Essays on The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini’s book The Kite Runner revolves around affection, trust, and betrayal towards Amir and Hassan. Though the story is told through the lens of Amir, it succeeds remarkably in showing the value of friendship, loyalty, and social demarcations that arise from cultural, political, and economic backdrops. Since the story revolves around Amir and Hassan as the main characters, comparing and contrasting these two boys can go a long way in exploring the themes of Hosseini’s literature work. Despite the huge differences between them, Amir and Hassan do share a number of similarities. To begin with, the ...

Introduction

This essay will use sources from six key films, and written text in order to describe, discuss, and analyze how society picks on people with less power over time. The sources used in this essay, depict a narrative where there is an underdog, and a person in a position of authority over them. They highlight the underdog’s struggle to align themselves with the values of society, and to be recognized as equal members within it. Each of the narratives discussed in this essay depicts people who are used, and discarded by society. These underdogs are seen as outcasts ...

Novels by McEawn and Hosseini explore the themes of crime, guilt and attempts to atone. The main protagonists of these novels committed their crimes in the childhood and only lately in their adult lives understood the heinous nature of their actions and tried to fix the past and regain inner peace. In this essay, I will try to compare and contrast the key personages, their victims, their actions, a sense of guilt, and a pursuit of forgiveness.

The main protagonists

Briony of Atonement and Amir of The Kite Runner are children in transition to adult life (13 and 12 years old respectively). ...

‘There is a way to be good again’ (Hosseini 2). This is perhaps the enthralling statement in the novel. Uttered by Amir’s most trusted friend, the words serve to assure Amir that there is yet hope for redemption. Redemption is especially an important theme in the Kite Runner because sin and guilt resonate throughout the story. These words hit Amir like a hammer and he realizes that though his quest for salvation has not been quenched years on, there might just be a way out. For decades, Amir was haunted by his childhood memories despite his concerted efforts ...

Around Them Through Their Art

How Close, Robeson, and Hosseini Have Affected the World Around Them Through Their Art Many artists have made lasting change in the world with their medium of expression. Few artists, however, have made the impact on the world that pioneers Chuck Close, Paul Robeson, and Khaled Hosseini have made. Together, these three artists have not only compiled impressive resumes, but they have contributed above and beyond their respective professions, answering a higher calling and making the world a better place to live. Born in 1940, Chuck Close was a visual arts pioneer. Considered by many to be one of ...

Classic English Literature

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hoseini hit the bookshelves in 2003. The text gives the reader ideas for colour by revealing the conflicts and complexities in characters in Afghanistan during post colonialisatin and colonialisation period. The novel has been highly appreciated for the historical and ethnographic insights provided and has been interpreted using diverse themes. The main themes of coming of age, ethnicity and morality are highly conflicting and the author has presented the history and culture of Afghanistan to form a backdrop for the story. The narrative in The Kite Runner is shaped by the central themes of redemption, ...

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 ...

The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini revolves about the life of the protagonist-Amir, who is struggling with a huge load of guilt since childhood. In his endeavors to counter this guilt that was born from his childhood years, more guilt stems from his efforts to redeem his face before his father. Amir is ever in a tussle to gain his father’s attention and develops a self-centered approach whereby he views any competitor for his father’s attention as a threat. This selfish nature continues to exacerbate his efforts and subsequently, his journey to redemption. Symbolically, the story infers or represents, self-destruction at ...

The relationship between rich and poor, and the examination of class issues, in literature and art is always a fascinating proposition. Many works, through their structuring, messaging plot and characters, can be read through a Marxist lens – namely, the literary perspective which aligns with the philosophies and teachings of socialist writer and thinker Karl Marx. In Marxist criticism, works are viewed as lenses through which to view the sociopolitical worlds in which they were created (or are being viewed) (Eagleton, 1976). Art is political, particularly in a Marxist lens, and the works The Kite Runner and King Lear are no exception. Both ...

