The Message and Meaning of The Kite Runner

Although I don't believe The Kite Runner to be AP worthy, the book does have multiple, powerful themes. A particularly evident theme in the novel is the importance of coming to terms with one's past.   Linked to this theme is the necessity of love in one's life and the how it is damaging to define people based upon a few actions or qualities. All of the themes in the novel come together to show that forgiveness and love can triumph over prejudice, guilt, and hatred.

     From the time Amir is twelve, when he watches Hassan get raped by Assef, to the time he is a full grown adult, living with Soraya in California, he never escapes the guilt of his past.  Amir's guilt haunts him, driving him to do things that are out of character.  At the mere mentioning of Hassan's name after Amir's graduation, the narrator writes "a pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan's name"(134).  Amir guilt prevents him from telling Soraya, his wife, the full story of his life, and leads to him pushing Hassan, his best friend and brother, away.  It is not until Amir travels to Afghanistan and redeems himself, atones for his sins, that he can live with a clear consciousness. As Rahim Khan describes Baba's guilt driven motivation he writes "what true redemption is[…] when guilt leads to good" and there is a clear connection to Amir's struggle(302).

     Before Amir's struggle with guilt, is his struggle for his father's love, which ties into a thematic idea regarding the importance of love in one's life.  While in the narrator's case it primarily applies to Baba, it has greater span than that of a father's love.  Throughout all of Amir's childhood he works to gain his father's affection, works to "show him […] that his son was worthy, evening putting down his best friend, Hassan, in order to do so(56). It pains Amir to put down Hassan and he regrets it. However, he is desperate for his father's approval.  Only when the two arrive in America does the bond between them become apparent.  Amidst the chaos of moving and adjusting, Amir finds happiness when father starts treating him as an equal.  Contrasting Amir's and Baba's relationship is the relationship between Hassan and Ali. Although the two have less than Amir and Baba, they have a strong relationship based upon love and live more happily.

     Multiple characters in The Kite Runner are defined by a singular or limited viewpoint.  Hassan and Ali are persecuted because they are simply Shia and Hazara.  Similarly, Soraya is treated like a disgrace because she had a failed marriage. In both cases, the characters go through great pain.  The same process also goes in the opposite direction. Assef is a wealthy Pashtun, and most treat him with respect because of that. Yet in reality, he is a pretty terrible individual.  Baba after having a child, Hassan, with a Hazara women, in order to protect his honor cannot accept Hassan as his son, and is only able to love him from a distance.  While it is not the primarily theme of The Kite Runner, the destructive nature of discrimination is shown through multiple viewpoints in the book.

     When The Kite Runner concludes, Amir, Sohrab, and Soraya have found happiness.  Amir has forgiven himself and feels that he has redeemed himself in the eyes of Hassan.  The biggest message I took from the ending was of the power of forgiveness, and this is an increasingly relevant message. Polarity and division have lead to more and more conflict and hatred, and it's forgiveness that ends this cycle.  In showing this message, the book reminded me again of the Song of Solomon when Milkman understands and forgives Guitar beneath the gum tree. I think the more people that value the hidden strength of forgiveness, the more peaceful the world will become. At least that would be ideal, I'd enjoy it.

Chapters 23-End: An AP Worthy Conclusion?

The last quarter of The Kite Runner details the return home of Sohrab and Amir from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it picks up right after the duo's escape from the now single-eyed Assef. After fleeing Kabul, the two are brought to Peshawar, Pakistan, where Amir can recover from his surgery;  while he was unconscious, Amir received surgery that saved his life, and that gave him a harelip like that Hassan had.  As Amir awakes, he learns of his conditions and meets Sohrab for the first time. Rahim, although he has left Pakistan to die in peace, leaves Amir with two things: the first being the knowledge that Baba "was a man torn between two halves"(301), loving both Amir and Hassan, and the second being Sohrab.  The adoption agency Rahim told Amir he could leave Sohrab with is determined never to have existed.  With the Taliban threat driving him out of Peshawar, Amir ultimately brings Sohrab to Islamabad and realizes there that he wants to adopt the boy.  However, problems arise in the adoption process and Amir learns he must briefly leave Sohrab in an orphanage, an act Amir promised never to do.  In response, Sohrab tries to kill himself and the narrator's response is horrifyingly realistic:     "Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming. Screaming through my clenched teeth. Screaming until I thought my throat would rip and my chest explode"(343).

