The Kite Runner is a novel written by Khaled Hosseini that revolves around themes of revenge and redemption, with the setting involving two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, and their exploits from childhood to adulthood that involves their home nation, Afghanistan, being torn by war under the attempted invasion by the former Soviet Union (USSR) and the reign of the Taliban. Rhetorically speaking, Hosseini wrote his novel to emphasize that there amicable relationships, filial and non-filial, can still be forged in the midst of unfortunate circumstances that are way beyond the control of the characters. The gravity of both revenge and redemption is highlighted by Hosseini through his emphasis on intergenerational relationships – an arena he creatively exploited throughout the course of the novel. Such structural features enabled Hosseini to enable readers a sense of consciousness towards incoherencies brought forth by social constructs, fortuitous events and conscience-driven actions committed by the characters.
Given said overview of The Kite Runner, it is thus highly important to consider that in terms of rhetorical persuasion, Hosseini emphasizes more on pathos than the other two, ethos and logos, although all models are present throughout the novel. From the onset, it is already possible to determine that Hosseini has actually intended to emphasize on an appeal to emotion to all his readers in his novel, given that he has highlighted the rather complicated relationship of Amir and Hassan, alongside the relevance of all other people surrounding them. The sorry state of Afghanistan under threat of occupation by the USSR, as well as the rise of Taliban rule, also provided a backdrop on the struggles faced by both Amir and Hassan. Class struggles also affected the circumstances that unfolded between Amir and Hassan, with the wealthy family of the former, a Sunni Muslim, employing the family of the latter, a Shia Muslim, as their servants. The multifaceted nature of the conflicts in the novel all provide for an intricate design for pathos, while still allowing ethos and logos be evident.
Explaining how pathos has unfolded in The Kite Runner stands as a crucial concern, particularly because of the initial impression it emanates on the use of emotional themes. Both Amir and Hassan have been childhood friends since the latter served in the household of the former, although both of them did not always seen each other eye to eye. In one unfortunate circumstance, Amir remarked how he had to pay the price to win the same approval Baba, his father, has been giving to Hassan by getting his blue kite, which he thought would make him a winner in the kite-flying competition being held in his neighborhood that time. Amir lamentably talked about the way he thought Baba did not appreciate him as much as Hassan, upon which he said, “Maybe Baba would even read one of my stories. I’d write him a hundred if I thought he’d read one” (ch. 6). The price Amir had to pay is his friendship with Hassan, who was ganged upon and raped by three bullies, Assef, Wali and Kamal, after getting trapped in an alley running after the last losing kite for him. An emotional appeal to the Sunni-Hazara/Shia class conflict that defined the characters in the novel also emanated from the character of Amir – an aspect that directly conflicted with his friendship with Hassan, whose rape has led them to drift apart from one another. Such is best encapsulated by the remark Amir made to himself, “Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. Was it a fair price? The answer floated to my conscious mind before I could thwart it: He was just a Hazara, wasn’t he?” (ch. 7). Eventually, Amir was able to let go of the guilt that has so consumed him when he witnessed the rape of Hassan when Assef met him once again and beat him up, an event that has been encapsulated in saying, “My body was broken--just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later--but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed” (ch. 22).
Without a doubt, the pain and suffering both Amir and Hassan had to go through with regard to their respective childhood experiences that led them to drift apart from one another embodied the call to pathos of The Kite Runner. Yet, ethos and logos are also evident in the way the novel was written. One aspect in which ethos can be said to exist can be found in the dedication preliminarily provided by Hosseini at the opening portions of the novel, which states that he dedicates it “to the children of Afghanistan.” Hosseini, an Afghani writer, evidently used Amir to place himself in the novel, although one could not really confirm whether he has gone through the same experiences in real life. Nonetheless, Hosseini adequately provided clairvoyant images of how torn life was at Afghanistan during the period prior to and after the invasion of the USSR and up to the takeover of the ruthless Taliban. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan and drove away the USSR, they were initially perceived by Afghanis as heroes, but they were soon perceived as the new villains the moment they began their reign of terror in the nation. With that, Amir rested his case, “Yes, hope is a strange thing. Peace at last. But at what price?” (ch. 15). With the strong presumption that Hosseini has also experienced the catastrophe that wrought Afghanistan in late 20th century, one could also claim that ethos is present throughout. Nonetheless, the writing style employed in the novel did not make any direct reference to the life and experiences of Hosseini, henceforth making it more focused on pathos.
Logos is best encapsulated in the way The Kite Runner has focused on the prevalent social constructions throughout Afghanistan, particularly in the relationship between Amir and Hassan. As a Hazara – a group of people marginalized in Afghanistan for their observance of Shia Islam, and a servant, Hassan has kept a friendly relationship with his master, Amir – a format that does not sit well with the conventions of the immediate society surrounding them. Such has been best exemplified when Assef was about to rape Hassan, who said, “Amir agha and I are friends” (ch. 7). Assef, intimidating Hassan in giving the blue kite to him, repulsed, “Friends?You pathetic fool! Someday you’ll wake up from your little fantasy and learn just how good of a friend he is. Now, bas! Enough of this. Give us that kite” (ch. 7). Logically, as can be inferred by the prevailing social constructs in the novel, Amir and Hassan are not supposed to be friends, given their master-servant relationship. Such defiance of logic imparted by social constructs and its repeated emphasis through claims on the righteousness of the class struggles and religious differences by the likes of Assef provides the novel with an adequate focus on logos. Nonetheless, the emotionally-charged exchanges of dialogue exhibited by the novel makes it predominantly focused on pathos.
Summarily, the pathos-centered nature of The Kite Runner seeks to impart the message of revenge and redemption amid genuine friendship, guilt and trauma straddling within a milieu of restrictive social constructs and disaster caused by invasive regimes – all based on the real story of Afghanistan as it struggled for freedom and progress under the USSR and the Taliban. Such, therefore, provides room for ethos and logos to find due applications, although pathos evidently stands out as the main mode of rhetorical persuasion Hosseini has used in the novel. The suffering caused by the sorry state of Afghanistan shortly before the 21st century has emotionally stirred Afghanis, as the novel presents the story of Amir and Hassan as a one-off example that may resemble real-life cases that may have transpired in the nation during the same period.
Works Cited
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York City, NY: Riverhead Books, 2003. PDF file.
