‘The Kite Runner’ by Kahled Hosseini

AQA English Literature Spec B: Paper 2 (Option 2B)

Elements of political and social protest writing

 Kite Runner - Key Facts

Full title · The Kite Runner

Author · Khaled Hosseini

Genre · Bildungsroman; Redemption story

Narrator · The Kite Runner is narrated by Amir four days after the final events of his
decades-long story.

Point of view · The narrator speaks in the first person, primarily describing events that
occurred months and years ago. The narrator describes these events subjectively,
explaining only how he experienced them. At one point, another character briefly narrates a
chapter from his own point of view.

Tone · The tone is confessional, expressing profound remorse throughout the story

Tense · Past tense with extended flashbacks

Setting (time) · 1975 through 2001

setting (place) · Kabul, Afghanistan; California, United States

Protagonist · Amir

Major conflict · After failing to intervene in the rape of his friend Hassan, Amir wrestles with
his guilt and tries to find a way to atone for his actions.

Rising action · Forced out of Afghanistan by the Soviet invasion, Amir flees to the United
States, where he tries to rebuild his life until an old friend offers him a way to make amends
for his past.

Climax · Amir returns to Kabul, where he finds Hassan’s son, Sohrab, and encounters
Assef, the man that raped Hassan twenty-six years earlier.

Falling action · Amir rescues Sohrab from a life of physical and sexual abuse and struggles
to learn how he and Sohrab can recover from the traumas each has endured.

Themes · The search for redemption; the love and tension between fathers and sons; the
intersection of political events and private lives; the persistence of the past

Motifs · Rape; irony; regressing in time

Symbols · The cleft lip; kites; the lamb

Historical Background
The Rule of Kings in Afghanistan to 1973

In the nineteenth century, Afghanistan was largely under the influence of the United
Kingdom as part of its occupation of the Indian subcontinent. During this time, Britain fought
with Russia for control of Afghanistan which resulted in three Anglo-Afghan Wars (1838-42,
1878-80 and 1919).

In 1919 King Amanullah Khan took power which meant Afghanistan had a degree of
independence. King Amanhullah moved for self-governance which started the Third Anglo-
Afghan War. Afghanistan was granted full independent in 1921.

King Amanullah was forced to abdicate in 1929 and Habibiullah Kalakani took power. Nine
months later Kalakani was defeated and killed by Mohammed Nadir Khan – cousin of King
Amanullah.

Nadir Khan was assassinated in 1933 and succeeded by his nineteen year old son,
Mohammad Zahir Shah. Afghanistan was a peaceful country until 17 July 1973 when the
former Prime Minister Mohammad Sardar Daoud Khan seized power.

The Republic, unrest and civil war in Afghanistan: 1973-1992

Afghanistan remained a republic under Daoud Khan for five years. On 27 April 1978, the
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) overthrew Daoud Khan killing him and his
family.

In 1979 following uprisings and heavy reprisals, the government of the new Democratic
Republic had to call on Russia troops to help repress the uprisings. The Soviet Army carried
out attacks against Islamic rebels – who were supported by the USA – for the next nine
years. Russian troops finally withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989; however, the Soviet Union
continued to lend aid to the Afghan government until its collapse at the beginning of the
1990s.

The Islamic State of Afghanistan: 1992-2012

Without the support of the Soviet Union, the PDPA government was vulnerable and finally
overthrown on 18 April 1992 by a coalition of resistance fighters. The Democratic Republic
was replaced by the Islamic State of Afghanistan. However, following the withdrawal of the
Soviet Union – which had been the common enemy – different groups in Afghanistan turned
on each other.

As a reaction to this in-fighting and due to lack of Pashtun representation in the government,
the Taliban rose to prominence. By the end of 2000 the Taliban had control of the majority
of Afghanistan. The only opposition to the Taliban was the Afghan Northern Alliance who
were made up of Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras

Following the Al Qaeda attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001, the USA and its allies
attacked Afghanistan with the intention of overthrowing the Taliban government as the
Taliban had refused to help the USA find the Al Qaeda terrorists forces hiding in
Afghanistan. Furthermore the Taliban refused to help the USA find Osama bin Laden – the
leader of Al Qaeda.

The USA and its allies eventually removed the Taliban government I Afghanistan and Hamid
Karzai led an interim government to rule Afghanistan. On 9 October 2004, Afghanistan’s
first democratic election was held and Karzia was officially voted into the presidency.

Afghanistan remains a volatile and violent country; its infrastructure and economy are in
ruins as a result of the conflict. In October 2014, the USA and Britain ended their combat
operations in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Religion and Ethnic Groups

The population of Afghanistan includes many different ethnic groups. The Pashtuns
(Pushtuns), who make up more then half the population, have traditionally been the
dominant ethnic group. Their homeland lies south of the Hindu Kush, but Pashtun
groups live in all parts of the country. Many Pashtuns also live in northwestern
Pakistan, where they are called Pathans. Pashtuns are usually farmers, though a
large number of them are nomads, living in tents made of black goat hair. Male
Pashtuns live by ancient tribal code called Pashtunwali, which stresses courage,
personal honor, resolution, self-reliance, and hospitality. The Pashtuns speak
Pashto, which is an Indo-European language and one of the two official languages of
Afghanistan. In ‘The Kite Runner’ Baba and Amir are Pashtuns.

The Tajiks (Tadzhiks), are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. They live
in the valleys north of Kabul and in Badakhshan. They are farmers, artisans, and
merchants. The Tajiks speak Dari (Dari is the original language prior to Farsi then
later the name was changed to Persian by the Iranians), also an Indo-European
language and the other official language of Afghanistan. Dari is more widely spoken
than Pashto in most of the cities. The Tajiks are closely related to the people of
Tajikistan.

In the central ranges live the Hazaras. Although their ancestors came from the
Xinjiang region of northwestern China, the Hazaras speak an archaic Dari. Most are
farmers and sheepherders. The Hazaras have been discriminated against for a long
time, in part because they are minority Shiites (followers of Shia Islam) within a
dominant Sunni Muslim population. In the east, north of the Kabul River, is an
isolated wooded mountainous region known as Noristan. The Noristani people who
live there speak a wide variety of Indo-European dialects. In the far south live the
Baluchi, whose Indo-European language (called Baluchi) is also spoken in
southwestern Pakistan and southeastern Iran. In ‘The Kite Runner’ Ali and Hassan
are Hazaras.

To the north of the Hindu Kush, on the steppes near the Amu Darya, live several
groups who speak Turkic languages. The Uzbeks are the largest of these groups,
which also include Turkmen and, in the extreme northeast Vakhan Corridor, the
Kyrgyz people. The Kyrgyz were mostly driven out by the Soviet invasion and largely
emigrated to Turkey. All of these groups are settled farmers, merchants, and
seminomadic sheepherders. The nomads live in yurts, or round, felt-covered tents of
the Mongolian or Central Asian type.

Prior to the war important political positions were distributed almost equally among
ethnic groups. This kept ethnic tensions and violence to a minimum, though the
Pashtuns in Kabul were always the politically dominant group. In the mid-1990s
attempts have been made to reestablish shared rule; however, many of the ethnic
groups have sought a greater share of power than they had before the war, and
violence is a common result of the disputes.
 Critical Reception

First Reactions

As it was only published in 2003, ‘The Kite Runner’ has not yet acquired a body of extended
literary crtiicism. However, it has received a number of reviews and Hosseini has given
interviews about the novel which both help to form a useful guide to the novel and its critical
reception to date.

Edward However in the ‘New York Times’ (2003) commented on the ‘’powerful’’ nature of
the novel and praised it for its ability to mix the personal with the political and historical:

‘Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people
have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence – forces that continue to threaten
them even today’.

Ameila Hill in ‘The Observer’ (2003)

‘The Kite Runner is about the price of peace, both personal and political, and what we
knowingly destroy in our hope of achieving that, be it friends, democracy or ourselves.’

Sarah Smith in ‘The Guardian’ (2003)

‘’Hosseini loses his grip on events, however, in the final third of the book. Determined to
thoroughly redeem his protagonist, he creates a series of parallels that allow Amir to undo
some of his former wrongs, and a series of cringe-making coincidences that bring the story
full circle. Some of these may be close to poetic justice - as when he receives a split lip in a
beating, reminiscent of Hassan's harelip - but most of them are nothing but schlock. The
final plot twist is a tug too many on the reader's heartstrings and evokes impatience, rather
than distress.

I don't know if there is an Afghan equivalent of the warning against over-egging the pudding,
but it is advice that Hosseini would do well to heed. What starts as a fiercely moral but subtly
told story becomes an unconvincing melodrama, more concerned with packing in the action
than with fictional integrity’’.

Marxist Criticism

A Marxist critic would analyse ‘The Kite Runner’ in terms of which groups have the wealth
and power within the story.

Feminist Criticism

A feminist critic would analyse ‘The Kite Runner’ in terms of its presentation of women.

Beauty and Value

A follower of F.R.Leavis would examine ‘The Kite Runner’ in terms of its literary value and
make judgements on the complexity of the novel’s subject matter, subject and language.
 Critical Essays on ‘The Kite Runner’ taken from the EMAG Website

Flattering Portrayal? – Americans and Afghans in The Kite Runner

Dr Alistair Schofield questions the appeal of the novel for Western audiences and
asks why America seems to be painted in such a rosy light.

There are some fairly obvious reasons why The Kite Runner would appeal to an American
reader. America is presented to us as the ideal country in which to find refuge. Amir himself
becomes the embodiment of the American Dream: arriving in the country with next to
nothing, he becomes rich and successful. The central theme of redemption is one at the
heart of the American psyche. The American experience is a very positive one throughout.

But it isn’t only the presentation of America that is appealing to Americans (and to other
Western readers). The East has long been associated with romance and exoticism (those of
you studying Joyce, think ‘Araby’) and we are given glimpses of this exoticism through the
language, the names, the customs. But, and this is crucial, it is never scarily foreign, there is
never anything that a Western reader would find difficult to grasp. This is one of the many
aspects of the novel that Meghan O’Rourke finds unappealing:

People experience their lives against the backdrop of their culture, and while
Hosseini wisely steers clear of merely exoticizing Afghanistan as a
monolithically foreign place, he does so much work to make his novel
emotionally accessible to the American reader that there is almost no room, in
the end, for us to consider for long what might differentiate Afghans and
Americans.
M. O’Rourke: ‘The Kite Runner: Do I really have to read it?’, Slate magazine
(25.07.2005)

American Heroes and Foreign Villains?

