The Kite Runner: Section 4: Significance of the Title

          In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the title reflects the meaning of the work.  The physical person that runs the kite symbolizes the person being loyal to his friend and doing service for him.  Originally Hassan runs the kite for Amir, but by the end of the novel Amir is doing service for others.  He runs the kite for Sohrab.  The title also illustrates the Afghan saying that describes that life moves on.  Even though many horrible things happened to Sohrab, Hassan, and Amir there was always another kite tournament and another kite to run.  Amir tells Sohrab that he will run kites " 'For you, a thousand times over'," (Hosseini, 371).  Amir used the words that Hassan had said to Amir many times before.  This shows that the role of the kite runner or servant had been passed.  Amir was finally paying Hassan back for all the years that Hassan had done things for him.

The Kite Runner: Section 4: Connection between Hassan's Loyalty and Amir's New Loyalty

          In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir's loyalty to Hassan does not really show up until after Hassan is already dead.  Hassan was loyal to Amir throughout Amir's life and even after he no longer saw Amir.  Amir was not completely loyal to Hassan until his adulthood when he was given a chance to atone for his guilt.  Hassan and Amir's situations flip at this point in the novel.  Amir having to go through lots of pain symbolizes "karma" and how he had to suffer for Hassan in order for him to feel better about his guilt.  Amir eventually has to do what Hassan did for Amir for Sohrab.  Amir's best way to be loyal to Hassan after all the years was to adopt Sohrab.  This was his, "way to be good again..." (Hosseini, 310).  Amir took Sohrab in tto try to absolve himself of all the things he did to Hassan.  Just how Hassan layed down his life for Amir, Amir was going to have to lay down his life for Sohrab.

The Kite Runner: Section 4: Amir Atoning for His Guilt

         In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir is given an opportunity to atone for his guilt.  Rahim Khan  called Amir asking him to come to Pakistan.  After he was told about his father's guilt, he had a chance to make-up for his.  Amir did not originally want to rescue Sohrab.  This was because he had buried his guilt in America.  Being back in the Middle East, he could not hide his fears anymore and began his journey to save Sohrab.  This was a significant change in his character.  Instead of letting others fight for him, he was going to fight for himself and someone else.  " 'That was the first time I'd fought anyone', " (Hosseini, 288).  This proves that Amir is not a static character because of this personality change.

The Kite Runner: Section 4: Identity

          In Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, Amir has many changes in his life.  A large gap in his life is the absence of a mother.  His identity thus far has been made up of Baba, a picture of his deceased mother, and his father's description of her.  He learned of his mother's taste for Almond cake with hot tea and honey.  Unfortunately, this is all he ever learns about his mother.  Amir's identity is also changed because of his new knowledge that Hassan was his half brother.  Amir tells Sohrab that " 'Your father and I were brothers'," (Hosseini, 322).  With Amir's new knowledge he completes his identity a little more and lives his life differently.  This affects the meaning of the work, because since Amir found out he had a half nephew he decided to go to Kabul and find him.  This decision changed his life forever.

The Kite Runner: Section 2: U.S.A.'s Significance

          In Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, he uses America as a way for Amir to escape his problems.  Because of Amir having time to heal, not seeing Hassan, and being in a different country, he thinks about his guilt less.  The story becomes less about Amir's guilt and more about Amir's life.  Amir even says that, "For me, America was a place to bury my memories," (Hosseini, 129).  This illustrates how America helped him forget his guilt.  He was reminded of his guilt before he married Soraya.  Although, he buried this guilt quickly.  As the novel progresses Amir's guilt is forgotten more and more.  The change of scenery and culture symbolizes Amir trying to forget his guilt and what he did to Hassan and Ali.  I think that in the next section of the novel something will happen that rekindles his guilt and causes him grief and in turn he will tell Soraya.

The Kite Runner: Section 2: Embedded History

          Throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, he embeds Afghanistan's history.  He does this by having the character's lives be constantly affected by what the government is doing.  The history is most prevalent when Baba and Amir leave Kabul and immigrate to the U.S.  As the Russians take over Afghanistan Baba decides to take himself and Amir to Pakistan.  They then move to the U.S. to escape the Taliban and to search for a better life.  Hosseini writes about the peril that the Afghan people went through.  He tells this through the telling of Baba and Amir's story.  "Long before the Roussi army marched into Afghanistan, long before villages were burned and schools destroyed, long before mines were planted like seeds of death and children buried in rock-piled graves..." (Hosseini, 136).  This passage depicts what happened to the Afghani people during the time Russia was in Afghanistan and when the Taliban took over.  

The Kite Runner: Section 2: Diction

          Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner, uses different words in the language used in Afghanistan.  This language that the speaker, Amir, uses is his native language, Farsi.  Hosseini spreads these words throughout the novel to add more specific description to the memories.  The speaker uses such words as the greeting "Salaam alaykum," (Hosseini, 162).  He also uses the "iftikhar," (Hosseini, 165) which means pride.  The use of Farsi throughout the novel helps the reader better understand the Afghani culture and the characters themselves.  The words are used to describe emotions, objects, and specific event.  The embeded culture helps to emerse the reader in Afghani culture and better understand the characters.  Hosseini uses Farsi when an English word does not suffice or when the Farsi word simply describes the situation more accurately.