The Kite Runner Close Reading Analysis

Close Reading of The Kite Runner The book The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, tells the tragic story of two boys, Amir and Hassan, who, despite being master and servant, manage to be friends in a torn Afghanistan. However, in an incident during which Hassan is raped, Amir stands by,watching, and then he runs away. The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, who is attempting to recover from his betrayal of Hassan, which has landed him where he is now. The last pages of this novel specifically target his redemption, with Hassan’s son Sohrab. The entire book, by being about Amir’s fall from grace, denotes a key idea: to advance in your future, you must first face your past. In the last pages of this riveting book, this theme is developed through

Amir has not mentioned his betrayal of Hassan to anyone, and ran away to America to escape his past. If Amir hopes to rewrite his past to move forward into his future, he must first “read” the old one. Amir decides to tackle this problem and as a result of this, “I smelled turnip qurma now. Dried mulberries. Sour oranges. Sawdust and walnuts. The muffled quiet, snow-quiet, was deafening. Then, far away, across the stillness, a voice of a man who dragged his right leg”(pg 370). Amir is beginning to face his past, by remembering the people he had betrayed, as well as the childhood he had with Hassan. Amir equates Sohrab with Hassan, because when Sohrab flies the kite in these last pages, Amir sees the “chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy”(pg 370) i.e. Hassan. This imagery further sets the scene for Amir to face his past, for not only is he where he fell from grace, but he is less than three feet from the person he betrayed. Then, something interesting happens- “Watch, Sohrab. I’m going to show you one of your father’s favorite tricks…(pg 369) Amir’s portrayal as a character is beginning to change. This new characterization places Amir in an important role- the teacher and the close family friend. Perhaps by extension, a father…… like Hassan. Amir has remembered his past, the first step into advancing into his future. But can he forgive himself for the betrayal of his best

For years, these words have haunted Amir with self-loathing and made the knowledge of his betrayal even more painful for him. Yet on page 371, Amir says those exact words to Sohrab. This shows Amir has forgiven himself for the former betrayal of his friend, becoming like Hassan in the aspect that Hassan always forgave others, no matter the crime. This use of characterization (as well as literary symmetry) shows Amir has forgiven himself, the second and last step in the process that will allow him to advance into his future, by facing his past. “But I’ll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting”(pg 371). This metaphor (and irony- he used to hate spring) shows the long cold winter of Amir not facing his past has been replaced with a renewed spring of uncertainty (the