This accessibility goes for the characterisation as well. Much has been said about Assef (or
‘the bullying, paedophilic, genocidal, Neo-Nazi rapist’ as one of my students called him), and
Hosseini goes to extremes in ticking a lot of demonising boxes in his portrayal of this
character so that, whatever your cultural background, you cannot help but find him villainous.

In the California of the novel, there is no hint of the intolerance that scars the experience of
many immigrants. In fact, there is an absence of right-wing politics and America is presented
as entirely liberal and welcoming.
But, then, what about the Republican reader, who is going to find this presentation of
America as a woolly liberal paradise off-putting? They find their saviour in the unlikeliest of
sources: Baba, Amir’s father. Baba, the very name smacks of paternalism, and it is Baba
who provides us with enough intolerance and right-wing rhetoric to satisfy any red-blooded
Republican. In Afghanistan he drives a Mustang, he hates Russia and Jimmy Carter (a
Democratic president), he loves Ronald Reagan (a Republican president) and, of course, the
idea of America though not, it turns out, the reality.

‘There are only three real men in this world, Amir,’ he’d say. He’d count them off
on his fingers: America the brash savior, Britain, and Israel. ‘The rest of them –’
he used to wave his hand and make a phht sound ‘– they’re like gossiping old
women.’
The macho way in which he reduces countries to ‘hard men’ is a reminder of the Westerns
that the boys loved. Their favourite was The Magnificent Seven. In this film, seven tough,
cool cowboys are recruited by poor Mexican farmers to protect their village against local
bandits. The cowboys would normally expect much more payment than the farmers offer, but
help them out of an uncharacteristic urge to do some good. They teach the villagers how to
fight, and together they defeat the bandits, and one of the seven even stays behind and
becomes a farmer. It is surely no coincidence that Hosseini has chosen this particular film. A
very reasonable interpretation is that it represents a grand narrative of American foreign
policy; that is, the story embedded within American culture that their foreign policy involves
the saving of a repressed people from a cruel and corrupt overlord. It is a film that, like
Hosseini’s novel, makes Americans feel good about themselves.

Israel, Britain and Germany

But, as Baba’s words suggest, Hosseini isn’t just making Americans feel good about
themselves, he widens his net to include Britain and Israel. The inclusion of Israel as one of
the ‘hard men’ is interesting. It seems a fairly random statement anyway, so why include a
side-swipe of flattery towards a country that is nothing to do with the story and with whom
the Arab world has been in conflict for decades? One can only guess that it is another
example of the author’s inclusivity: the Jewish readership need not feel that they are
excluded from this narrative.

Two nationalities that might have more cause to feel aggrieved are Germany and Russia.
Assef is half German and proclaims to Amir his admiration for Hitler. Amir retaliates by
quoting Baba, telling Assef that ‘Hitler was crazy’. Assef’s reply is another example of
Hosseini’s inclusivity:

Assef snickered. ‘He sounds like my mother, and she’s German; she should
know better.’

Whilst still hardly flattering, Hosseini is at pains to suggest very clearly that a character we
never meet, the only German in the novel, thoroughly disapproved of Hitler. German readers
may still not find the reference appealing but the author works hard to avoid offence here.

Representations of Russians

The Russians have a much tougher time of it. Baba hates Russia, and this is a reasonable
piece of characterisation, given that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 lasted for
nearly ten years and resulted in the deaths of more than a million of his countrymen. He
offers the toast ‘Fuck the Russia’ in celebration of his son’s graduation and this is met by the
‘bar’s laughter’. When he is ill he walks out on a doctor when he realises that he is Russian.

But these are fairly comical idiosyncrasies compared to the portrayal of the Russian soldier
who threatens to rape the married woman in the truck as the Afghans flee to Pakistan, and
who represents the only threat to Assef’s role as pantomime villain. The soldier is drunk,
singing an Afghan wedding song and has a ‘face like a bulldog’s, cigarette dangling from the
side of his mouth’. We never hear his voice: it appears in reported speech, serving to
dehumanise him further. We hear Baba’s words, however, and they are heroic, old-
fashioned and full of integrity:

‘Tell him I’ll take a thousand of his bullets before I let the indecency take place. ‘

Baba’s hatred of Russians may be understandable, but Hosseini’s demonisation of Russia

surely owes more to the character’s positioning as a Republican figure. The American
mistrust of communism runs very deep, and the cheers in the bar will be echoed by those of
many right-wing readers (and even Democrats, if my own Californian relatives are anything
to go by). We should beware of joining in with these cheers. Russia’s conflict with
Afghanistan is sometimes referred to as ‘The Soviet Union’s Vietnam War’, and this
immediately suggests hypocrisy in the presentation of the foreign policy of these two very
powerful nations.

For if The Magnificent Seven symbolises American foreign policy, then the truck scene more
specifically suggests the battle with Russia over foreign territory. And if the woman
symbolises the victim country and Baba represents America, then whilst the soldier wants to
rape the woman, Baba wants to save her. He won’t use violence unless he absolutely has to
but if he does then it will be furious and brave:

‘Tell him he’d better kill me good with that first shot. Because if I don’t go down,
I’m tearing him to pieces, goddamn his father!’

The presentation of Russia as imperialist rapist and America as chivalrous saviour is a

narrative device rather than historically accurate.

Republicans and Democrats

Amir is, of course, very different from his father, and this is what gives the narrative a lot of
its energy: much of his motivation for his actions in the novel is tied up with his desire to win
his father’s love. If Baba is the Republican, then Amir is surely the Democrat. He embraces
change by marrying an Afghan woman who is not a virgin; he is much more tolerant of
different people, and tries to persuade his father to see the Russian doctor (‘He was born in
Michigan. Michigan.’); he is in touch with his feelings, crying openly as an adult; he is also in
touch with his feminine side, displaying none of the macho traits of his father; and he is, of
course, a writer, not a businessman. Like Baba, many of his characteristics are not so
worthy. In the crucial rape scene, for example, he fails to intervene or even acknowledge
what is happening. Even as an adult in America he displays a solipsism that can be very
unappealing: ‘What about me, Baba? What am I supposed to do?’ he asks when his father
refuses to undergo chemotherapy. From a first paragraph packed full of first person
pronouns it is clear that this novel is about Amir, and he is remorselessly self-obsessed,
wracked with guilt and self-loathing. This uncertainty is a postmodernist trait that is very
different from his father’s self-confidence and bravado.

Protecting American ReadersHosseini, then, skilfully offers something for most

readers in his novel: the portrayal of Islam is reduced to arguments about God that
won’t scare off Christians; the novel is about Arabs but the Israelis are flattered, as
are the British; America is the big winner, portrayed as a country with a benign
foreign policy, and the home of freedom and democracy; those American readers put
off by the woolly liberalism offered by the narrator quickly find their hero in Baba, the
heroic right-wing giant. And it is in the opposition between these two characters that
Hosseini’s real talent for accessibility lies. Because they represent opposing
personalities that find resonance and appeal around the world.

Unless you’re Russian, that is.

Dr Alistair Schofield is Head of English at King Edward VI School Southampton.

This article was first published in emagazine 58, December 2012.

Stories, novels and films in The Kite Runner

Barbara Bleiman explores the role stories and storytelling play in Hosseini’s novel.

Khaled Hosseini’s decision to make adult Amir, the retrospective narrator of the events of
The Kite Runner, a writer, a professional storyteller, is no random choice. The novel is
peppered with references to story, from Rostam and Sohrab in the Shahnamah, to
Wuthering Heights and Ivanhoe. There are also numerous references to the Western films
and thrillers, and Hindi films that Amir and Hassan so loved to see at the cinema when they
were children. Amir tells stories to Hassan when they are small and begins to include ones
that he makes up himself. He writes his first story to the acclaim of Hassan and Rahim Kahn,
as a young boy, but fails to win Baba’s approval for it. Later, at the flea market in San
Francisco, General Sahib firmly reminds him that ‘everyone here is a storyteller.’ Amir’s
feelings about his father are shaped by the oral stories that have been told about him, the
folk myths that have grown up around him, in particular the story of Baba wrestling a black
bear in Baluchistan.

So storytelling in the novel is a continuing motif, used symbolically as well as literally. The
different traditions of storytelling jostle against each other, creating interesting contrasts and
comparisons and making the novel a fascinating mix of Eastern and Western traditions of
narrative.

Rostam and SohrabSome of the ways in which stories and films are used in the novel are
fairly clear and direct. The story of Rostam and Sohrab, for instance, has all kinds of
relationships to the story of Amir and recurs throughout the novel at key moments. It works
on a literal, as well as a symbolic level. Amir reads stories to Hassan from the Shahnamah
under the pomegranate tree and his ability to read is something that both signals his greater
power over words than Hassan’s but also their shared pleasure in stories, that fuel their
ideas of heroism and adventure. At a deeper level, however, the actual plot of Rostam and
Sohrab has echoes with Amir’s own story.

Rostam has a son, Sohrab, with Princess Tahmina. He leaves and doesn’t see his son and
writes a letter to Tahmina warning her not to reveal Sohrab’s true identity, for fear that he will
be killed by King Afrasaib, his greatest enemy. Sohrab, not content for his name to be kept
secret, plans to go and invade Iran, dethrone the king and make Rostam, his subject, the
king in his place. Afrasaib hears of this and engineers it that Rostam and Sohrab, who have
never seen each other, are pitted against each other in battle. While Sohrab suspects that
Rostam may be his father, Rostam has no such ideas. They fight in single combat and
Sohrab is fatally wounded. As he is dying, he tells of how he came to be there, drawn by
love for his father. Rostam sees on his arm the bracelet that he had given to Tahmina. He
realises, too late, that he has killed his own son.

The ultimately tragic relationship of father and son is echoed in Amir’s childhood love for his
father, Baba, and the failure of Baba truly to ‘recognise’ him as his son. As he says:

Baba and I lived in the same house, but in different spheres of existence.

