The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Notes Quote Chapter One: “I looked up at the twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had until winter of 1975 came and changed everything. And made me what I am today.” (pg 2) Chapter Two: “I can still see Hassan up on that tree, sunlight flickering through the leaves on his almost perfectly round face, a face like a Chinese doll chiseled from hardwood: his flat, broad nose and slanting, narrow eyes like bamboo leaves, eyes that looked, depending on the light, gold, green, even sapphire I can still see his tiny lowset ears and that pointed stub of a chin, a meaty appendage that looked like it was added as a mere afterthought. And the cleft lip, …show more content…
You know what always happens when the neighborhood boys tease him? Hassan steps in and fends them off. I've see it with my own eyes. And when they come home, I say to him,”How did Hassan get that scrape on his face?' And he says, 'He fell down. 'I'm telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy." (12) Chapter Four: “Sometimes, my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day with Hassan, chasing each other between tangles of trees in my father's yard, playing hide and seek, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians,insect torture with our crowning achievement undeniably the time we plucked the stinger off a bee and tied a string around the poor thing to yank it back every time it took flight.” (28) Chapter Five: “We stayed huddled that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. Our way of life. If not quite yet, then at least it was the beginning of the end.” …show more content…
After he abandoned Hassan during that sensitive time, he knew Hassan always trouble with his mother. When his mom came back to him, he grew so close to her. At her grave, he is happy but very heavy hearted he lost her. Amir meets Assef, who is now a taliban leader and beats him up wearing brass knuckles. Again, physically Amir is hurting but mentally he is healed because now he doesn’t feel guilty for not stopping Hassan’s rape. Amir feels he was punished for his wrong doing. He feels like it was owed to him and isn’t angry for it happening. Something he deserved after leaving Hassan during his rape. The beating left many emotional scars and one big physical one. A scar down his lip almost exact to Hassans. This makes the situation seem like it really was payback after all. After Hassan was always bullied for his lip looking that, now that Amir has it, they really are equals. It's nostalgic when Assef would bully Hassan for
Page 2 - “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. I looked up at those twin kites.”
A noun also known as realism—verisimilitude. The technique is used overall in writing. Authors write historical fiction books with hints toward real life events or seem as if these could happen today; therefore, these books possess a high verisimilitude. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a historical fiction book. The book is about a boy, Amir, that grows up in Afghanistan with a close friend, Hassan, who he later finds out is his half-brother. While in America during the Taliban takeover, Amir returns to Afghanistan to retrieve Hassan’s son Sohrab after Hassan is killed. These events are actual happenings in Afghanistan during the war time. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, contains a high verisimilitude.
Clearly, Amir hears how his father compares the two, and unlike Hassan who manages to meet Baba’s expectations, Amir grows bitter towards Hassan. He is unable to fight off his envy which later causes him to sacrifice his best friend’s innocence: “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba” (82), and this is all because he realizes “his shame is complicated by his own realization that in part he doesn’t help his friend precisely because he is jealous of him” (Corbett, 2006). From here, Amir develops strong feelings of guilt that induces him to perform even more destructive acts, such as having Hassan and his father evicted from the house. Amir not only loses a close friend, but now he has to continue to live with remorse as he dwells on these memories.
