the kite runner critical essays

The Kite Runner

Khaled hosseini, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Kite Runner: Introduction

The kite runner: plot summary, the kite runner: detailed summary & analysis, the kite runner: themes, the kite runner: quotes, the kite runner: characters, the kite runner: symbols, the kite runner: theme wheel, brief biography of khaled hosseini.

Historical Context of The Kite Runner

Other books related to the kite runner.

• Full Title: The Kite Runner
• When Written: 2001-2003
• Where Written: Mountain View, California
• When Published: 2003
• Literary Period: Contemporary literature
• Genre: Historical fiction, Drama
• Setting: Kabul, Afghanistan, Pakistan (mostly Peshawar), and San Francisco Bay Area, California
• Climax: Amir’s fight with Assef
• Antagonist: Assef
• Point of View: First person limited, from Amir’s point of view

Extra Credit for The Kite Runner

Kites. Hosseini was inspired to write a short story that would later become The Kite Runner when he heard that the Taliban had banned kites in Afghanistan. This seemed especially cruel and personal to him, as Hosseini, like Amir, grew up flying kites in Kabul.

Sohrab. Like Amir and Hassan, the young Hosseini’s favorite literary character was the tragic son Sohrab from the ancient Persian poem Shahnameh .

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Critical Insights: The Kite Runner

Tags: Kite Kite Runner Critical Insights Khaled Hosseini History Politics Afghanistan

Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner combines a compelling, moving narrative, memorable characters and situations, powerful depictions of suffering and guilt, an urgent quest for redemption, and an intense engagement with the fraught and complex history and politics of Afghanistan and its relations with American culture.

The essays in this volume look afresh at this remarkable work, considering its critical reception, its style, structure and themes, its mythical, moral, historical and political dimensions, its continued relevance in the twenty-first century, and its adaptations as a film, stage play, and graphic novel. 

This volume, like all others in the Critical Insights series, is divided into several sections. It begins with an introductory piece, “Discovering The Kite Runner ,” by Calum Kerr, which offers a vivid account of his own discovery of the novel and his increased fascination with it as a reader, writer, critic, and teacher, as well as his critical exploration of its many facets. This is followed by a Biography of Khaled Hosseini, written by Angela Tredell.

A collection of four critical contexts essays are intended to treat the novel (1) from a historical vantage point, (2) in terms of its critical reception, (3) using a specific critical lens, and (4) by comparing and contrasting it with another important work. This section opens with an article by Calum Kerr titled, “From the Great Game to 9/11: The Historical Context of The Kite Runner,” followed by a piece written by volume editor Nicolas Tredell, “Catching The Kite Runner : A Survey of Critical Responses.” This essay focuses on the critical responses, including early reviews from the novel’s release to later and more reflective critiques. The following two articles are once again written by Calum Kerr and Nicolas Tredell respectively. The first, “A Tale with Two Centers: Narrative Structure in The Kite Runner ,” offers a particular critical lens by examining the novel through the lens of narratological theory. The final essay, “Kite and Scarf: The Kite Runner and Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, ” compares and contrasts Khaled Hosseini’s and Mohja Kahf’s novels.

Following these four Critical Context essays is the Critical Readings section of this book, which contains the following essays:

• “Ask him where his shame is”: War and Sexual Violence in The Kite Runner , Georgiana Banita
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Caste and Sexuality in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner , Lucky Issar
• The Kite Runner Two Decades Later: Three Things Every Reader Should Know, Alla Ivanchikova
• “I always felt like Baba hated me a little:” Fathers and Sons in The Kite Runner , Calum Kerr
• “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive”: Perception, Sensation, and Cognition in The Kite Runner, Nicolas Tredell
• “Avoid them like the plague”: Clichés, Style, and Situations in The Kite Runner , Nicolas Tredell
• The Kite Runner on Film: A Survey of Responses, Robert C. Evans
• Staging The Kite Runner , Nicolas Tredell
• The Kite Runner : The Graphic Novel , Nicolas Tredell
• Reconfiguring The Kite Runner , Nicolas Tredell

In the final section, Resources , easy-to-follow lists are provided to help guide the reader through important dates and moments in the author’s life. A selection of further reading is then provided. Each essay in Critical Insights: The Kite Runner includes a list of Works Cited and detailed endnotes. Also included in this volume is a Chronology of Khaled Hosseini’s Life , a list of Works by Khaled Hosseini , a Bibliography, biographies of the Editor and Contributors , and an alphabetical Index .

The Critical Insights Series distills the best of both classic and current literary criticism of the world’s most studies literature. Edited and written by some of academia’s most distinguished literary scholars, Critical Insights: The Kite Runner provides an authoritative, in-depth scholarship that students and researchers will rely on for years. This volume is destined to become a valuable purchase for all.