Hosseini quotes a key passage from the story, where Sohrab in his dying words tells his
father:

If thou art indeed my father, then hast thou stained thy sword in the life-blood of
thy son. And thou didst it of thine obstinacy. For I sought to turn thee unto love,
and I implored of thee thy name, for I thought to behold in thee the tokens
recounted of my mother. But I appealed unto thy heart in vain, and now is the
time gone for meeting….
If the story has relevance in terms of the symbolic failure of Baba to recognise Amir as his
true son, then it also has significance in terms of Baba’s inability to acknowledge Hassan.
Hassan, like Sohrab, has his identity hidden and Baba’s failure to bring it out into the open
leads him to lose him forever, just as Rostam loses his son.

Interestingly, the Shahnamah also becomes a focus for showing Amir’s dishonourable
behaviour towards Hassan. Under the pomegranate tree, he pretends that he is telling the
stories as written, when in fact he is telling stories of his own. Even here, he is betraying his
friend.

A Western Narrative Style in America?

Unlike the traditional story from the Shahnamah, Baba and Amir are, ultimately reconciled
and perhaps this development, which happens in the American section of the book, takes its
style and trajectory from a different tradition of storytelling to that of the story of Hassan and
Baba, one where a more Western approach to psychological character development figures
more largely. Baba changes, from the larger-than-life figure of Amir’s childhood, a figure
more associated with legend than with normal, everyday anxieties and experiences. In
America, Baba not only changes as a character (showing greater vulnerability) but also is
characterised by Hosseini in a more Western novelistic style. The Baba who is described in
terms of folkloric stories of wrestling the bear, or shown rescuing the young woman on the
truck from Russian soldiers, in truly heroic fashion, is cut down to a figure belonging more to
the ‘realist’ tradition, whose drama is now portrayed as that of the man struggling to adapt to
a new society, to establish his son and fight the onset of a terminal disease.

American Film Heroes

While the story of Rostam and Sohrab, or more minor references to Mullah Nasruddin and
his donkey, stem from an Eastern tradition of storytelling, the child Amir is also swept up by
a passion for the narratives of the films that he sees (and in particular the American cowboy
films that he and Hassan watch). Amir’s retrospective account of his childhood is punctuated
by film references and, more often than not, these films become the measure by which he
judges his own actions. They provide him with a set of ideas about the nature of heroism in
particular, and both Amir and the reader are invited to question the extent to which Amir’s
behaviour, both as a child and as an adult, match up to the ideals of heroism that he
observes in the films.

In this early example, the question of likeness between Amir’s story and the stories in films is
focused primarily on the American actors, as the boys are stunned to discover these
American heroes of cowboy films.

We saw our first Western together, Rio Bravo with John Wayne, at the Cinema Park, across
the street from my favorite bookstore….Hassan and I were stunned. Dazed. John Wayne
didn’t really speak Farsi and he wasn’t Iranian. We saw Rio Bravo three times, but we saw
our favourite Western, The Magnificent Seven, thirteen times. With each viewing, we cried at
the end when the Mexican kids buried Charles Bronson – who as it turned out, wasn’t
Iranian either.

Later, however, there are other more subtle comparisons, drawing on the conventions of the
Western. When Amir decides to engineer the departure of Hassan by deceiving his father
about him, the adult narrator says, ‘this became clear. One of us had to go.’ which seems to
echo the classic Western phrase from the film The Western Code (1932):

This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.

Later, when Amir tries to make amends for his past, dishonourable behaviour, in rescuing
Sohrab and fighting Assef, the terms in which it is described are also subtly influenced by
these ideas of cowboy film heroism. When Farid takes him to the showdown with Assef, he
leaves him outside to wait for him in the car. Amir says, ‘I was on my own.’ The showdown
has to be one man pitted against the other, Amir meeting his nemesis and finally showing his
true grit, his heroic qualities. After the fight, despite the fact that it is Sohrab who comes to
his rescue (in an ironic twist on the Sohrab and Rostam story), Amir tells the doctor twice, ‘I
think I gave him a good fight.’

Assef – a Realist Figure?

If one considers the role of Assef, one can also see how his characterisation is influenced,
not so much by realist traditions of storytelling but by the other kinds of narrative that
Hosseini lays before us. Assef stands out as being an entirely villainous character. If one
applies criteria from the modern English or American novel to him, one might say he is a
stereotypical villain, too black and white to be credible and with little psychological subtlety or
interest. However, if one looks at him as emerging more from a different tradition of Eastern
storytelling, or Hindi films, or indeed the American Western or thriller, he fits much more into
place. He is the villain who will test Amir’s heroism.

So Hosseini uses storytelling and film from both East and West, to echo the events of the
novel, set up interesting comparisons and create a set of symbols for key aspects of the
novel, particularly around the theme of heroism and as ways of reflecting on the
relationships between Baba, Amir and Hassan. However, as I’ve tried to show, Hosseini’s
whole style of narrative also seems to be influenced by these different traditions of
storytelling, some parts of it more in keeping with folktale or legend, others following more of
the conventions of the Western tradition of the realist novel.

I argued at the beginning that it is not an accident that Hosseini makes Amir a writer and nor
is it insignificant that in the final chapter of the book the narrator comes back to films. He
talks of seeing The Magnificent Seven thirteen times and the different attitude to the ending
of a film in America and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, all that matters is the ending, he says,
whether the heroine is happy, whether the hero fulfils his dreams. Hosseini, in reaching his
own ending, offers us a conclusion that attempts to grapple with these different ideas about
the way a story should end.

If someone were to ask me today whether the story of Hassan, Sohrab, and me
ends with happiness, I wouldn’t know what to say.
Does anybody’s?
After all, life is not a Hindi movie.

Barbara Bleiman is Co-Director of the English and Media Centre.

This article was first published in emagazine 54, December 2011

The tragedy of the Kite Runner

Kieran O’Kelly argues that although the opening words promise a tale of self-
discovery and a journey into a personal past, The Kite Runner is a novel which
reaches out into the exploration of universal themes: suffering, betrayal, guilt and
redemption.

Becoming who we are

Hosseini wastes no time in indicating to his readers what his destination is in the novel. The
opening six words of the book, which are essentially repeated at the end of the third
paragraph to further emphasise their importance, seem to sum up a major theme when we
hear the author’s narrator tell us that the novel is going to be a journey of self-discovery into
his past in order to confront his demons and face up to what has made him who he is. The
reader’s appetite is whetted and curiosity aroused by the mention, in the first paragraph of
the novel, of the importance of the precise moment from his past in which his character was
formed.

The novel then appears to be a bildungsroman – a novel that explores what it is that makes
us who we are. However, through Amir’s determination to ‘save’ his half-brother’s son,
Sohrab, the novel also demonstrates the effect our early weaknesses can have and the
importance both of confronting these and of seizing any opportunity we can in order to
become the courageous person we aspire to be.

The novel’s effect on readers then is not just limited to the interest we may have in the
narrator’s story as it encourages us also to think about more universal themes such as the
extent to which our lives are determined by past events. How do we cope with the move
from the innocence of childhood to the experience of adult life?

A tragic paradox

The Kite Runner then can be read as a novel about the destructive consequences of
elemental themes such as guilt, betrayal, secrets and lies, deception, and jealousy.
However, it also shows how these terrible failings can be redeemed by equally powerful
qualities of loyalty, courage, love and redemption. So in the end The Kite Runner seems to
champion and celebrate those qualities that the author personifies in the character of
Hassan; a character whose selfless suffering and death makes him truly tragic. The novel
invites its readers to reflect on a paradox at the heart of both tragedy and, perhaps, the
human condition: how can evil done to an innocent and good person evoke not just pity and
despair at the injustice of his fate and the inhumanity of man, but also inspire goodness and
hope in those who have the courage to follow his example.

Past sins, present suffering

The Kite Runner, centred on the relationship between Amir and his father Baba and Amir’s
friendship with Hassan, has both the terrible inevitability of a tragedy and the realisation for
the reader that the suffering of the present is caused by a sin buried deep in the past: Baba’s
betrayal of his friend Ali. The tragic pattern of betrayal – and guilt – is repeated in Amir’s
relationship with Hassan, Baba’s illegitimate son and the product of his betrayal. The novel
offers the reader a story of psychological depth and complexity which resonates with its
readers as it shows how the sins of the fathers are visited on their sons. Amir’s desperate
search for approval from his father is rendered futile by Baba’s projection of his guilt onto
Amir.

The handling of time

Hosseini’s sequencing of events and the handling of time generates suspense. By starting
the novel at the end of the story, referring tantalizingly to a defining moment in the past,
Hosseini both captures the reader’s interest and introduces a key theme: the power of the
past to influence the present. Throughout the novel the author illustrates this theme through
the use of flashbacks and dream-like sequences.

Setting – more than a location

Hosseini’s use of Afghanistan as one of the settings for the novel does not merely add local
colour and exotic appeal for the Western reader. Hosseini uses the setting to present a way
of life and mindset which highlights the tragic nature of the story. For the novel seems to
challenges its readers to see how the pressure of a society’s prejudices can, in part, be to
blame for the deception, lies and rationalization to which people resort. Hosseini exposes the
harmful effects of the prejudices in Afghan society against both women and those like Ali
and Hassan who are regarded as socially or racially inferior. Assef, for example, believes,
sadly and quite correctly, that he can rape Hassan and get away with it simply because the
latter is a Hazara and a Shia while Assef, like Amir, is a Pashtun and a Sunni Muslim.
Perhaps one of the themes of The Kite Runner is to encourage its readers to strive for that
prelapsarian world that Amir, in the innocence of his childhood, believed would always exist:

we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion
was ever going to change that either.

Innocence and experience

The Kite Runner could be seen then as a tragic novel in that it shows how man can rarely
retain the innocence of childhood in the face of the grubby moral compromises that we seem
to have to make when we are tested. Yet the novel ends with a flicker of hope as Amir
achieves a sort of salvation through his attempts to repay his debt to Hassan: his successful
saving of Hassan’s son and Sohrab’s smile at the end of the novel seems to suggest some
sort of redemption is possible:

Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I
just witnessed the first snow melting.