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”(Eleanor Roosevelt). Courage and bravery are two of the well-demonstrated themes in the novel “The Kite Runner”. The novel establishes courage through consistently maintaining responsibilities and the ability to redeem and persevere events and actions. Rather, bravery is demonstrated in the novel as the ability to stand up for anything that goes against teaching and values. Bravery also goes above and beyond courage, and can be seen as an act that may challenge someone physically, emotionally and mentally. The novel is
Redemption is defined as the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. Throughout life, individuals are faced with numerous incidences of redemption that can be taken up or ignored. Those who choose to take the opportunity are often able to grow mentally and accelerate much further than those who do not. However, what must be taken into account is that true redemption is for oneself rather than for others. For example, redemption by finally getting a well-deserved promotion which impresses others is not truly beneficial redemption. What must occur is happiness for the promotion within. In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the employment of redemption as a central idea prevails throughout the novel, specifically in the life
“Hassan never denied [Amir] anything.” After the life changing moment when Hassan got raped by Assef, Hassan became withdrawn. Amir was riddled with guilt because he saw the rape and did not stop it even though he had the ability. Amir was aware that Hassan knew that he saw it and did nothing, making him even feel more like coward. This led to Amir trying to make Hassan have some sort of emotion, to hit him and to be angry with him. Hassan was just not capable of those sort of ugly emotions. Although Amir did nothing to stop the rape, Hassan still was faithful to him. Amir couldn’t live with the guilt so he concocted a plan where it looked like Hassan stole a watch and birthday money from Amir. When Amir’s Baba asks “Did you steal Amir’s watch, Hasan?”” Hassan’s reply was a single word, delivered in a thin raspy voice: Yes.” This proves that Hassan is selfless; even though there would be harsh consequences he was willing to lie in order to protect Amir. Hassan knew that if Baba found out that Amir lied, Amir would be in a great deal of trouble and Hassan would do anything, at any cost to protect
Hassan defends Amir from being beaten by Assef, who has a reputation in Kabul of being a psychopath. When Assef threatens them, Hassan does not hesitate to respond saying, “You are right, Agha. But perhaps you didn’t notice that I’m the one holding the slingshot. If you make a move, they’ll have to change your nickname from ‘the Ear Eater’ to ‘One-Eyed Assef,’ because I have this rock pointed at your left eye” (45-46). Later on, Amir stands up for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, as Hassan stood up for Amir countless times before.
However, Amir’s happy day turns dark, when an hour later, he witnesses Hassan, his best friend, raped in an alley. He had “one final opportunity to decide who [he] was going to be”. 77. Instead of standing up for his friend and loyal servant, he runs like “a coward.” 77.
This passage is interesting because it shows how Hassan reacts to Amir’s return. It shows Hassan’s feelings. An inference that can be made is that Hassan is extremely happy to see Amir. This can be infered because of how Hassan ran to Amir and began kissing his hands. We can learn that Hassan is shows an a example of a theme when he reacts. From this passage, we can learn about a theme of how seeing an old friend can bring
...Valley of Panjsher” (p. 401) on his lips. Amir’s perception of his identity mainly revolved around the kite. Thus, when he banished it from his life, a part of him was lost. Only when he reconciled and accepted the kite back into his life did he feel truly fulfilled in his identity.
The Idea of watan is very necessary. Wattan means homeland in the middle east. The idea is very patriotic and loving towards culture and country. However in the middle east, they take the idea of wattan a little too far because it leads to horrific circumstances including rape. The novel defines watan through the respect shown to Baba, the traditions of sitting down together and eating, and the conservative thinking of Assef.
Throughout Amir’s journey to absolve himself from the internal and distressing pain he has felt ever since witnessing the devastating altercation in the alley, trying to reach a standard his father, Baba, would approve of also took a toll on his childhood. Baba often speaks of how he cannot fathom the fact that Amir is a part of his bloodline. (quotes quotes quotes) Trying to achieve the perfect son status that Baba wanted Amir to be clouded his mind so greatly that, during the moment, Amir did not show compassion towards Hassan’s troubling moment of need. What matter most was retrieving the last fallen kite to his father to prove he was not a mistake that Baba made Amir believe he was. Even after Baba’s death, his actions brought more despair and uncertainty to Amir’s complicated life. The secrets and lies that were kept from Amir and even Hassan could have altered the fate of both men. (quote quote quote) Throughout the novel, Amir could arguably be considered as selfish, rude and mean toward his half-brother Hassan. However, since Baba never told the two about their true relationship Amir grew up disliking Hassan because he did not know that they shared blood. Knowing their true identities possibly could
Assef used his status to bully and take advantage of Hassan and Amir. When Assef saw Hassan and Amir together, he wanted to scare them by having his brass knuckles out and ready to fight. “Assef slipped on the brass knuckles. Gave me an icy look … I looked in his crazy eyes and saw that
Although Amir is feeling endless fear while fighting Assef, he continues anyway. By the end of the fight, Amir states, “My body was broken—just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later—but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed” ( Hosseini 289). Amir may have gotten beaten up but he finally stood up to the man who had haunted him everyday for twenty-six years. This made amir feel healed of the sins he committed in his past