Literature Help: The Kite Runner

By Students' Academy

According to the author, “The Kite Runner” is basically a father-son story. Even in his later works, he uses this subject matter.

Although the author explores several themes in the novel, guilt and redemption come out as the most significant themes.

An act of violence, rape, is committed against Amir’s best friends Hassan, but Amir is not able to prevent it. The second half of the book focuses on the attempts made by Amir to atone for his failure to do something for Hassan. He sets out on a quest and eventually rescues Hassan’s son after about twenty years.

Literature Help: The Kite Runner
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Nov 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310890987

Students' Academy

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Literature Help: The Kite Runner

Copyright

Literature Help: The Kite Runner

Students' Academy

Copyright@2014 Students' Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini made him famous overnight. It was the first novel written by this Afghan-American author, but the success that the book received was phenomenal.

The book was first published in 2003 by Riverhead Books.

The story revolves around the central character Amir, who happens to be a young boy from Wazir Akbar Khan, a district in Kabul, Afghanistan. Hassan is his closest friend. Hassan is the young Hazara, the son of Ali, the servant of Amir’s father.

The story covers the tumultuous events such as the end of kingship in Afghanistan, Soviet military intervention, a large scale exodus of refugees to neighboring Pakistan and the United States, the eventually the atrocities committed during the Taliban rule.

According to the author, The Kite Runner is basically a father-son story. Even in his later works, he uses this subject matter.

Although the author explores several themes in the novel, guilt and redemption come out as the most significant themes.

An act of violence is committed against Amir’s best friends Hassan, but Amir is not able to prevent it. The second half of the book focuses on the attempts made by Amir to atone for his failure to do something for Hassan. He sets out on a quest and eventually rescues Hassan’s son after about twenty years.

The success of the novel can be judged from the fact that it became a bestseller right after its first publication. It remained bestseller for over two years on New York Times bestseller list.

More than ten million copies of the novel have been sold to the date only in the United States. The reviews were generally highly positive, except for some controversy that stirred up in the author’s home country, Afghanistan.

The novel has also been adapted in to a highly successful movie. The movie of the same name was made in 2007. It has also been adapted for stage performances and even a graphic novel has also been published which proved to be highly successful among its teen and young readers.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Part One

First part of the novel is set in a small place called Wazir Akbar Khan in the neighborhood of Kabul in Afghanistan.

Amir is a Pashtun boy. He is from a very rich family. Hassan is Amir’s best friend. He is the son of Ali who is the servant of Amir’s father.

Amir and Hassan fly kites and take part in kite fighting and spend their days. The city is Kabul is very peaceful and everything seems to be fine there.

Whenever a kite is cut and flies away in the air, Hassan runs after it. He is a very successful Kite runner for Amir. Hassan knows where a detached kite will land.

Amir’s father is a very rich merchant. Amir calls him Baba out of affection. Baba loves both Amir and Hassan, but he often scolds Amir. He thinks that his son is weak and does not have enough courage.

Rahim Khan is the closest friend of Baba. Amir finds a much kinder figure in Rahim Khan. Amir likes writing. Rahim Khan understands Amir and supports his passion for writing.

Assef is a notorious older boy in that area. He is very violent by nature. He often mocks Amir for being friend of a Hazara, Hassan. Assef says that Hazara is an inferior race and the members of that race belong only in Hazarajat.

One day, when Assef tries to attack Amir with brass knuckles, Hassan comes to Amir’s defense. He threatens Assef that he will shoot at Assef’s eye with his slingshot. Assef gets frightened and backs off but he vows to take revenge on Amir and Hassan.

One fine morning, there is a kite fighting competition. Amir wins that tournament. His Baba praises him too. Hassan runs after the last cut kite. It is going to be a trophy of victory. He tells Amir that he can kite run for Amir for a thousand times over.

When he finds the kite, he suddenly finds Assef standing close to him in