The figurative language underlines Hosseini’s final picture of his narrator, as with the first
hopeful signs of his possible redemption he now feels able to imitate the actions and follow
in the footsteps of Hassan, the Kite Runner of the title.

The possibility of redemption

Yet is the ending of the novel convincing and realistic? Have we survived our journey with
Hosseini’s narrator without feeling manipulated and are we ready to be convinced and
inspired by his belief that he has in the future? Can we break free from the stranglehold of
our past ‘sins’ and return again to the innocence of our childhood as Amir believes he can?
Can we believe that everyone can find a way to be good again? Or is this simply what we,
like Amir (and perhaps Hosseini), want desperately to believe?

Kieran O’Kelly teaches English at Xaverian Sixth Form College in Manchester.

This article first appeared in emagazine 45, September 2009.

The opening of the kite runner

Barbara Bleiman introduces a novel which simply and movingly tells a story of lost
innocence across three decades and two continents.

The opening

December 2001

I became what I am at the age of 12, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of
1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall,
peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. 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.
Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realise I have been
peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.

One day last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked
me to come see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew
it wasn’t just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins. After I
hung up, I went for a walk along Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Golden
Gate Park. The early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of
miniature boats sailed, propelled by a crisp breeze. Then I glanced up and saw
a pair of kites, red with long blue tails, soaring in the sky. They danced high
above the trees on the west end of the park, over the windmills, floating side by
side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco, the city I now call home.
And suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in my head: For you a thousand times
over. Hassan the harelipped kite runner.

I sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan
said just before he hung up, almost as an afterthought. There is a way to be
good again. I looked up at those twin kites, I thought about Hassan, thought
about Baba, Ali, Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter 1975 came
along and changed everything. And made me what I am today.

Khaled Hosseini

The contract

In his book How Novels Work, critic John Mullan says:

The novel, that most accessible, democratic of literary forms, must establish its
contract with its reader. It may be helped or hindered by all sorts of extraneous
influences, cover design, encrustrations of quotation from admiring reviewers,
and the like. But it must also make its own way in the world.

The idea of the writer establishing a contract with the reader is an interesting one. It
suggests that the opening is a promise of something – ‘I hereby promise that in this novel
you will find the following…’ The promise is not only one about genre, subject matter or type
of character but also an expectation of narrative voice, structure and style. Of course, some
modern novels, in a deliberate flouting of conventions, consciously unsettle and confuse the
reader, with false expectations and surprises. But even then, there is a contract, albeit of a
different kind, a signal to the reader of what’s in store – ‘Don’t expect a conventional read –
I’m expecting a bit more from you than that!’

A conventional opening?
The opening to The Kite Runner makes its contract with the reader in a fairly conventional
way, promising us things we may recognise from other books of a similar genre. The chapter
starts with a date ‘December 2001’. A quick flick through the book reveals a different date
(and place) in Chapter 11, ‘Fremont, California. 1980s’ and the opening sentence of the
novel starts:

I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the
winter of 1975.

Here we have three timescales: that of an adult reflecting back, in 2001, on a critical set of
events in his childhood and on a later period of his early adult life. We may recognise this as
characteristic of the ‘rites-of-passage’ novel, a narrative which recounts the experiences of a
child protagonist, who ‘grows up’ through the events of the novel, becoming an adult who
has been shaped by these formative experiences. The first person narrator of The Kite
Runner gives heavy and portentous weight to that ‘frigid overcast day’, referring to ‘the
precise moment’ when something happened as he ‘peek[ed]’ into an alley many years
earlier, something that he concludes at the end of the first chapter ‘made me what I am
today’. A phonecall from a friend in 2001 takes him back to this period and his ‘past of
unatoned sins’ and the reader’s curiosity is aroused, as we become aware that the book will
reveal to us what these sins are. Half-way through the book, the present timescale of 2001
takes over as events in the adult narrator’s life take him back into the world of his childhood.

Establishing trust

The first person narrator of this opening chapter speaks to us confidentially, seemingly
without guile and without the intention of holding anything back. He tells us straight of his
own ‘sins’. He establishes trust with the reader. One might compare this with some other first
person narrators, who are less trustworthy and authoritative about their own stories, such as
the notoriously slippery narrator of Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier, or the half-
comprehending narrator of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

The opening of The Kite Runner promises us different timescales but also different places.
We have two worlds – that of a childhood in Afghanistan and a present in San Francisco,
‘the city I now call home.’ Proper names, introduced baldly:

I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul

evoke the Afghan setting simply, without explanation. The two worlds and two periods are
tied together by the central symbol of the book, the idea of the kite and kite-runner. In a
conventional device for shifting from the present to past memories, Hosseini makes the
witnessing of kites flying in Golden Gate Park the spark for memories of childhood events,
allowing him to take the reader back to the times when he and his friend Hassan were
partners in the local kite-running competitions in Kabul. Hosseini makes the symbol work for
him in other ways. The kites are a ‘pair’; they are ‘twin kites’; they are like ‘eyes’ looking
down on him. The identification of the kites with himself and Hassan, as twins or a pair,
introduces to us the idea of this central close relationship and the ‘eyes’ are a reminder of
the guilt that the narrator feels, at this stage unexplained but associated with the kites and
the relationship.

Simplicity and poise

The final paragraph of the opening chapter sets us up for the shift to those childhood events.
The narrator’s memories of the past are stirred and Chapter 2 takes us straight into them, as
we might have expected it would:

When we were children, Hassan and I used to climb the poplar trees…

The Daily Telegraph review of The Kite Runner remarks that it is told with ‘simplicity and
poise’ and the Independent talks of ‘the tones of memory and nostalgia [...] reminiscent of
those classic European novellas of innocence bruised by experience.’ Another review from
Globe and Mail Canada comments that ‘There is no display in Hosseini’s writing, only
expression.’ We can see all of this in the first chapter. Hosseini is working within a ‘classic’
genre – the rites-of-passage novel – offering us much of what we might expect from that
genre rather than drawing our attention to the telling in ways that make us question it. The
lack of ‘display’ is regarded by the Canadian reviewer as a strength, something that is ‘a
lesson for all budding novelists’. While the style and form may be a particularly poised
version of a traditional form, what marks out The Kite Runner as being different is its use of
the ‘classic European’ rites-of-passage narrative to tell a story that has its heart in
Afghanistan and is part of a quite different modern tradition of post-colonial writing. The
‘hare-lipped’ boy who is introduced in the opening chapter, the idea of the alley and the hard-
and-fast concepts of guilt and wrongdoing, the effects of which last into adult life, prepare us
for a moral universe that is perhaps more absolute and certain than that of many of the more
self-conscious and experimental narrative writers of our times. The opening chapter makes a
contract with the reader letting us know that we are in for a delicately drawn, emotionally
engaging experience, rather than a difficult, demanding or tricksy read.

Barbara Bleiman is editor of emagazine.

This article first appeared in emagazine 41, September 2008.

Themes, Motifs, & Symbols

Motif and Theme
In a literary work, a motif can be seen as an image,
sound, action or other figures that have a symbolic
significance and contributes toward the development of
theme. Motif and theme are linked in a literary work but
there is a difference between them. In a literary piece, a
motif is a recurrent image, idea or a symbol that
develops or explains a theme while a theme is a central
idea or message.
Motif and Symbol
Sometimes, examples of motif are mistakenly identified
as examples of symbols. Symbols are images, ideas,
sounds or words that represent something else and help
to understand an idea or a thing. Motifs, on the other
hand, are images, ideas, sounds or words that help to
explain the central idea of a literary work i.e. theme.
Moreover, a symbol may appear once or twice in a
literary work, whereas a motif is a recurring element.

Themes
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.

The Love and Tension Between Fathers and Sons

Amir has a very complex relationship with Baba, and as much as Amir loves Baba, he rarely
feels Baba fully loves him back. Amir’s desire to win Baba’s love consequently motivates him
not to stop Hassan’s rape. Baba has his own difficulty connecting with Amir. He feels guilty
treating Amir well when he can’t acknowledge Hassan as his son. As a result, he is hard on
Amir, and he can only show his love for Hassan indirectly, by bringing Hassan along when
he takes Amir out, for instance, or paying for Hassan’s lip surgery. In contrast with this, the
most loving relationship between father and son we see is that of Hassan and Sohrab.
Hassan, however, is killed, and toward the end of the novel we watch Amir trying to become
a substitute father to Sohrab. Their relationship experiences its own strains as Sohrab, who
is recovering from the loss of his parents and the abuse he suffered, has trouble opening up
to Amir.

The Intersection of Political Events and Private Lives

The major events of the novel, while framed in the context of Amir’s life, follow Afghanistan’s
transitions as well. In Amir’s recollections of his childhood, we see the calm state of Kabul
during the monarchy, the founding of the republic, and then watch as the Soviet invasion and
infighting between rival Afghan groups ruin the country. These events have a hand in
dictating the novel’s plot and have significant effects on the lives of the characters involved.
The establishment of the republic gives Assef an opportunity to harass Amir, simply because
Assef’s father knows the new president. Later, Kabul’s destruction forces Baba and Amir to
flee to California. When the Taliban take over after that, they murder Hassan and even give
Assef a position that lets him indulge his sadism and sexual urges without repercussions.
Both of these events factor into Amir’s mission to save Sohrab and his redemption by
confronting Assef, subtly implying that Afghanistan will similarly have its own redemption one
day.

The Persistence of the Past

All the characters in the novel feel the influence of the past, but none so much as Amir and
Sohrab. In Sohrab’s case, his past has been so traumatizing that it affects all his behavior.
The prolonged physical and sexual abuse he endured makes him flinch anytime Amir
touches him. He also fears the abandonment he experienced when his parents died so
much that he attempts suicide when Amir says he may have to go back to an orphanage.
For Amir, the past is always with him, from the book’s first sentence, when he says he
became what he is today at the age of twelve, to its final sentence. That’s because Amir
defines himself by his past. His feelings of guilt for his past actions continue to motivate him.
Amir even feels responsible for the Taliban murdering Hassan because he thinks he set in
motion the events that led to Hassan’s death when he pushed Hassan and Ali out of Baba’s
house. As he says on the book’s first page, the past can never be buried.