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The Kite Runner Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction, theme of sin and redemption, works cited.

Written by Khaled Hosseini and narrated by Amir, the story’s protagonist, The Kite Runner expatiates how a single event changed Amir’s life completely. Amir narrates of his childhood back in Afghanistan as he grew up in one of the wealthiest families in Kabul back then. Violence in the volatile Afghanistan dominates the text of this book as people try to replace monarchy with republicanism.

The book cuts across many social aspects tackling different themes ranging from inhumanity, through nationalism to family relations among others. This paper elaborates the theme of sin and redemption as applied in The Kite Runner.

Redemption comes only after sin and this idea of redemption stands out in The Kite Runner because sin is so bearing. The story starts by highlighting the enduring nature of sin in this society.

Amir says, “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” (Hosseini 1). What creeps back from the past? It is sin in this context. Amir betrays Hassan twice despite the fact that they are friends. The first incidence occurs when he finds Assef raping Hassan in the alley.

Even though Hassan had stood for Amir in the past, Amir does not help him from his predicament or report the issue to Ali for he would help Hassan! Amir is sinning by betraying his close friend. During his thirteen birthday celebrations, Amir betrays Hassan once again by plotting to bring him out as a thief. Again, sin abounds.

As the story unfold, it becomes clear that everyone is almost guilty of sin and he or she needs redemption. Assef is a sinner for he rapes Hassan. Amir learns later in the story how Baba, his father sinned. After Rahim Khan discloses Baba’s secret to Amir, he realizes that everyone is sinful and the reason why Baba was tough on is that he was guilty of his sin.

This makes Amir realize that their life has been one big lie; sin prevailed from yesteryears, and his betrayal to Hassan is just but a drop in a sea of sins. On the other side, to justify their cold blood killing of the adulteress, the Taliban are busy skewing Muhammad’s words to vindicate their actions.

They are sinful and they know that they need redemption and this is why they change Muhammad’s words; something that Amir compares to his sin. Unfortunately, Amir does not know the way to redemption. He asks Hassan to hit him to get hurt and repay his sins. Amir feels that the only way to redemption is getting hurt the way he hurt Hassan.

Amir does not complain after Assef tries to kill him for he thinks he deserves all this as atonement for his past sins. Soraya is guilt of her sin of running away with another man and she asks Amir to forgive her. Rahim Khan is shameful of her sinful nature of not disclosing to Amir what Baba had done.

She kept this as a secret even after Baba died; she could have told Amir for it is his right to know anything to do with his father. The woman soldier at the border is sinful for asks Baba to sleep with her even though she is married.

The idea of redemption sets in at last after Amir realizes that his past sins together with those of his father can only be atoned for by being good to people. He has to let go the sin of discrimination that he has kept for years. He realizes that helping others would bring joy to his life and this is why he decides to help Sohrab up the ladder of success and felicity.

Nevertheless, Rahim Khan wraps up the theme of redemption in this story. In his letter, Khan says, “I know that in the end, God will forgive. He will forgive your father, you, and me too … Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But most important, forgive yourself” (Hosseini 209). It is God only who forgives sins and redeems people from their sinful nature.

Amir understands this very well towards the end of the book when he asks God to remove Sohrab’s blood from his hands. People can also be redeemed from their sins by forgiving themselves. God is willing to forgive people of their sins; unfortunately, people hold on to their sins, letting guilt to haunt them while God has already forgiven them. As the book closes, Amir redeems himself after forgiving himself of his past sins.

One of the most outstanding themes in The Kite Runner is the theme of sin and redemption. Most of the major characters are sinful.

Amir sins by betraying his close friend Hassan. He lets Assef rape Hassan whilst he could do something to rescue him. His sin follows him and he betrays Hassan again during his birthday party. Baba has done many mistakes in the past and Khan is guilty of keeping Baba’s secret from Amir. Assef, the rapist is a sinner while Soraya has committed the sin of running away with another man.

Amir does not get the issue of redemption and he thinks the only way to it is by paying for it through suffering. However, Khan sheds light on the issue of redemption by indicating that God will forgive all people and people could redeem themselves by forgiving themselves. The theme of sin and redemption comes out clearly in this book.

Hosseini, Khaled. “The Kite Runner.” New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group, 2003.

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IvyPanda. (2020, July 8). The Kite Runner. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-kite-runner/

"The Kite Runner." IvyPanda , 8 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/the-kite-runner/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'The Kite Runner'. 8 July.

IvyPanda . 2020. "The Kite Runner." July 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-kite-runner/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Kite Runner." July 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-kite-runner/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Kite Runner." July 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-kite-runner/.