      Despite this terrifying moment, Amir and Sohrab ultimately complete their voyage home, and as the two began to find happiness in San Francisco I was left wondering whether or not the book was at an AP level. Before I start critiquing and praising the novel, I do want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I think that everyone would benefit from reading it. The Kite Runner has many powerful themes, uses strong literary techniques, and does all of that in an environment that I personally wasn't very familiar with.  However, that is not to say that I believe it should be in the AP curriculum.  While the novel has some incredible aspects, I would not put it in the AP curriculum, but instead have it used in another English or social studies class.  

     The literary merit of The Kite Runner begins very strongly.  Ethnic tension, honor, revolution, and love are only a few of the major components in the first couple of chapters.  The Hazara and Pashtun divide echoes many classic conflicts, from the Protestants and Catholics to the struggle of slaves and freedmen in nineteenth century America.  Hosseini's use of flashbacks, Afghani language, as well as his poetic style of writing create a emotional narration tinged with regret. Themes like the importance of love in a person's life can be seen in Amir's struggle for his father's love and the effects of the past on one's present can be seen in Amir's inability to accept his own history.

     Despite the great literary merit in the beginning of the novel, The Kite Runner had multiple qualities that led me to think it may not suit an AP class.  Throughout the entire book, irony was not particularly prominent, and although I loved the techniques used, some of them did not feel particularly original.  Maybe it was because I had just read The Song of Solomon, but the use of a journey myth detracted from the the novel.  The journey myth technique made for fast, enjoyable reading, yet in it was lost the narrative feel and the realism that strengthened the themes in the book.  Additionally, the book did not leave lots of room for interpretation, or varying opinions.  This is beginning to feel like nitpicking, so I will stop.  The Kite Runner is an incredible book, and from it l learned many new things about Afghanistan and Afghani culture.  I would recommend this book to everyone as one to enjoy and learn from, but I do not believe the book is suited for an AP English class.

           

Chapters 15-23: Wow, This is Just like a Journey Myth

     As I finished reading and understanding the next section of The Kite Runner, I started to grasp some of the book's major themes as well why I believed it to be AP worthy.  That being said, when I tried to think of what to post (usually a Sunday night affair), I kept coming back to simply how much I enjoyed the book, especially the journey myth aspect of it.  Similarly to The Song of Solomon, the first half to five-eighths of The Kite Runner primarily introduces the characters and setting, and the following part introduces the hero's journey.  While I found this first part to be more interesting and readable than that of The Song of Solomon, there was a stagnant aspect of it that emphasized a lack of development in Amir.

     Chapter fifteen begins shortly after the first part of Amir's "call to adventure", during which he flies to Peshawar, Pakistan to visit Rahim Khan.  Rahim is dying, being described by Amir as "a thing made of skin and bones pretending to be Rahim" (197).  Despite Rahim's condition, the two quickly reconnect and reform the bond that existed between them, sharing their lives that formed since their separation.  The conversation loses its brightness as the topic shifts towards conditions in Afghanistan and the Taliban.  Rahim tells Amir that after the fall of the monarchy, different factions claimed territories within Kabul and the city and civilians paid the price: " 'If you went from the Shar-e-Nau section to Kerteh-Parwan to but a carpet, you risked getting shot by a sniper or blown up by a rocket-if you got past all the checkpoints, that was.' "(199).  In the midst of this chaos, the Taliban arrive and create stability, conquering Kabul like heroes.  Yet Kabul begins to deteriorate under the Taliban, and Rahim, and the other inhabitants of Kabul, learn that their stability is not a pleasant one.  In order to maintain Baba's house as well as preserve his own sanity, Rahim seeks out Hassan.  Rahim learns Hassan has a wife, Farzana, and the two later have a son named after Hassan's favorite hero, Sohrab.  Together, Hassan's family joins Rahim in Baba's house and they are later joined by Sanaubar, Hassan's long lost mother.  Although Kabul is under brutal rule, the Rahim recounts that the five find happiness together.  