Religion and Ethnicity

Baba and Amir are not devout Muslims. The only times Amir reverts to prayer is during
times of fear and distress. However, Amir’s religion and ethnicity play a key part in the
narrative for him and other characters.

Although Amir’s journey is one of redemption this is tied up with the idea of what it means to
be an Afghan. Part of the problem in Amir’s relationship with Baba stems from Baba’s fixed
ideas as to what an Afghan man should be like. Baba’s image of himself as an Afghan
informs both his bravery in the face of the Russian soldier and also his anger and confusion
when asked for identification at the American mini-market. Baba’s ethnicity is an integral
part of him and so, when Amir does not match up to his image of what it means to be an
Afghan man this drives them further apart.

The suggestion that Amir does not fit in as an Afghan is reinforced by the ease with which he
slots into American society. This is demonstrated by his descriptions of his studies in the
USA, his house and his success as a writer. It is also clear from how he feels upon his
return to Afghanistan. Amir tells Farid he feels like a tourist in his own country and Farid
replies that Amir has always been a tourist. The attainment of Farid’s respect coincides with
Amir finally feeling more comfortable in this home country.

The tensions between the Pashtuns and Hazaras runs throughout the novel. The teasing
and bullying of Ali and Hassan occur because of their ethnicity and the befriending by Baba
and Amir of these Hazaras is unique as it crosses an ethnic divide. Baba appears to have
more enlightened opinions than many of his fellow Afghans and passes on his liberal
attitudes to Amir. However, Amir does not act upon these beliefs until the end of the novel
when he tells his father-in-law to refer to Sohrab by name rather than by his ethnic group. In
the story Ali and Hassan are presented as being more devout than Baba and Amir.
However this devotion does not save them from the Taliban as Ali and Hassan are Shi’a
Muslims and the Taliban are Sunni Muslims.

Farid demonstrates the same discriminatory views as were present in Amir’s childhood,
showing that this is still a problem in Afghanistan.

Storytelling
The whole narrative of the novel is told to the reader as a story with Amir setting the scene
for us at the beginning and providing the background and then narrating the story from its
end point. As a narrator, Amir constantly intrudes into the story, foreshadowing events to
come and reminding us that we are being told a story.

The symbolism of storytelling is reinforced when Amir tell us of the stories he read to Hassan
as a child and about his development into a novelist. The actual nature of what we are told
in regularly foregrounded which forces the reader to interpret the story for its underlying
meanings rather than to accept it at face value.

The stories which are told in the novel all have symbolic value because they are stories
about friendship and loyalty. The stories that Amir reads to Hassan form a large part of thei
bond but are also used by Amir to tease and bully Hassan. Later, however, the provide
Hassan with a name for his son – a reference to his friendship with Amir and a gesture of
forgiveness too. The ultimate conciliation of Amir and his father comes when Amir discovers
that Soraya has been reading his stories to Baba. This act of acceptance finally enables
Amir to see his father’s love for him.

In the story, stories also relate to teaching and learning whether it is Amir’s mother’s book
being the source of her teaching materials, Amir failing to teach Hassan to read of Soraya
teaching her servant to read. So, when Amir has finally learned his lesson he buy a copy of
the book that he used to share with Hassan. Rather than using it to mislead and teas, he
now plans to use it to build a bridge with Soharab.

Theft

The concept of theft is explored throughout the novel and is presented in many different
ways. Although Baba tells Amir: ‘’…there is only one sin only one. And that is theft’’ (Ch 3)
However, Baba commits the sin of theft by concealing the truth about Hassan’s parentage
thus denying Hassan and others the right to knowing the truth. Baba tells lies because of his
concern for honour. In America Baba is outraged when a shopkeeper asks him for
identification: ‘Does he think I’m a thief?’’ (Ch11). Baba’s strict code of honour makes the
thought of being accused of a thief anger him yet he cannot see his hypocrisy that he stole
the right to know the truth from Hassan, Ali and Amir by hiding the truth about Hassan’s
parentage. Amir states in Ch18: ‘…I was learning that Baba had been a thief. And a thief of
the worst kind, because the things he’d stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I
had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor. His nang. His namoos’’

Baba’s father was killed when a thief broke into his home and killed him. ‘’When you kill a
man you steal a life’’ (Baba to Amir in Ch3)

Aseef steals from many people. He steals innocence and happiness from Hassan and
Soharab. As a member of the Taliban he steals many people’s lives as well as their right to
freedom.

Both Amir and Hassan are ‘robbed’ of their mothers. Amir carries a huge burden of guilt as
he believes he was to blame for his mother dying whilst giving birth to him. Hassan is
robbed of his mother when she runs away.

Amir frames Hassan as a thief when he hides his birthday watch and money under Hassan’s
bed. This act robs Ali and Hassan of their way of life and Baba of a friend and son.
Honour and Pride

The Pashtun words for honour are ‘nang’ and ‘namoos’

The Pashtun code of honour prevents Baba from revealing the truth about Hassan’s
parentage: ‘’It was a shameful situation people would talk. All that a man had back then, all
that he was, was his honor, his name’ (Rahim Khan to Amir in Ch17)

In terms of marriage, honour is an important concept. When arranging Amir’s marriage to

Soraya Baba states to the General that ‘’You are honorable people…from distinguished and
reputable families and proud lineage’’. The General replies that: ‘We are honored to
welcome the son of a man such as yourself into our family…Your reputations precedes you’.
(Ch 13)

Baba’s strong sense of honour and pride prevent him from accepting charity and he works
regardless of how menial the job is.

The concept of honour is of particular significance for Afghan women. Soraya points out the
double standards that apply to women: ‘’Their sons go out to nightclubs looking for meant
and get their girl friends pregnant, they have kids out of wedlock and no one says a
goddamn thing. Oh, they’re just men having fun! I make one mistake and suddenly
everyone is talking nang and namoos, and I have to have by face rubbed in it for the rest of
my life’’ (Ch14)

Wahid calls Amir: ‘’…an honorable man… A true Afghan’ (Ch19) Do you think Amir is an
honourable man?

Loyalty and Betrayal

Hassan is incredibly loyal to Amir: ‘’Everywhere I turned, I saw signs of his loyalty, his
goddamn unwavering loyalty’’ (Ch8)

However Amir does not repay the loyalty and stands by as Aseef rapes Hassan. Amir
reflects that both he and Baba: ‘’…had betrayed the people who would have given their lives
for us. (Ch8)

However, Amir is loyal to Soraya as he doesn’t let her past affect his opinion of her and he
is loyal to Soharab as he doesn’t leave Afghanistan without him.

Baba shows loyalty to Amir as he goes to America to give Amir a better life and supports him
in his writing career.

Truth and Lies

In his letter to Amir in Ch23 Rahim Khan writes: ‘’I am ashamed for the lies we told you all
those years…the Kabul we lived in those days was a strange world, on in which some things
mattered more than the truth’’.

Baba lies about Hassan’s parentage, Amir pretends that Hassan stole his birthday watch
and money and Amir lies about Hassan’s rape.
 Motifs

Rape
Rape recurs throughout the novel. The most significant instances of rape are Assef’s rape of
Hassan and his later rape of Sohrab. Hassan’s rape is the source of Amir’s guilt, which
motivates his search for redemption, while stopping Sohrab’s rape becomes Amir’s way of
redeeming himself. In each case, rape is a critical element in the novel’s plot. Other
instances of rape include Baba stopping the rape of the woman in the truck with them as
they flee Kabul, and the rape of Kamal that Kamal’s father implies. As a motif, rape is
important for multiple reasons. It is not just physically violent, but it is also an attack on the
victim’s emotions and dignity. Rape in this sense represents complete physical and mental
domination of those who don’t have power by those who do, and the victims of rape that we
see in the novel, most notably Hassan and Sohrab, always suffer lasting emotional trauma.

Pomegranates

Pomegranate as symbol of resurrection and redemption.

In Christianity, the pomegranate can be seen as a symbol of resurrection and life everlasting
in Christian art, the pomegranate is often found in devotional statues and paintings of the
Virgin and Child.

The pomegranate also figures into Islamic stories. The heavenly paradise of the Koran
describes four gardens with shade, springs, and fruits—including the pomegranate. Legend
holds that each pomegranate contains one seed that has come down from paradise.5
Pomegranates have had a special role as a fertility symbol in weddings among the Bedouins
of the Middle East.14 A prized pomegranate is selected and split open by the groom as he
and his bride open the flap of their tent or enter the door of their house. Abundant seeds
ensure that the couple who eat it will have many children.

According to the Quran, the gardens of paradise include pomegranates. It is important, tradition says,
to eat every seed of a pomegranate because one can't be sure which aril came from paradise." And
pomegranates protect the eater from envy and hatred.

This tree, which was seen in both the beginning and end of the novel, is symbolic of the relationship
that Amir and Hassan shared.

Early in Amir and Hassan's friendship, they are often seen spending their time visiting a pomegranate
tree at the top of a hill in their home town, where they carved the words:

"Amir and Hassan, Sultans of Kabul...Those words made it formal: the tree was
ours."
This was done while their friendship was young and carefree, and in terms of the pomegranate tree, it
was also fruitful. (Not in the pregnancy way, Assef already failed at that..)

After Hassan's incident in the alley, their relationship took a turn for the worst.

The two half-brothers barely spoke, and from Amir's side, it was a forced relationship: Hassan was very
good at being a good friend.

Later on, as they were once again relaxing by the tree, Amir dared Hassan to hit him with a
pomegranate.
 Hassan being the loyal friend and Hazara, subtly declined.

This triggered the guilt inside of Amir for watching Hassan get raped, so he lashed out trying to arise
the same anger in Hassan.

Amir continued to throw pomegranates at Hassan until finally, when Amir had exhausted himself,
Hassan took the fruit and smashed it on his own head.

 This shows how Hassan, in any given situation, always puts Amir before himself.
 This was a turning point in their friendship in that after this moment, this tree was only symbolic
of Amir's bitterness and guilt.

When Amir returns back to Kabul on his search for Sohrab, he revisits the tree only to find it shriveled
and dying.

