What Are Hassan's Characteristics In The Kite Runner

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In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses descriptions of character’s features in order to draw out certain properties of their personality. For instance, Hassan’s characteristics can be used to analyze and ascertain the meaning of his personality. Hassan’s features, like his lip, nose and face, help people to understand him as a character by exaggerating his looks and drawing attention towards them. From this, the author brings meaning, not only to Hassan's character, but to the entire book.
In The Kite Runner, the author describes Hassan with having a face “like a Chinese doll” (pg. 3). This suggests an innocent and fragile appearance. The book proposes innocence and fragility, especially during his encounter with Aseff in the alley. This portrayal of Hassan’s features uses descriptions to exaggerate and reinforce the idea of Hassan’s innocence. Also, in The Kite Runner, the author describes Hassan as having “the look of the lamb” (pg. 64). The description help to reinforce the idea of innocence by comparing Hassan's features to that of a vulnerable animal. Both of these characteristics help to better …show more content…

“The cleft lip, just left of midline”, (pg. 3) that Hassan has marks him as different by physically marking him as an outcast. This feature draws out the differences between Hassan, and society. Also, the flat nose Hassan has also marks him as different because of how Assef views him in comparison to others. Assef’s taunting that “they are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this flat nose.” suggests this. Assef also says that Hassan and the Hazara people “pollute their homeland, their watan.”(pg. 33), By saying this, Assef is differentiating himself with the Hassan, as well as the Hazaras. Both of these tauntings shows the differences between Hassan and the Afghan society. By giving Hassan these facial differences, the author is literally marking Hassan as

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