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• Common Themes in Kundera's and Hosseini's Novels
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
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• Friendship of Amir and Hassan in The Kite Runner
• The Kite Runner as a Metaphor
• “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Oates and “The Kite Runner” by Hosseini
• Afghani Childhood in "The Kite Runner" by Hosseini
• Critical Analysis of Good Country People by O’Connor
• Literary Analysis of “Teddy”
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• "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood: Literary Devices
• Maldoror and the Completed Works of the Comte de Lautréamont

• The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

• Literature Notes
• Symbols in The Kite Runner
• The Kite Runner at a Glance
• Book Summary
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Character Analysis
• Character Map
• About The Kite Runner
• Khaled Hosseini Biography
• Critical Essays
• Themes in The Kite Runner
• Full Glossary for The Kite Runner
• Cite this Literature Note

Critical Essays Symbols in The Kite Runner

Kites, Kite Flying, and Kite Fighting

Kites and everything associated with them (kite flying and kite fighting) are the most important symbols in the novel. Traditionally, kites symbolize both prophecy and fate, and both of these ideas can be applied to characters and events in The Kite Runner. However, kites symbolize so much more in The Kite Runner. The Afghan kites with their glass strings symbolize the dichotomy between beauty and violence, simultaneously representing Afghanistan and the half-brothers, Amir and Hassan. The two main kite fights in the novel — the tournament Amir wins and the one at the end of the book — not only also represent Amir and Hassan but also symbolize the juxtaposition of roles, for at the end Amir has become the kite runner. Thus, kites also symbolize the thematic topics and interrelationship between betrayal and redemption.

Myth of Rostam and Sohrab

Myths and stories about legendary heroes as well as stories and literacy in general symbolize both the similarities and differences between the Shi'a Muslims and the Sunni Muslims. Socioeconomic conditions may determine levels of literacy and understanding, but they do not guarantee heroic attitudes and actions. And the heroes of Afghan and Middle Eastern cultures are shared by those of differing beliefs and socioeconomic conditions. The character of Rostam, who acts dishonorably toward the king by sleeping with his daughter, symbolizes Amir. The character of Sohrab, who does not know who his father is, who becomes Hassan's favorite hero, and who meets an untimely death, symbolizes Hassan.

The Pomegranate Tree

While Amir and Hassan are young and carefree and as close as a servant and master can be, they carve their names in the tree, and it bears fruit. Thus, the tree symbolizes their relationship. Years later, after Hassan is dead and Amir is wracked with guilt, the tree — just like Amir's memories — still exists but no longer bears fruit. The tree not only symbolizes a unifying force between Amir and Hassan but also serves as a source of division. Amir wants Hassan to hit him with the pomegranate fruit in order to inflict a physical punishment and lessen his guilt; instead, Hassan breaks the fruit over his own head.

Amir's Scar

Amir spends most of his life trying to forget Hassan, yet only when he gets a physical reminder of his only childhood friend is Amir able to be at peace. The scar Amir has after being beaten by Assef symbolizes his brotherhood with Hassan. Amir now has his own "harelip" and is physically like his half-brother.

Representing two generations, the slingshot symbolizes both childhood as well as the need to stand up for what is right. Both Hassan and Sohrab use a slingshot to stop Assef, although Hassan only has to threaten to use his, and Sohrab actually inflicts pain.

Previous Themes in The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

The Kite Runner Material

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The Kite Runner Essays

Amir’s quest for salvation in the kite runner anonymous, the kite runner.

“There is a way to be good again” (Hosseini 2). Rahim Khan’s first words to Amir in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner set in motion Amir’s attempt to mend his scarred past. A mentally tormented man until Khan’s call, he has repressed memories from...

A Journey for Redemption in The Kite Runner Justin Caleb Walters College

In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, several major themes arise. One of the most dominant themes is the idea of redemption for past wrongdoings. The protagonist, an Afghani-American named Amir, relays the story of his childhood; through this, one...

Redemption in Kahled Hosseini's The Kite Runner Kayleigh Parham 12th Grade

From the wealthiest neighborhood in Kabul to the poverty of San Francisco, Khaled Hosseini creates a story of redemption which transcends cultures and time in The Kite Runner. Hosseini uses the dynamics of father-son relationships to express a...

Assef: Why Is He the Way He Is? Anonymous 12th Grade

In the novel The Kite Runner , author Khaled Hosseini focuses on many critical parts of life. The main character, Amir, struggles to find redemption throughout the story, and finally finds it when he rescues Sohrab, his half-brother Hassan’s son,...

Emotional Intertextuality Between Death of a Salesman and The Kite Runner Haley Paige Parson 12th Grade

There are numerous similarities between Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. However, most of the similarities readers identify are only surface deep, and essentially superficial. Sure, readers know that both...

"So It Went!" Malena Marcase 12th Grade

We see playful children - giggling, laughing, not a care in the world - and envy their innocence. Their spirits have not yet been hardened and jaded by the world around them. Our lives are made up of a series of moments, big and small, that...