 This resembles the relationship between Amir and Hassan, after learning that Hassan is dead.
 The loss of childhood is evident in this tree because at the beginning, the tree was full of life.
Now that Hassan is gone and Amir is left with this undying guilt, he finds the tree shriveled and
decaying

Kites

The kite serves as a symbol of Amir’s happiness as well as his guilt. Flying kites is what he
enjoys most as a child, not least because it is the only way that he connects fully with Baba,
who was once a champion kite fighter. But the kite takes on a different significance when
Amir allows Hassan to be raped because he wants to bring the blue kite back to Baba. His
recollections after that portray the kite as a sign of his betrayal of Hassan. Amir does not fly
a kite again until he does so with Sohrab at the end of the novel. Because Amir has already
redeemed himself by that point, the kite is no longer a symbol of his guilt. Instead, it acts as
a reminder of his childhood, and it also becomes the way that he is finally able to connect
with Sohrab, mirroring the kite’s role in Amir’s relationship with Baba.

Slingshot

The slingshot appears chapter 5 when Hassan and Amir were being bullied while
playing in their pomegranate tree.
·In order to save Amir from being hurt, Hassan took out his slingshot as a weapon:
"I turned and came face to face with Hassan's slingshot. Hassan had pulled the wide
elastic band all the way back. In the cup was a rock the size of a walnut. Hassan held
the slingshot pointed directly at Assef's face. His hand trembled with the strain of the
pulled elastic band and beads of sweat had erupted on his brow." (42)
This defense not only represents how Amir is saved, but also the strength it symbolizes.
Hassan is able to stand up for he believes is right, even though he is fearful of the
consequences.
It shows his bravery and loyalty to Amir.
The slingshot also is something Amir did not have: the ability to fend for himself.
Hassan saved Amir from any trouble they have ever gotten into: breaking the neighbor’s
window or even stealing money.
Hassan always stood by his brother; Amir never possessed the same loyalty.
The slingshot also reappears when Amir is trying to save Sohrab, Hassan’s son, from Assef.
Assef is beating Amir to the point where it seems like Amir is going to die till little Sohrab
enters the scene.
"His hand was cocked above his shoulder, holding the cup of the slingshot at the end
of the elastic band which was pulled all the way back...Sohrab had the slingshot
pointed to Assef's face."
This weapon reappears and saves Amir’s life again.
It represents the bravery that Hassan and Sohrab embodies and shows the potency that
Amir lacks.

‘For you a thousand times over’

This saying was said first after the Kite Fighting Tournament when the two Afghani boys,
Amir and Hassan, had just won the entire event.
Hassan wanted to “run down” the kite that Amir had cut down because it was the “ultimate
prize.”
Amir wanted the kite so badly to show Baba his victory and finally win his approval.
Hassan went out to get that blue kite for Amir because he felt Amir deserved the prestige
and honor that came with the kite.
Hassan says this reoccurring saying to express his loyalty to Amir.
He is willing to do whatever action to please Amir.
The exaggerated “thousand” shows the length Hassan is willing to go for to make his friend
happy.
However, the feeling is not mutual.
Amir just wants the approval of his father that he is willing to sacrifice his best friend,
Hassan, for that paternal praise.
This phrase illustrates the compassion and love Hassan has for Amir.
This saying is also repeated again at the end of the novel when Amir is flying kites with
Sohrab.
After cutting their first kite down, Amir runs after the kite they cut down.
While running after the kite thinks to himself, “For you a thousand times over,” to show the
love and compassion he wants and will give to Sohrab.
"I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn't care. I
ran with the wind blowing in my face and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on
my lips. I ran." (371)
By the end of the novel, Amir realizes that he must be able to sacrifice for this child, just like
the way Hassan would sacrifice for him.
It brings this novel to a full circle because Amir is finally getting redemption.
In order for Amir to receive full forgiveness for his sins, he must take care of Sohrab as best
as possible.
Amir is going to get that absolution too because he finally ready to be selfless and take care
of someone else, which is why he says to himself:

Bear anecdotes
“Baba wrestled bears his whole life. Losing his young wife. Raising a son by himself.
Leaving his beloved homeland, his watan. Poverty. Indignity. In the end, a bear had
come that he couldn’t best. But even then, he had lost on his own terms” (174)

Khaled Hosseini’s “bear” metaphor woven skillfully throughout The Kite Runner is rife with
symbolic value central to the plot and wider meaning of the novel. To understand the
symbolic significance of the various bear anecdotes, readers must have a thorough
understanding of many of the novel’s wider themes, including the taxing nature of
unrepented sins, the tension between father and son, and the quest for redemption..
All in all, the bear anecdote is told three times throughout the novel, each time in a slightly
different context and therefore with slightly different symbolic value. Each occurrence is
described below:

1. First Occurrence: A Description of Baba

 The first time readers encounter the bear anecdote is on the very first page of third
chapter, when Amir uses it to characterize his father, Baba:
 “Lore has it my father once wrestled a black bear in Baluchistan with his bare
hands,” the tale begins. After commenting on the Afghani tradition of laaf, or great
exaggeration, Amir continues: “But no one ever doubted the veracity of any story
about Baba…I have imagined Baba’s wrestling match countless times, even
dreamed about it. And in those dreams, I can never tell Baba from the bear (12)
 In this instance, the tale of Baba wrestling an intimidating black bear serves a very
specific function: By coupling the story with the assertions that many Afghans have a
tendency to exaggerate, yet the validity of Baba’s violent encounter is never doubted,
Amir’s recount of the black bear anecdote serves to portray Baba as a larger than
life, intimidating figure upon whom Amir looks with more a sense of detached
reverence and intimidation than familial love.
 The anecdote is therefore a powerful representation not only of Baba’s strength and
notable reputation throughout the neighbourhood, but also of the nature of his
relationship with Amir at this point in the novel: the relationship is impersonal, fuelled
more by fear than by love.
 Amir does not admire his father or appreciate his father’s strength, but rather, is in
awe of it, a fearful, speechless awe that forges the two apart and makes it near
impossible to foster a meaningful relationship.
 The fear and awe with which Amir looks upon Baba is evident by the final and
perhaps most important line of the anecdote: “I can never tell Baba from the Bear”
 At this point in the novel, we could assume that this merging of Baba and Beast is
youthful Amir’s way of expressing the fear he feels for his father. Baba is very clearly
a behemoth of a man, in terms of his esteemed reputation in the community, is
impressive posture, his moral fortitude, and the coldness and unwaveringness with
which he disciplines Amir.
 As the novel progresses, however, and readers learn more about Baba’s personal
life and struggles, the image of Baba wrestling the bear takes on new symbolic
significance
 As we recall, Amir learns later in the novel that there was depth and a reasonable
explanation to Baba’s morose, cold, calculating personality: like Amir, Baba’ was
“wrestling” with his own sins.
 Much to Amir’s chagrin, it is discovered that Baba actually sired Hassan, making
Amir and Hassan half brothers.
 With this being said, Baba was perpetually burdened by the guilt of a negligent
father: though he wanted to embrace Hassan as his son and publicly proclaim his
love for both his children, society’s string unwritten law prevented him from doing so.
  Hazara blood flowed through Hassan’s veins, rendering him and his immediate family
socially inferior to Pashtuns Amir and Baba.
 To publicly embrace Hassan, therefore, would bring ignominy to the esteemed family
name. This was Baba’s internal struggle; neglect of Hassan was his unrepented sin.
 When viewed through this frame of reference, the anecdote of Baba wrestling the
bear takes on new symbolic significance: physical act of wrestling a bear is
analogous to the metaphorical act of Baba “wrestling” his sins.
 The act of Baba merging with the bear, therefore, implies that one “merges” with their
sins: that one is inseparable from their sins, and sins comprise an integral part of
one’s identity.

2. Second Occurrence: Baba's Deathbed

 The second time we meet the symbolic bear is on Baba’s death bed, as Amir gazes
upon his deceased father and reflects on Baba’s emotional rollercoaster of a life.
 At this time, Amir remembers the anecdote, and thinks:

Baba wrestled bears his whole life. Losing his young wife. Raising a son by himself.
Leaving his beloved homeland, his watan. Poverty. Indignity. In the end, a bear had
come that he couldn’t best. But even then, he had lost on his own terms” (174)

o Most notable here is a dramatic shift in the effect produced by the bear
anecdote:
 Whereas the first occurrence created a sense of reverence and
distance between Amir and Baba, this time, the bear anecdote is
conveyed with a sense of intimate admiration; of the father-son
respect and love one would expect between Amir and Baba.
 The bear is a testament to Baba’s strength as a man, not to his
intimidating growl as a distant father figure.
 The phrase “even then, he had lost on his own terms” adds to the
sense of admiration and respect established with this anecdote.

3. Third Occurrence : Amir's Hallucination

 Finally, the third and final time we meet the bear is in Amir’s injury-induced
hallucination, immediately following Amir’s brawl with Assef:

They roll over a patch of green grass, man and beast, Baba’s curly brown hair fluing.
The bear roars, or maybe it’s Baba. Spittle and blood fly; claw and hand swipe. They
fall to the ground with a loud thud and Baba is sitting on the bear’s chest, his fingers
digging in its snout. He looks up at me and I see He’s me. I am wrestling the bear.
(295)

 In this final encounter, the anecdote could possibly serve a number of purposes:
 Firstly, it is important to note that though it was always Baba who was wrestling the
bear, this anecdote replaces the image of Baba with the image of Amir himself.
 Studied in isolation, (Assuming that the clawed, furry beast is indeed a bear and not
Baba, ignoring the fact that Amir states that they are indistinguishable) the fact that
Baba has actually morphed into Amir is indicative of one thing: Amir is growing up.
He is becoming his father.
  The theme of maturation and the journey into adulthood is aptly demonstrated by the
transformation of Baba into Amir: whereas Baba was once someone Amir admired
(or feared) from afar, sensing nothing but distance or respect for the most
respectable man, now Amir sees himself as that man. He has literally grown into the
adult he once so passionately admire
 The cause of this maturation could be any number of things: Amir has realized his
dreams of publishing novels, has been married and felt “the tenderness of a woman,”
and perhaps most importantly, at this point Amir feels that he has repented for his
sins by retrieving Sohrab
 This leads us to another possible explanation of Amir’s presence in the bear brawl:
That Amir has taken on his father’s unrepented sins.
 Keep in mind, in its first occurrence, the bear represented the sins that Baba
grappled with, namely his negligence as a father.
 Now, in a way, Amir has become a father: he has taken in Sohrab, his half-brother’s
son.
 It could be said, therefore, that Amir has “adopted” his father’s sins: The sins never
went away, since Baba died and never forgave himself. The transgression, therefore,
is now Amir’s to grapple: he must prove his worth and repent by proving to be a
caring father to Sohrab.
 A third possible interpretation of the anecdote is that the clawed being is actually
Baba (Amir does state or maybe it’s Baba). As to why Amir would be wrestling his
father, I’m not quite sure. Perhaps Baba cannot die in peace…because his
transgression went unforgiven? So he must literally wrestle forgiveness from his
son ,so that he may rest in peace? I really don’t know, but tell me what you think!

