The Kite Runner
Overview:
• Hosseini’s political intent is to humanise a region that has been clouded by media coverage to
the Western world.
• The novel is a bildungsroman that shows the story of redemption and how ordinary people are
a ected by domestic and international power relations.
• Central to the novel is the division between the two factions of Afghan society: the politically
and economically superior Sunni Pashtuns and the oppressed Shi’a Hazaras. Amir and
Hassan represent these two ethnic groups and consequently the lives of those with and without
power.
Character analysis’:
Amir:
• Amir is the narrator of the novel who narrates in rst person in order to draw the distinctions
between how he thought as a child vs how he thought as an adult — thereby establishing the
Bildungsroman narrative.
• The change in Amir’s character maps that of a sel sh child to a sel ess adult.
• Amir spent much of his childhood believing that Baba blamed him for the death of his mother,
who died in childbirth. This becomes the root of many problems within the novel and also
contributes to the “Winter of 1975” as to Amir, the kite was “my key to Baba’s heart.”
• Hosseini uses cyclic structure at the end of the novel, as Amir tells Sohrab: “for you, a thousand
times over,” just like what Hassan would say to Amir. This establishes Amir’s own redemption.
Hassan:
• From the beginning of the novel to the end, Hassan remains constant: he is loyal, humble and
courageous.
• Hassan is forgiving of Amir, yet he is oppressed throughout his entire life. This highlights the
injustices of Afghan society.
Assef:
• Assef is the antagonist of the novel. He idolises dictators such as Hitler and as a Sunni Pashtun,
is a direct product of ethnic divisions.
• Not only is Assef a villain, he symbolises all villainy. He draws his social power from his
economic and ethnic identity and consequently abuses his status through the marginalisation,
subjugation and exploitation of the socially and economically inferior Hazara’s.
• As an adult, Assef emphasises his power by joining the Taliban. He is given free rein to exercise
his violent and pedophilloic nature.
• Assef’s brutal actions on a domestic scale later re ect the historically grounded ‘Massacre of
the Hazaras at Mazar-i-Sharif’ which is a real historical event that occurred in 1998.
Baba:
• Baba always said: ‘There is only one sin. Only one. And that is theft” — this is ironic as Baba
himself robbed everyone he loved from the truth in order to maintain his honour and reputation.
• Baba’s deceit has detrimental a ects on those around him, with Hassan, is illegitimate son,
becoming collateral damage.
Sohrab:
• Sohrab is a device for Amir’s atonement, he parallels Hassan which is signi cant in regard to
Amir’s narrative arc as although Amir cannot make amends with Hassan, he can atone for his
sins by rescuing Sohrab.
Rahim Kahn:
• Rahim Kahn is the symbol of morality and voice of reason within the novel. He acts as a father
gure to Amir and ultimately becomes the catalyst for Amir’s redemption and saving Sohrab.
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, Soraya:
• Both Soraya and Amir have domineering fathers.
• Her reputation has been tainted by a past transgression.
• Soraya also subverts gender conventions; she swears, has a teaching career and stands up to
her father.
The Taheri’s:
• Soraya’s father, General Taheri, maintains patriarchal values and mourns Afghanistan for what it
used to be.
• Alternatively, Soraya’s mother, Jamila, is silenced within her marriage and represents women
who are oppressed.
Farid:
• Farid is a loyal friend to Amir and the catalyst for redemption (a key theme within the novel).
Key quotations and analysis:
Amir:
• “In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was a Sunni and he was a Shi’a, and
nothing was ever going to change that” — a key power dynamic that shapes the novel.
• “Words were secret doorways, and I held all the keys.”
• “My key to Baba’s heart” — a reference to the kite, a turning point in the novel.
• “I was that monster.”
• “Sociopath.”
• “I wondered brie y what it must be like to live with such an ingrained sense of ones place in a
hierarchy.”
• “They hadn’t been staring at my watch at all. They’d been staring at my food.”
• “It would be erroneous to say Sohrab was quiet. Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning
down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing o the button. Shutting down. All of it.”
• “I feel like a tourist in my own country.”
• “I cringed a little at the position of power I’d been granted and all because I had won the genetic
lottery that had determined my sex.”
• “Sohrab’s silence wasn’t the self imposed silence of those with convictions, of protestors who
seek to speak there cause by not speaking at all. It was the silence of one who has taken cover
in a dark place, curled up all the edges and tucked them under.”
• “Or maybe, it was not meant to be.”
• “Sohrab’s eyes ickered to me. They were slaughter sheep eyes” — key theme: the sacri cial
lamb.
• “Every woman needed a husband. Even if he did silence the song in her” — a reference to the
patriarchal values within Afghanistan.
• “It was the look of the lamb.”
• “It was the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place.”
Baba:
• “There is only one sin. Only one. And that is theft” — irony.
• “I’d never believe he’s my son!”
• “I’ll take a thousand bullets before I let this indecency take place” — contrast between Amir and
Baba.
Hassan:
• “For you, a thousand times over.”
• “Agha!”
Rahim Kahn:
• “Children aren’t colouring books. You don’t get to ll them with your favourite colours.”
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