Which Character Is Most Responsible for Determining the Character of Amir? Kolby Hamilton 12th Grade

An individual's personality is quite often determined by the actions and remarks of another person. One can become timid because another person has caused one hurt or worry. One can become brave because another person has made one fight for...

Literacy in The Kite Runner Anonymous 10th Grade

774 million adults around the world are illiterate. In many places, people are not provided the opportunity to get education. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Amir is lucky enough to learn how to read and write, while many people in his...

Th Kite Runner vs. Where There's a Wall: Comparative Essay on Character and Symbolism Anonymous 11th Grade

One thing that perhaps all humans can agree on, based on their own experiences of life, is that obstacles cannot be avoided. They can be ignored, they can even be dodged sometimes, but at the end of the day, they cannot be avoided. In the novel ...

How Khaled Hosseini uses literature and stories to demonstrate the power of words to harm and heal in times of injustice. Anonymous 12th Grade

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner depicts the lives of two Afghan boys who grow up in the turmoil of invasion, heartbreak and war. Amir, the protagonist and narrator of the story, is Pashtun and Hassan, a Hazara boy, is Amir’s servant with a cleft...

Conformity in the Kite Runner and the Communist Manifesto Anonymous 10th Grade

As psychologist Rollo May once said: “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it's conformity.” Throughout Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, the reader is exposed to the dueling themes of conformity versus nonconformity,...

The Balance of Dying: Complex Approaches to Mortality in The Kite Runner Anonymous 12th Grade

There is a considerable difference between being dead, and dying. Everyone is dying, some people die for ninety years, others for three. Death cannot be escaped. Although, with this mindset, a question is sparked-is anyone truly living? Humans are...

Hassan’s Symbolism as a Sacrificial Lamb in The Kite Runner Anonymous College

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, centers around the interplay between guilt, redemption, and sacrifice. Hosseini refers to the concept of religious sacrifice through which individuals cleanse themselves of sin and free their consciences....

Afghan Culture and The Kite Runner Anonymous 12th Grade

Afghanistan translates to “Land of the Afghans” and is a nation with a strong culture, including diverse subcultures and Islamic traditions. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is the story of a young boy, Amir. He lives in an affluent neighborhood...

Pride and Afghanistans Nicole Rong 10th Grade

When pride is prioritized, morality is compromised at the expense of others. Despite this being a desparingly unfortunate scenario, this case appears more often than one would think. As shown in the bildungsroman The Kite Runner by Khaled...

Social and political protest writing: A Doll's House and The Kite Runner Eve McMullen 12th Grade

In the social and political protest writing Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ and Hosseini’s ‘The Kite Runner’ the desired impact upon the audience is arguably to reveal to them a truth about society or about a particular situation, to inspire empathy and...

'The Past' in The Kite Runner and Atonement Anonymous 12th Grade

One of the main ideas explored in both The Kite Runner , a novel by Khaled Hosseini, and Atonement , a film directed by Joe Wright, is the everlasting presence of the past in the lives of the protagonists, both of whom make a mistake in their...

Home of The Brave

Essaying the kite runner.

Now we’re going to try and write an essay. We’re going to take a look at question 1 again:

1. Choose a novel or short story in which there is a character who experiences rejection or isolation. With reference to appropriate techniques, explain the rejection or isolation, and discuss how this aspect adds to your appreciation of the text as a whole.

If this was your question and you’ve started off your essay by giving this intro: In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini there is a character Amir, who experiences isolation when he isolates himself because he experiences guilt at letting Hassan get raped. In the story Amir must make up for letting his best friend Hassan get raped by rescuing his nephew Sohrab from the Taliban. We can look at how Amir‘s isolation is important to our appreciation of the text as a whole by helping us understand that it is important to redeem yourself even if it is a hard thing to do.

Then we need to focus on Amir isolating himself and how this plays into the bigger theme of redemption. To begin with we’re going to note the POINTs when Amir isolates himself – the rape scene. Our next comment should be on how Amir goes on to isolate himself from Hassan, and then unwittingly from his father Baba. We can then begin to talk about how he comes back from this self-isolation by returning to Afghanistan at Rahim Khan’s request and rescuing his nephew. Then there is the sense of redemption at the end as he has finally managed to resolve things with Hassan’s memory. Our five points then would be something like:

1. Amir witnesses the rape and becomes guilty at Hassan’s sacrifice 2. He cannot deal with the rape and pushes Hassan away, attempting to fight him and eventually framing him 3. Rahim Khan explains that there is a way to be good again and he doesn’t need to be guilty anymore. 4. He gets Sohrab back and experiences a catharsis at finally confronting Assef. 5. He becomes the good man Baba wanted him to be and there is hope for Sohrab’s future.