Wounds and scars

Wounds/scars are used to highlight the differences between a character‘s physical appearance and his
or her internal world. Those characters that are disfigured physically (Hassan, Ali, Baba) seem to be
internally (morally) strong. Those characters that are physically strong (Amir, Assef) are flawed
internally.

Hassan’s cleft lip is one of his most representative features as a child, and it is one of the
features Amir refers to most in describing him. The split in Hassan’s lip acts as a mark of
Hassan’s status in society. It signifies his poverty, which is one of the things that separates
him from Amir, simply because a cleft lip indicates that he and his family do not have the
money to fix the deformity. Baba, who is Hassan’s biological father, chooses to pay a
surgeon to repair Hassan’s lip as a birthday gift, signifying his secret fatherly love for
Hassan. Later, Assef splits Amir’s lip as he beats him, leaving Amir with a permanent scar
much like Hassan’s. In a sense, Amir’s identity becomes merged with Hassan’s. He learns to
stand up for those he cares about, as Hassan once did for him, and he becomes a father
figure to Sohrab. Because of this, it also serves as a sign of Amir’s redemption.

The Lamb

In Islam, as in Christianity, the lamb signifies the sacrifice of an innocent. Amir describes
both Hassan and Sohrab as looking like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Amir says this
during Hassan’s rape, noting that Hassan resembled the lamb they kill during the Muslim
celebration of Eid Al-Adha, which honors Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son for God.
Similarly, he describes Sohrab as looking like a slaughter sheep when he first sees Sohrab
with Assef. Assef and the others had put mascara on Sohrab’s eyes, just as Amir says the
mullah used to do to the sheep before slitting its throat. Both Hassan and Sohrab are
innocents who are figuratively sacrificed by being raped, but these sacrifices have very
different meanings. In Hassan’s case, Amir sacrifices him for the blue kite. But in Sohrab’s
case, Amir is the one who stops his sexual abuse. In this context, sacrifice is portrayed as
the exploitation of an innocent.

Mirrors
Mirrors as a weapon to reflect the faults of others, but not turned on oneself.

Sickness

Characters seem to experience a loss of spirit, loss of themselves around the motif of
sickness.
Baba‘s cancer comes at a time when he has become powerless, unrecognizable as his
former self.
Rahim Khan is no longer surrounded by those he cares about.
Jamila seems to yearn to sing professionally but doesn‘t because of her husband and
instead finds pleasure in describing everything that is wrong with her.
Amir‘s car sickness comes hand-in-hand with his guilt about Hassan.
Colour Symbolism

Green is the colour of Islam. However, in Western literature it can symbolise both envy and
innocence. It is perhaps significant that Hassan’s clothes are green which symbolises his
innocence and perhaps Amir’s envy of him.

Blue – is associated with Amir’s guilt. Hassan runs for a blue kite for Amir and the market
trader Amir meets just before Hassan’s rape has a blue turban.

Red - perhaps symbolise blood and violence. It appears significant that on the first day of
the tournament Amir wears and red scarf and Hassan a green scarf

White snow – appears to be used as a symbol of innocence being destroyed as after the
rape Hassan’s blood ‘stained the snow black’. In the final chapter the snow perhaps
suggests a new beginning and fresh start for Amir.

Dreams

Regret or guilt

Multiple dream sequences:

Hassan‘s dream – ―‘There is no monster, just water.‖ Hassan is afraid to go into the lake
because he fears there is a monster. Amir jumps in to show there is no monster. Later
Hassan says just before the kite flying contest, ―‘Remember, Amir agha. There‘s no
monster, just a beautiful day‘‖(59-61). Later, Amir recalls this dream and states, ―I was the
snake in the grass, the monster in the lake‖ (105).
Amir‘s memories – ―Did you know Hassan and you fed from the same breast?‖ (73). The
fortune-teller looks solemnly at Hassan (74). Lost in the snowstorm (74). All these recur to
Amir as he watches Hassan in the alley with Assef. Later, Amir recalls the slaughtering of
the lamb for Eid (76).
 Analysis of Major Characters

Amir

The central character of the story as well as its narrator, Amir has a privileged upbringing.
His father, Baba, is rich by Afghan standards, and as a result, Amir grows up accustomed to
having what he wants. The only thing he feels deprived of is a deep emotional connection
with Baba, which he blames on himself. He thinks Baba wishes Amir were more like him,
and that Baba holds him responsible for killing his mother, who died during his birth. Amir,
consequently, behaves jealously toward anyone receiving Baba’s affection. His relationship
with Hassan only exacerbates this. Though Hassan is Amir’s best friend, Amir feels that
Hassan, a Hazara servant, is beneath him. When Hassan receives Baba’s attention, Amir
tries to assert himself by passive-aggressively attacking Hassan. He mocks Hassan’s
ignorance, for instance, or plays tricks on him. At the same time, Amir never learns to assert
himself against anyone else because Hassan always defends him. All of these factors play
into his cowardice in sacrificing Hassan, his only competition for Baba’s love, in order to get
the blue kite, which he thinks will bring him Baba’s approval.

The change in Amir’s character we see in the novel centers on his growth from a selfish child
to a selfless adult. After allowing Hassan to be raped, Amir is not any happier. On the
contrary, his guilt is relentless, and he recognizes his selfishness cost him his happiness
rather than increasing it. Once Amir has married and established a career, only two things
prevent his complete happiness: his guilt and his inability to have a child with Soraya.
Sohrab, who acts as a substitute for Hassan to Amir, actually becomes a solution to both
problems. Amir describes Sohrab as looking like a sacrificial lamb during his confrontation
with Assef, but it is actually himself that Amir courageously sacrifices. In doing this, as
Hassan once did for him, Amir redeems himself, which is why he feels relief even as Assef
beats him. Amir also comes to see Sohrab as a substitute for the child he and Soraya cannot
have, and as a self-sacrificing father figure to Sohrab, Amir assumes the roles of Baba and
Hassan.

Hassan

If Amir’s character arc is about growth, Hassan’s arc is about not changing at all. From the
start and through his death, Hassan remains the same: loyal, forgiving, and good-natured.
As a servant to Baba and Amir, Hassan grows up with a very particular role in life. While
Amir prepares for school in the morning, Hassan readies Amir’s books and his breakfast.
While Amir is at school getting an education, Hassan helps Ali with the chores and grocery
shopping. As a result, Hassan learns that it is his duty to sacrifice himself for others.
Furthermore, by nature he is not prone to envy, and he even tells Amir he is happy with what
he has, though he sees all the time how much more Amir has. Hassan comes across as the
personification of innocence as a result, and this innocence is crucial in creating the drama
and symbolism of his rape by Assef. First, Hassan’s innocence gives Amir no justifiable
reason to betray Hassan. Amir’s behavior cannot be rationalized, making it consummately
selfish and reprehensible. Second, Hassan’s rape becomes the sacrifice of an innocent, a
recurring motif in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism that carries a great deal of symbolic
meaning.
Baba

In his words and actions, Baba sets the moral bar in the novel. When Amir is a boy, Baba’s
major concern about him is that he doesn’t have the courage to stand up for himself,
demonstrating that Baba places great value on doing what is right. If Amir cannot take of
himself as a boy, he worries, he will not have the strength to behave morally as an adult.
Baba follows through on these beliefs in his own behavior. When he and Amir flee Kabul, he
is willing to sacrifice his life to keep the Russian guard from raping the woman with them,
and in doing so he sets the example that Amir will follow later when he must choose
between saving himself or doing what he knows to be right.

What the reader sees of Baba from Amir’s narrative is not the full story, however. As Amir
describes him, he is proud, independent, determined, but sometimes emotionally distant and
impatient. We learn from a note Rahim Khan writes to Amir toward the end of the book that
Baba was a man torn between two halves, specifically between Amir and Hassan. Amir
never sees Baba’s inner conflict because Baba has very much separated his outward
appearance from his internal emotions. For instance, Baba builds an orphanage, which
appears to be a simple act of charity. But as Rahim Khan explains, Baba built the orphanage
to make up for the guilt he felt for not being able to acknowledge Hassan as his son. Baba’s
hesitation to reveal his emotions causes Amir to feel that he never knows Baba completely,
alienating Amir from Baba while Amir is growing up.

The move to America is very difficult for Baba, who is used to being wealthy and well-
respected in his community. He goes from having wealth and a position of power to working
a low-paying job at a gas station and living modestly. Yet his relationship with Amir
improves. Baba, as Rahim Khan explains in his note, felt guilty over his rich, privileged life
because Hassan was not able to share in it. When he no longer has his wealth, his guilt
diminishes, and with Hassan not around, he is not straining uncomfortably to act one way
with Amir and another with Hassan. As a result, he is able to open up more with Amir, and
the two grow much closer in Baba’s final years. Despite the fact that he lost everything he
had as a refugee, he dies genuinely happy, feeling proud of Amir and perhaps happy that he
was able to build the relationship he always wanted with at least one of his sons.
 Overview of the novel

Chapter 1

Summary

 Amir, the narrator and main character of the novel, tells us about a telephone call he
received six months earlier. It was from his father’s old friend Rahim Khan, asking
him to come to Pakistan.
 After the call he gook a walk to the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco where he
now lives and watched kites being flow.
 Amir remembers his boyhood friend Hassan and an event from his childhood in
Afghanistan in which he watched something happen in an alley.
 Amir reflects how that event has moulded him as a person.