     The second part of Amir's "call to adventure" begins with the tragic end of Rahim's narrative.  Although Sanaubar dies peacefully in her sleep, conditions in Kabul continue to worsen. Rahim leaves Kabul and places Hassan in charge of Baba's mansion.  After Rahim describes his flight, the narration returns to the present and Hassan's fate and true relationship to Amir is reveal.  Hassan is the son of Sanaubar and Baba, and the half-brother of Amir. Unfortunately, this doesn't protect him from the Taliban. Rumors had spread throughout Kabul that a Hazara was living in Baba's house and the Taliban ultimately execute Hassan and Farzana.  Sohrab however, survives and Rahim reveals the primary reason he asked that Amir visit, stating " 'I want you to go to Kabul, I want you to bring Sohrab here' "(220).

     Initially, Amir refuses the "call to adventure", and Rahim in response tells him " 'one time, when you weren't around, your father and I were talking. […] I remember he said to me […] a boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up for anything.' "(221).  Later in the evening Amir returns, accepting his task, and begins to find his way to Afghanistan.  The Afghanistan, particularly Kabul, is starkly different than Amir remembers.  Not only is it torn apart by wars, but Amir realizes he never fully knew Afghanistan outside his wealth. Farid, Amir's driver, points this out, tell him " 'You've always been a tourist here, you just didn't know it.' "(233).   As Amir re-experiences Afghanistan he descends towards his ordeal. 

      Amir's ordeal arrives as he finds Sohrab, who is living with a Taliban commander.  The Taliban commander is revealed to be Assef, the bully of Amir's childhood whom Hassan frequently defended him from.  Not surprisingly, Assef has grown into a very messed up individual, and a sociopath that calmly states " 'Ethnic cleansing. I like it. I like the sound of it.' ".  Yikes.  Assef promises Amir that he will be able to return to Pakistan with Sohrab if he fights him.  Amir agrees and gets beat nearly to death by Assef, vividly remembering "Getting hurling against the wall. The knuckles shattering my jaw. Choking on my own teeth, swallowing them […] The sound of my rips snapping like the tree branches Hassan and I used to break to sword fight like Sinbad in those old movies. […] That snapping sound again, this time just under my left eye."(288).  During Amir's brutal beat down, he surprisingly begins to laugh joyfully as he finally feels that he has atoned for his betrayal of Hassan. "For the first time since the winter of 1975, [Amir] felt at peace."(289). The parallels to the past continue when Assef is about to kill Amir and Sohrab intervenes, shooting Assef in the eye with a slingshot and fulfilling the same threat made to Assef by Hassan in his youth.
      Chapter twenty-three concludes shortly after the ordeal, as Sohrab and Amir rush out of the house of Assef and into the car with Farid, the man who brought Amir into Afghanistan. Immediately, I wanted to keep reading to see the conclusion of Amir's journey.  The journey myth nature of Amir's adventure was created a quest-like feeling surrounding a very modern and realistic conflict.

From Kabul, to Peshawar, to California with Style

The Kite Runner vividly depicts the lives of the Afghani people before the revolution, and after during the flight many refugees endured.  Almost as important to creating the atmosphere of the novel as the characters is the style used by Khaled Hosseini.  While realism jumps out as perhaps the defining aspect of the novel's style, it's composed of many more stylistic devices, all of which together create a realistic image of the characters' experiences.

Perhaps the most obvious tool of style in The Kite Runner is the chronological structure of the book.  Beginning in December 2001, chapter one takes place after the author remembers a phone call from that June from " [his] friend Rahim Khan […] from Pakistan".  The following chapter (number two for you clever counters) has the narrator and reader pulled back to the narrator's childhood in Afghanistan with the characters described in the previous post.  From chapter two until chapter fifteen, the narrator recounts his life leading up to where it left of in chapter one.  The flashback used for the first half of the book allows the narrator to express his regret regarding how he has acted while he sifts through his memories.  Even as Amir establishes his life in America, Hassan exists as a foil in his mind, returning to his thoughts at various points. While attending a wedding, Amir writes "And I remember wondering if Hassan too had married/ And if so, whose face he had seen in the mirror under the veil? Whose henna-painted hands had he held?".  Amir's constant stream of memories during the first half of the book sets the stage for him to right his wrongs during the second part.  This atonement for Amir appears to be beginning now in earnest as chapter fifteen has the narrator returning to the phone call that beckoned him to his past.  Another stylistic benefit of the flashback is that it creates a natural feeling of realism, like one would feel if they were simply listening to Amir tell the story of his life.