Now, obviously that alone isn’t enough to write your whole essay. We will need to flesh this out with EVIDENCE from the text. What would we note down for these different sections? For each piece of EVIDENCE we need to explain how it is doing what it is doing. For a Higher essay some of our POINTs may have more than one piece of EVIDENCE which we will put in the same paragraph, or series of paragraphs. When we round off a paragraph we need to refer back to the question to show how that POINT is relevant. This is your LINK BACK. We’re going to put this plan together now:

PARAGRAPH 1: P: Amir witnesses the rape and becomes guilty at Hassan’s sacrifice E: “It was the look of the lamb” Metaphor and alliteration to draw attention to what he is saying. The lamb is a symbol for Hassan. The lamb is sacrificed just like Hassan sacrifices himself for Amir and the kite trophy. L: This event and the trauma of letting it happen is what causes Amir to isolate himself from those around him, especially Hassan who he feels he cannot face.

PARAGRPH 2: P: He cannot deal with the rape and pushes Hassan away, attempting to fight him and eventually framing him. E: “Coward! Coward!” E: Speech that is shouted hence the exclamations. Amir calls Hassan a coward but really he is talking about himself. As he does this he throws pomegranates at Hassan. Pomegranates = friendship. Friendship is dead. E: “Hassan’s reply was a single word, delivered in a thin, raspy voice: Yes” E: Word choice thin raspy = Hassan’s low state. Yes = Hassan covering for Amir to get away from him. L: Amir is incapable of processing or dealing with his guilt at what he has allowed to happen to Hassan and so he pushes him as far away as possible. This is what he will have to redeem in the future – the hurt he causes his best friend (and brother).

PARAGRAPH 3: P: Rahim Khan explains that there is a way to be good again and he doesn’t need to be guilty anymore. E: “There is a way to be good again” E: instruction and challenge set by Rahim Khan. Idea that Amir was once a good person. L: This phone call gives Amir the push he needs to leave his self-isolation and make things good.

PARAGRAPH 4: P: He gets Sohrab back and experiences a catharsis at finally confronting Assef. E: “My body was broken…but I felt healed. I laughed.” E: Alliteration on ‘b’ and the plosiveness matches the sound of his bones breaking and so adds to the violence of the scene. The ellipses is to make us pause as he contrasts with his physical pain by telling us he was mentally relieved. He was ‘healed’ word choice tells us he was whole again. The ‘laughing’ shows us his relief. L: Amir’s isolation was caused because he didn’t do the right thing the first time around. Now he does the right thing by preventing a rape and taking the beating he should have had in the first place.

PARAGRAPH 5: P: He becomes the good man Baba wanted him to be and there is hope for Sohrab’s future showing complete redemption and becoming a good person. E: You will not refer to him as ‘that Hazara boy’ in front of me again. He has a name and it is Sohrab E: standing up to Soraya’s father. The words are words once used against Hassan. Amir is finally learning to be a good person. E: For you a thousand times over E: he can finally speak the words Hassan once said to him and mean them. That he is willing to do anything for someone else. E: It was only a smile, nothing more… but I’ll take it. E: The smile shows hope for Sohrab’s future, and their future as a family unit. L: Amir has made things right and no longer has to feel isolated.

CONCLUSION: The isolation was caused by Amir because he couldn’t handle his guilt. This lead to him having to redeem himself, something that Hosseini wanted us to think about. Amir eventually came out of his isolation at the request of Rahim Khan and he made things right by rescuing Sohrab.

Now attempt to write an essay using this plan.

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Critical Writing on The Kite Runner

Subject: English

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

20 June 2019

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A resource aimed at A level students doing AQA English Lit. B spec.

Includes a critical overview of the text, as well as four essays, with the purpose of broadening their reading. Students should also pick arguments created by these critics that they feel strongly about, and can feel free to use them in their own writing (as well as methods and context).

This resource can be used in lesson as an activity, or for revision purposes, or as wider-reading homework.

The title of the essays are as follows:

• “In this essay, Caballero-Robb interprets Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner as a work that intertwines the private and public realms of experience.”
• “In the following review, O’Brien discusses the author’s use of voice, and how the two main characters reflect the character of Afghanistan itself.”
• “In the following essay, Noor reviews The Kite Runner as a novel about sin and redemption, but contends that it fails to give a complete picture of the Afghan conflict.”
• “In the following excerpt, Hosseini discusses how being a physician gives him a compassionate insight to humanity and makes him a better writer.”

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Symbolism — The Kite Runner Symbolism Analysis

The Kite Runner Symbolism Analysis

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

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Symbolism of the kite, symbolism of the pomegranate tree, symbolism of the cleft lip.

