conflicts and the recurring motifs throughout the novel. Amir lived his redemiton and his loyalty through Sohrab, trying to make what he did to Hassan feel like less of a burden on his shoulders. There are many different ways for one to redeem themselves, but there is no better way to show loyalty than to be present in a time of
In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the author leads the reader to believe that Amir, in the beginning, is selfish. At the start of the book, he shows Amir making fun of Hassan's illiteracy, along with making many snide remarks. By doing this, Amir is subtly reminding Hassan of his superiority. Amir also gives us another glimpse of his selfishness when he watches Hassan get raped. Amir decides to be a bystander instead of standing up for his good and faithful friend because he is afraid of getting hurt.
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, Amir struggles to cope with his inaction during Hassan’s rape. Overwhelmed with guilt, Amir devises a plan to get Hassan and Ali dismissed so they would no longer be a constant reminder of all the times Hassan had protected him and his failure to do the same. The guilt of betraying Hassan burdens him for years, and even after he and Baba move to America, he carries the weight of his actions with him. However, after he accepts Rahim Khan’s request to rescue Sohrab and bring him to safety, Amir strives to leave behind the selfishness and cowardice he had previously succumbed to. Amir progressively begins to forgive himself for his injustices towards Hassan as he recognizes his evolution from a coward
To an extent, Amir does put his past behind him (Antonucci).” He spent all this thought on Soraya that he doesn’t remember the past. His wife got a miscarriage which Amir thought that this was karma and his sins are getting to him. He wanted to fix this and meet up with Hassan for his own benefit so his sins and guilt can leave him and that he can be free. He didn’t even know that Hassan died but knew that Amir would come back because guilt beats all.
Amir is haunted by this guilt even when he is a grown man. He did redeem himself with Sorhab, adopting him and his sacrifices to save Sorhab. No matter what you have done, you can always have forgiveness. I agree with this but in this case Amir didn’t even help Hassan when he was being raped, I don’t think that could be
Ashmita Bhatnagar Ms. Kanika Dang 29th November 2015 Khaled Hosseini in his novel the Kite Runner Explores the theme of sin and atonement “There is a way to be good again” Life is all about second chances, there are many mistakes committed by us in the past and the present. The novel the kite runner explores the mistakes committed by Amir and always hoped to atone the sins. Sins committed weigh on one’s conscience and it’s not every day that one gets an opportunity to redeem their misdoings.
The writer also makes use of the pronoun ‘I’ throughout the poem. Using a personal pronoun illustrates the fact the text is about self-reference. The person who is narrating the story is Amir. For this reason, this text can be thus regarded as having a narrative literary style.
Writing style: Khaled Hosseini uses descriptive language rather than metaphors and similes. The use of Khaled Hosseini descriptive language creates an illusion where the reader is able to picture what the author wishes them to see, they then are able to connect with characters and grow a bond with them. Along with descriptive language Khaled Hosseini does use a few stylistic techniques such as foreshadowing. The novel starts off with Sabbor telling a bedtime story to his kids, Abdullah and Pari. Khaled Hosseini started the novel off with Saboor (the two main characters’ father, Abdullah and Pari) Before Saboor’s, Abdullah’s, and Pari’s trip to Kabul, Saboor tells the children a bedtime story about a farmer who sacrifices his youngest son to