In addition to the structure of the novel, the writing methods are also a significant stylistic device used.  As it was previously mentioned, the book reads like a recollection of memories, full of opinion, humor, and regret.  Further developing the organic feeling of the novel is the sentence structure, which reminds me of translated poetry, and the incorporation of Farsi words.  During Baba's funeral, Amir describes his late father, whom he has recently developed a very real, strong bond with, and the style of the sentences is particularly evident:
"As words from the Koran reverberated through the room, I thought of the old story of Baba wrestling a black bear in Baluchistan. Baba had wrestled bears his whole life. Losing his young wife. Raising a son himself. Leaving his beloved home-land, 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."
The sentence structure is not familiar, yet powerful emotions are in the writing.  Not only is his poetic nature reflected by the beauty of the sentence, but Amir's intense respect for his father now finally seems connected to an equally intense love between the two.

Afganistan, the 1970s, and a Boy Coming of Age.

"I became what I am today at the age of twelve," begins the narrator of The Kite Runner, "on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975".  While defining moments are plentiful in the news and media, few people I have encountered can attribute the shaping of their character to a specific age, far fewer a specific experience.  However, it is the case for the narrator, who after receiving a phone call is drawn back to the experience that shaped him, back to his childhood in Afghanistan, and back his past: a "past of unatoned sins". 

As the novel begins the narrator's "past of unatoned sins" does not appear to fit its title; rather it seems filled with parts many associate with childhood.  The narrator, Amir lives with his father Baba and their two servants, Ali and Hassan, on Baba's estate in Kabul. Hassan and Amir go on adventures, share stories, and engrave their title as "the sultans of Kabul" on a pomegranate tree; the two live basically live as brothers. 

Yet, despite the optimism infused with parts of Amir's youth, there also exists an undertone of sadness in the relationships that exist.  Between the servants, Hassan and Ali, and the masters, Amir, and Baba, there exists an ethnic division.  Hassan and Ali are Hazara, a Shia Muslim ethnic group, while Amir and Baba are Pashtun, a Sunni ethnic group.  The Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic group and predominantly view the Hazara as lower quality, serving people.  The Pashtun-Hazara relationship, while not stopping the bond from forming between Hassan and Amir, does lead to Amir not treating Hassan as an equal at times.  However, Amir does not treat Hassan poorly because he truly sees him as lower quality, (frequently he describes Hassan as more talented that him) but because of another key relationship introduced in the novel; Amir's struggle for his father's love.

Baba, Amir's father, is another central character within the novel and in almost all regards is the opposite of his son.  For those who have read Life of Pi, Baba in many senses echoes Pi's father in his secularity and misunderstanding of his son.  Amir, despite his differences, desperately craves his father's attention, often limiting Hassan's positive impression on his father to better his own image.  In this aspect, Amir's rudeness becomes understandable as it becomes apparent that it is not based upon ethnic differences, but instead largely rooted in his desire for his father's love and fear of his father loving Hassan more than him.  

The other two father figures in the novel are Ali, Hassan's father, and Rahim Khan.  Ali raises Amir partly as he raises Hassan, and imparts upon Amir a value for religion and emotion that Baba does not.  His kindness and humility characterize him very positively.  While Rahim Khan is simply Baba's business partner, he jumps out as the most fatherly figure in the novel, offering Amir consolation, advice, and support when he needs it, and it is Rahim that calls the narrator back to his past.  

At the center of Amir's youth, more so than all of the father figures, is Hassan.  Like his father, Hassan is humble, and passionately loyal despite often receiving the repercussions for Amir's actions. Furthermore, he is wise, physically strong, and kind, appearing perhaps the most positively towards the reader.  Hassan does contrast strongly with Amir on the outside; while Amir is an educated, wealthy, Sunni Pashtun, he is uneducated, Shia, Hazara, and a servant.  Yet, these differences fade away and the bond between the boys comes to be the heart of the novel.