Every human being faces a serious challenge in life once a while. These challenges might arise due to certain mistakes that we might not be proud to say in public. However, we must all find a way of dealing with these mistakes for us to be able to live happy stress-free life. Mistakes are part of life as a man is to error but there are some mistakes that are just too costly and might interfere with someone’s life. Each and every one of us has made a mistake or two in our lives that we are not proud. It is true because ...

Many schools of thought have been debating over several centuries as to what exactly it means to be a good person. Philosophers have also given many answers over the years about their general description of a good person. Many varying responses have been issued to give satisfactory definitions. While others state that it is respecting the law of the land; others argue it is dedicating their lives to helping others, while others believe being good is dictated by being religious. This paper will use the characters and events from the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni as well as other ...

“There is a way to be good again” ( Hosseini K. 2003) a line delivered by Rahim Khan to Amir in order to encourage him to help Hassan’s son escape Afghanistan and finally free him from the guilt of his past. The powerful quotation showing how personal salvation can be achieved through saving another person, but the case of Amir in the Kite Runner is complex because before he did something good, he once did something he regretted. In the case of Amir, the main character in the Kite Runner, did saving his nephew be enough to consider him a ‘good’ person ...

W.H. Auden's poem "Say the City Has Ten Million Souls,"

ABSTRACT Analysis of the Auden's (1939) poem, "Say This city Has Ten Million Souls" provides the opportunity for connecting the social precepts of place and displacement offered by Aschcroft et al (1989) for explaining the plight of the refugee as marginalized by the host society. In doing so, the poem becomes a lens for understanding the use of Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis Model for assessing the three dimension of literature. The outcome of the following academic discussion provides a tapestry of the psychological, emotional, and social, challenges of the human ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

Sin and Redemption in Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" ‘Kite Runner’, written by Khaled Hosseini, chronicles the life of Amir, who is a troubled young boy, always trying to measure up to his father’s expectation. Amir forges a strong bond with Hassan, their servant’s son, but he secretly dissents the fact that Hassan is more like the son his father would have preferred. Hosseini uses a series of events to narrate how an innocent childhood friendship gradually become poisoned and corrupted. Amir becomes the reason for ousting, Hassan and his father, out of their household and the friendship deteriorates even ...

The Kite Runner is a very famous novel written by Khaled Hosseini. The novel has been acclaimed all over the world and is immortalized in the history of literature. In the novel, Amir is reminiscent of the event that made him the man he is. The nice chronology of life prevailed before the overthrow of the king of Afghanistan. However, one day, Amir is threatened by Assef for playing with Hassan, a Hazara. Hassan uses his slingshots to attack Assef and thus Amir is saved. In winter, during the kite flying competition, Amir wins by severing the string of the ...

In The Kite Runner, notions of community run steadily throughout the book. One of the most definable traits of community is the interdependence of individuals, and taking action to benefit others in their community at little to no gains for the self. This sentiment is extremely evident in The Kite Runner, through the repeated use of the phrase "For you, a thousand times over." Throughout the book, characters do things for each other and take care of each other to support their community; conversely, characters who do not behave in the best interests of the community feel guilt because of ...

When one is going to talk about redemption it appears to be fairly logical to start with a brief pre-history; that is to explain what actually made a character to seek for redemption. Redemption basically means that an individual improved himself or herself sometimes even making a sacrifice for it. Therefore some mistake that was made in the past always precedes the redemption. The wrong choice that led to horrible consequences usually results in great moral sufferings of the one who had made it. Due to the fact that anyone in the world can make a mistake, and thousands of people have experienced ...

Essay on the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner is a successful novel written by an Afghan-born American novelist Khaled Hosseini. The author’s literary talent and the issues which the novel raises up secured the readers’ admiration of this book and its enormous popularity. The novel was also made in a successful film. As it was said in the book “World Cinema, Theology, and the Human: Humanity in Deep Focus” written by Antonio Sison: “The Kite Runner” offers conversation points surrounding the themes of father-son relationship, friendship, betrayal, and redemption” (Sison, 2012).

In the centre of the plot lies a story of a Pashtun boy Amir, the son ...