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A Critical Study of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner as a Novel of Migration

2019, International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a novel dealing with the cultural experience and the development of a migrant individual.The novel illustrates a diverse spectrum of concerns. It deals with the place of memory in reaffirming identity, the female agency in migration, reformulation of social hierarchies in an ambivalent cultural space. As textual strategy, it utilizes multilingualism, mythology, cultural tropes and motifs to highlight the ambivalent inbetweenness of the migrant experience. Even though the characters in the novel express a wish to recover their lost home land, they show an immense courage to overcome the normative straightjacket by accepting the double perspective of the hybrid individual. The novel illustrate narrative strategies employed to show that migrant literature is not only about memory and return it is also about the development of multiple perspectives in identity formation.

Related Papers

Suraiya Sulaiman

This article explores the idea of homeland, “imaginary homeland” and wounded memory in Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, The Kite Runner (2003). The idea of homeland, which includes the illustration of a person’s nostalgia towards homeland, is a significant topic of discussion among scholars of diaspora studies. The article demonstrates that Afghanistan as depicted in Hosseini’s novel represents the author’s nostagic feeling towards his home country. The novel also illustrates the ideas of a shattered dream and fragmented memories of diaspora subjects which are caused by the loss of homeland as discussed in Salman Rushdie (2006)’s seminal article, “Imaginary Homelands”. Hence, the article investigates the notion of “imaginary homeland” which is portrayed through the main characters’s experiences, both inner and outer. Apart from the notion of nostalgia, homeland, and “imaginary homeland”, the memory of homeland also plays an important role in shaping the life of diaspora people. This m...

Poulami Saha

Memory Studies is a progressive academic field which resorts to the aid of memory to delve deep into the enigmatic field of human psyche by remembering the past. Memory shapesreshapes, constructs-deconstructs, moulds-remoulds individuals as well as collective identity. For the diasporic people who have left their homeland either willingly or in compulsion, their memories about past life act as repository of various kinds of experiences which come and go like flashbulbs in the conscious and subconscious minds of people. The act of forgetting as well as filling the missing links with imaginations are not ontologically different from the act of remembering, rather they are cognitive components and through this dual process, identities are formed and nurtured. Memory Studies frequently challenges the privileged memories and tries to trace the marginalised abundant voices which are less known by digging up the mini narratives, largely repressed under the pressure of privileged grand narratives. Khaled Hosseini, the writer of the novel The Kite Runner, is one of those diasporic migrants who either willingly or unwillingly migrated to different socio-cultural spaces from their homelands and always felt haunted by their memories which construct, deconstruct and reconstruct their identities. And so, his fictional characters are. His characters by carrying double consciousness tried to raise their voices to reassert their dignity and importance by writing back to the centre. The Kite Runner initially describes the past happy state of Afghanistan only to contrast it with the devastated state of the nation as a result of the Russian invasion and Taliban aggression. The text shows how different memories and nostalgic longings about the past shape and reshape the identities of individuals, communities as well as of an entire nation.

World Journal of English Language

Hussein Kanosh

The current study undertakes a detailed analysis of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner representative novel. Hosseini, an Afghan born American writer depicts a war-torn Afghanistan in various universal themes i.e., family re-union, discrimination, regret, childhood, guilt, womanhood, betrayal, religion and salvation that played a considerable role in abating commission of crimes in Afghanistan during pre and post-Taliban periods which ended up shaping the interminable psychological scars of the protagonist. In his work, Hosseini reveals the devastating status of Afghans in general and women and children in particular who have, for decades, been irrationally marginalized and confined to the four walls of their homes by the society. His quests for wealth, love, loyalty and unqualified peace among Afghan citizenry whom he equates to have rights just like other human beings globally is the only means through which the protagonist considers a key to chart out a new future. Moreover, in re...

Atatürk University Journal of Faculty of Letters

Karam Nayebpour

The tragic state of an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan is the primary subject in Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner. The Hazaras' violent and humiliating suppression takes place in the two narrative levels in Hosseini's novel-in the story level or within the fictional society and in the level of narration or discourse. In other words, repression of the Hazara people is shown in the two narrative aspects of what and how. Thus, The Kite Runner is first of all the linguistic description of the humiliating and uncompromising dominant sociocul-tural perspective towards the Hazaras. Representing the Hazara people as one of the victims of ethnic cleansing in the modern history of Af-ghanistan, Hosseini's narrative all in all fails to recognize a desired ethnic identity and dignity for the minority group. As we argue in this paper , the novel deliberately attempts to represent a reconciling atonement for the Hazaras' humiliating repression within the Afghan society. This purpose, however, changes into an unfulfilled desire by the end of narrative as the recognition of the Hazara people’s ethnic identity increasingly becomes a secondary narrative concern.