Points of interests (Themes/Motifs/Structure/Character)

 Amir as the narrator is introduced.

 Key characters of Rahim Khan, Hasssan, Baba and Ali are introduced.
 The motifs of kites and ‘for you a thousand times over’ are established.
 The theme of redemption is introduced: ‘There is a way to be good again’
 Hosseni uses flashback - ‘’frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975’’ to establish the
importance of this event.
Chapter 2

Summary

 Amir looks back on his childhood and remembers his friend Hassan – a family
servant who was from a lower ethnic group, the Hazara.
 Amir remembers how he and Hassan would get into touch with Baba and how
Hassan would take the blame.
 Amir tells us that his mother died giving birth to him and that Hassan’s mother left
him five days after giving birth to him.
 We learn that Hassan’s father, Ali, suffers from polio.
 Amir discovers that his own people, the Pashtuns, have persecuted Hassan’s people,
the Hazras, for a long time.

Points of interests (Themes/Motifs/Structure/Character)

 Told in flashback – Amir and Hassan as young children.

 Motif of scars and wounds is introduced on page 3 as well as how Hassan’s physical
appearance marks him out as being different to Amir - Hassan has a ‘face like a
Chinese doll’ page 3 AND ‘Ali had a congenial paralysis of his lower facial muscles, a
condition that rendered him unable to smile and left him perpetually grim-faced’’
(page 3)
 Motif of the slingshot is introduced on page 4 and the reader learns of Hassan’s skill
‘’…he was deadly with the slingshot’’ page 4
 The theme of loyalty is introduced and we see Hassan’s undying loyalty to Amir: ‘’…
he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the
neighbor’s dog, was always my idea’’ page 4
 The theme of father /son relationships is introduced. We learn that Baba refuses
allow Amir to sit with I after dinner (page 5) and that in a picture of Amir as a new
born baby, ‘…it’s Rahm Khan’s pinky my fingers are curved around’ (page 5)
 The theme of religion and ethnicity is introduced. We see how Ali and Hassan are
bullied because they are Hazaras ‘’Who did you eat, you flat-nosed Babalu?’’ (page
6) and how the Pashtuns have historically persecuted the Hazras: ‘’…I read that my
people, the Pashtuns, had persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras’ (page 9)
Chapter 3

Summary

 Amir remembers time spent with his father during his childhood and how he is a
disappointment to his father. However, Amir loves his father very much and is
anxious for his approval.
 Baba is seen as a great man by those around him.
 Amir becomes interested in reading and writing to compensate for Baba’s lack of
interest in him.
 Amir believes Baba blames him for the death of his wife.
 Amir overhears Baba talking to Rahim Khan about how much more manly Hassan is
and that he cannot believe Amir is his son. Amir then takes out his resentment and
jealousy on Hassan.

Points of interests (Themes/Motifs/Structure/Character)

 The motif of the bear is introduced on page 12 which establishes how Amir fears his
father – ‘I can never tell Baba from the bear’ page 12
 The themes of theft and lies are introduced on page 16 when Baba states that
‘’There is no act more wretched than stealing’ page 16
 The theme of father son/relationships is presented on page 18 when Amir reveals
that Baba is disappointed in him: ‘…fathering a son who preferred burying his face in
poetry books to hunting….well, that wasn’t how Baba had envisioned it, I suppose.
Real men didn’t read poetry – and God forbid they should ever write it! Real men –
real boys – played soccer just had Baba had when he had been young’ (page **)
 The theme of father /son relationships is developed at the end of the chapter when
Baba tells Rahim Khan ‘If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my
own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son’. (page 22)
 Chapter Four

Summary

 We learn about the religion of Hassan and Amir, and how Amir uses his hierarchy to
his advantage.
 We get an insight into Amir’s writing and how Baba dismisses it, but Rahim Kahn
praises him for it.
 The killing of Daoud Kahn at the end of the chapter.

Chapter Five

Points of interest

Hassan’s operation to fix his cleft lip

Summary

 Misunderstanding between Aseef and Hassan and Amir

 Hassan’s ‘birthday present’ –operation to fix cleft lip.

Chapter Six

Points of interest

Inequality of ethnicities shown

Conflict between Aseef and gang and Amir and Hassan –slingshot

Summary

 Inequality of ethnicities shown

 Slingshot scenario

Chapter Seven

Points of interest

The rape of Hassan –climax of the story

Summary

 Hassan’s dream
 The kite competition
 Rape of Hassan
 Praise of Amir
 Chapter Eight

Points of interest

Jalalabad

Summary
 Ali’s worry of Hassan at the beginning of the chapter, wondering what happened to
him after the competition –Amir lies to him and changes the subject.
 Amir and Baba go to Jalalabad
 Slow separation of Hassan and Amir
 Pomegranates
 Summer 1976
 Birthday party for Amir

Chapter Nine

Points of interest

Amirs birthday
Hassan and Ali leave

Summary
 Amir’s birthday/ opening presents
 Amir sneaks his watch into Hassans bed, supposed to be a kind act but ends up
getting Hassan in deep trouble with Baba
 Baba forgives him, Amir doesn’t understand why –here we see his jealousy
 Ali and Hassan leave

Chapter 10

Points of interest

March 1981
Trouble with the Russian soldiers on the way to Kabul
Flashback to Friday afternoon in Paghman with Hassan
Intense violence all over the country, wherever baba and Amir go, they are risking
their lives

Summary

 March 1981
 Baba almost gets shot by a Russian soldier
 Baba and Amir live life in a basement as a refugee in Jalalabad for a bit
 Baba and Amir go to Pakistan
 Kamal’s father shot dead
Chapter 11

Points of interest

Fremont, California 1980s

1983 – Baba not used to American life; almost starts a fight with owners of corner shop who
ask him for ID

Summer 1983 –Amir graduated high school

Baba and Amir set up stalls at a flea market

Amir meets Soraya

Summary

Baba and Amir have made it to America; however Baba is still afraid to fully live.

In the summer of 1983, Amir graduates high school and plans his future (going to college,
what he wants to do when he is older etc)

Amir meets Soraya at the flea market

Chapter Twelve

Points of Interest/Summary

Yelda

Amir begins to make excuses to see Soraya

May 1985 –Amir had ‘aced’ all of his classes at college

Summer 1985 – Amir properly spoke to Soraya for the first time

Amir gradually gets more confident around Soraya and they small talk for a few weeks

Baba gets a cold –turns out as Cancer

Amir and Soraya arrange their marriage

Chapter Thirteen

Points of Interest/Summary

The ceremony of “giving word” at the Taheri’s home

Amir and Soraya married

Amir thinks of Hassan, whether he is married

Amir and Soraya sleep together for the first time

Soraya suggests moving in with Baba and Amir, and does so

Baba gradually gets more and more ill

Baba dies

Baba’s funeral

Amir and Soraya move into a 1 bedroom apartment in Fremont

Summer 1988 –Amir finishes his first novel

Soraya and Amir try for a baby

Soraya finds out she cannot have a baby

Soraya and Amir move into a house in Bernal Heights in San Francisco

Chapter Fourteen

Summary/ Points of Interest

June 2001

Rahim Kahn gets sick

Amir’s father-in-law breaks his hip and goes to live with them for a bit

Amir goes to Pakistan

Chapter Fifteen

Summary/Points of Interest

Amir arrives in Peshwar

He realises how different it is now –warzone

He visits Rahim Kahn

Chapter Sixteen

Summary/ Points of Interest

Rahim is the speaker

He tells Amir everything about his time with Hassan after Amir and Baba had left, (Hassan is
now married with a son, Hassan’s mother Sanaubar came and died, how he was massacred
in 1998 by the Taliban).

Chapter Seventeen

Summary/Points of interest
Amir is the speaker again

Rahim Kahm gives Amir the letters from Hassan

Amir finds out that Hassan is his half-brother

Amir refuses to go find Sohrab and storms out of Rahim

Chapter Eighteen

Points of Interest/Summary

Amir flashes back to him and Hassan, blaming himself for never noticing the obvious

He goes back to Rahim Kahn

Chapter Nineteen

Points of Interest/Summary

Amir, Farid and Rahim Kahn go to Peshwar

They go to Wahid’s for dinner

Amir has a nightmare

They say goodbye to the family and travel on

Chapter Twenty

Points of Interest/Summary

They go to Jalalabad

They find the new orphanage

They find out that Sohrab has been moved from the orphanage so they leave and travel
elsewhere

Chapter Twenty-One

Summary/Points of Interest

They go to the Wazir Akbar Kahn district

He frequently flashes back to how Hassan and he used to be

They drive south towards Pashtun Square

Amir and Fahrid stay over at a hotel for the night

Chapter Twenty-Two

Summary/Points of Interest

They go back to Wazir Akbar Kahn

Amir goes in to rescue Sohrab

Amir discovers that the leader of the Taliban is Aseef

Amir discovers that Sohrab is sexually abused regularly by Aseef

Amir and Aseef fight

Amir escapes with Sohrab

They make it back to the car where Fahrid is waiting and Amir passes out

Chapter Twenty-Three

Summary/Points of Interest

Amir keeps fading in and out –he is in hospital in Peshwar, he has a punctures lung

Fahrid and Sohrab visit him in hospital

Amir reads over Rahim Kahn’s letter again

Amir discharges from the hospital, gets his money together and goes to Islamabad

They stay in a hotel room

Sohrab runs off to the temple

Amir rings Soraya and asks her if they can adopt Sohrab

Amir takes Sohrab and they go to try and adopt him officially and take him back to the US –
they are denied

Amir rings a lawyer to fight his case about adopting Sohrab and taking him back to America

Sohrab’s attempted suicide

Chapter Twenty-Four

Summary/Points of Interest

The hospital –Amir is sick with worry about Sohrab, but he is eventually able to go in and
see him. Sohrab is in the hospital for weeks.

Sohrab stops speaking for a year

They arrive home in August 2001

Sohrab is given a warm welcome by the family

Sohrab is still silent

The twin towers are attacked on the 11th of September, America bombed Afghanistan, the
Northern Alliance moved in. huge sense of terror/war in this chapter –how it I always around
us and has never left.
March 2002, they fly kites again

Amir runs the kite for Sohrab, just like Hassan did for Amir.