Emily ShuHui Tsai

This short paper aims to discuss the unbearably-heavy weight of childhood memory and the survivor's guilt as the symptoms in the novel, The Kite Runner, published in 2003, by an Afghan-American writer, Khaled Hosseini. It describes the ambivalent relationship between the father and the son against the background of political turmoil in Afghanistan—how they have a good life together in Afghanistan and afterwards how they are forced to leave their homeland like refugees to Pakistan and then to The United States for a new life with the survivor's guilt after the tumultuous period of the Soviet military invasion. The narrator, Amir, treasures the memories of his old homeland, Afghanistan, the innermost remnants of his being, which has become as the specter haunting his present life in the United States. Amir has to return to his old homeland to meet his father's closest friend, Rahim Khan, and to rescue Sohrad, the son of his half-brother, Hassan, from the Taliban regime. This ethical return to the past not only has unfolded certain secrecy of his father's dishonor but also has healed his sense of survivor's guilt because of his evil rivalry of jealousy against Hassan to fully possess his father's love in his childhood. In my discussion of ethnic hierarchy and conflicts in Afghanistan described in the novel, Jacques Derrida's and Giorgio Agamben's theoretical concepts, such as the problematic of sovereignty, sovereign animality and bare life in The Beast & the Soveriegn and Homo Sacer, will be used to penetrate the deeper understanding of their traumatic past as haunting specters.

Raj Gaurav Verma

The paper attempts to explore the diasporic sensibility by fusing it with the experience of the widowhood. JhumpaLahiri'sThe Lowland projects Gauri as a widow of Udayan. Later she marries his brother Subhash and goes to America. The loss of husband creates trauma in Gauri's life so that she is never able to accept any man in her life and she continues to live single. The novel communicates the intricacies of psychology of suffering loss: the loss of husband via the loss of homeland. Similarly, Khaled Hosseini'sThe Kite Runnerreveals a life of widower through one of its central character Baba. Baba never gets remarried. When Afghanistan is attacked by the Soviet Union, Baba has to go to America with his son. Once again, the loss of the homeland is compared with the loss of the wife. Loss of espouse creates " psychological fissures " in the life of the people. It becomes difficult to cope and communicate such an experience. At the same time, the loss of homeland turns out to be a more concrete loss. The loss of homeland thus can be seen through the lens of widowhood. This paper attempts to look at these texts from twin lens of being in a state of diaspora and widowhood. The argument of my paper is that the trauma of being in exile coincides/overlaps with the trauma of being a widow/widower.

Niraja Saraswat

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a famous novel for its devastating and painfully honest depiction of identity, betrayal, deception and atonement. The narrative portrays the journey of a boy escaping from his haunted childhood while torturing himself with his own contrition. These two concepts of identity and redemption play a vital role in creating the string that binds the characters together. As a reader of The Kite Runner, one embarks on a journey that leads through the life of the glamorous prosperous Afghanis, as well as the treacherous horrific life of those less fortunate. Most importantly, however, one encounters face-to-face the good and evil that comes out when these two very distinct lives are intertwined. Amir"s "unatoned sins", as they are described in the novel"s opening chapter, have plagued his conscience and cast an oppressive shadow over his joys and triumphs. The phone call interrupts Amir"s seemingly comfortable life as a ...

Rajith Chandran

The idea of returning home has been a profound and pervasive trope in narratives across cultures. The expression of this archetypal theme of journey-home assumes many colours and credos in scriptures, myths, epics, and folk narratives. Ruminating intensely on the chaos of displacement – at times the pleasures of it – these narratives capture the dynamic entwining of physical ‘place’ and mental ‘space.’ They project journey as a subordinate motif in which long walks, road trips, or train rides are used to depict the protagonists observing and re-negotiating the changes that have taken place since the original departure. The present paper attempts to trace the trajectory of two literary narratives – Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner – both of which revolve around the motif of returning home. Published in 2007, The Reluctant Fundamentalist narrates the journey of Changez, a bright and successful Pakistani man living in Unites States and the dramatic changes he is forced to accept following the events of 9/11; it tells how he is forced to return to Pakistan to answer the “pull of his true personal identity.” The Kite Runner evocatively portrays the story of Amir’s journey back to Afghanistan as he “spins the yarns of past through memory and tries to disentangle the knots of remorse strangling his consciousness since his childhood days.” Both these narratives converge at the point of return of the protagonists but diverge at the causes and motives of return; they eloquently portray the trauma of return and not the sweet nostalgia of homecoming. However, presenting in common riveting tales that clearly document the trials and tribulations of return-home, these books also carve tapestries of fathers and sons, servants, best friends, love, family, loyalty, betrayal, war, fundamentalism, discrimination, reconciliation, and redemption. Keywords: Return-home narratives, journey motif, trauma of return, familial bonds, personal and political unrest, exile.

IJHCS IJHCS

Being the first Afghan-American writer who writes in English, Khaled Hosseini is a relatively new novelist whose literary reputation was established since his debut novel, The kite Runner (2003). His successive two novels; A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) and And the Mountains Echoed (2013) have achieved the same worldwide recognition and success. The common thread that links Hosseini’s novels – apart from them being set in and representative of Afghanistan’s multilayered society and complex history – is the fact that each character in these fictional works sets out on a journey that is determined and, to a large extent, linked to the country’s turbulent historical and social background. The itineraries that the characters follow intersect with and reveal a lot about the country’s social, political and historical complex matrices. Though he hopes that his novels evince an authentic and truthful portrait of his homeland, Hosseini doesn’t claim to take on the mantle of “a teacher, a sociologist or an anthropologist” who can fully and adequately teach about Afghanistan, as he states in his interview with Fanney Kiefer. Nonetheless, his novels feature characters and stories that have a worldwide resonance thanks to their representational function of a long-overlooked and relegated country – Afghanistan. My contention is that Hosseini’s fiction penetrates the cultural boundaries that set a chasm between the East and the West. In other words, his novels are packed with elements of a culture so much foreign, yet nonetheless very familiar with its themes and characters. That’s what makes Hosseini’s works stand out in the so-called ethnic literature; his rendering of Afghanistan’s culture and history accessible to foreigners. Keywords: Afghanistan, History, Culture, Ethnicity, Homeland, Individual journey, Identity

Dilnoza Ruzmatova

The aim of this study is to analyze the three novels "The Kite Runner", "A Thousand Splendid Suns", "And the Mountains Echoed" by Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini in accordance with the main literary features of the Afghan Diaspora. This historical literature becomes one of the most interesting directions. The authors of the Afghan Diaspora, who create their works in English, distinguish three main features: languages and cultures clash, biographical method application, time and space correlation. This study is an attempt to reveal the importance of the literary characteristics of novels, considering in particular those mentioned above. This will help readers to decipher the essential Diaspora features of the works of Hosseini, using the three studied signs. In addition to this, the Diaspora and expatriate literature is identified by the researcher on the basis of examples and highlighted by the text analysis of the literary works of the Diaspora.

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4 Disqualified from Beijing Race After 3 Let Chinese Runner Pass

A strange finish at the Beijing Half Marathon on Sunday led to an investigation and penalties.

By Victor Mather and Isabella Kwai

The top finishers in the Beijing Half Marathon have been disqualified after three runners from Africa appeared to step aside to let a Chinese competitor win the race on Sunday.

The four runners approached the finish line close together, as they had been for much of the race. But then three of the runners appeared to move aside and gesture for the fourth, He Jie of China, to pass them.

He won the race, and the three other runners, Willy Mnangat and Robert Keter of Kenya, and Dejene Hailu of Ethiopia, took the next three places.

Footage of the finish caused a stir and led many inside and outside China to wonder why the three other runners had seemingly given He the victory.

Mnangat later told The South China Morning Post that the African runners had been hired as pacemakers in an effort to help He break the Chinese half-marathon record.

All four runners have now been disqualified. Race organizers said in a statement on Friday that was shared with CCTV , the state broadcaster, that Xtep, the race sponsor, had invited the African trio to be pacemakers, but that they should not have been eligible to compete as ordinary entrants. (A fourth pacemaker dropped out earlier in the race, according to the statement.)

During the last two kilometers of the race, three of the pacemakers “actively slowed down,” the investigation concluded, leading He to win the men’s race.

A committee formed to investigate the incident said in the statement issued by the race organizers that it would “withdraw their trophies, medals and bonuses.” The committee apologized and said that it would “learn lessons” from the episode.

An official with the Chinese Athletics Association, which is in charge of track and field and road running in the country, said the group would “further strengthen the supervision, guidance and services of road running events,” according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua. The official added that the association would “urge regional associations and event organizers to learn lessons from this Beijing Half Marathon.”

Pacemakers are used in some top-level track and road races to help other athletes run faster, but they normally drop out before the race ends.

The organizers confirmed that Xtep had invited Mnangat, Keter and Hailu to be pacemakers, but said that they had instead been registered as competitors.

“We bear significant responsibility for this incident and fully accept the penalties imposed by the organizing committee,” Xtep said on Friday, according to The South China Morning Post .

In the end, He ran 1:03:44, more than a minute short of the record he had been trying to break.

An earlier version of this article described incorrectly He Jie’s finish time at the Beijing Half-Marathon. It was more than a minute short of the Chinese half-marathon record, not one second.

How we handle corrections

Victor Mather covers sports as well as breaking news for The Times. More about Victor Mather

Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends. More about Isabella Kwai

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