Transcript Kite Runner notes - English at Montrose

* Amir’s perspective on events – his view , his
personal reactions
* The story is told through a series of flashbacks
* The narrator knows how the story ends
allowing the writer to use foreshadowing
because he knows what will happen creating
dramatic tension
* Amir – the narrator
* Hassan – the servant’s son , friend ‘ the hairlipped kite runner’
* Baba – Amir’s father
* Rahim Khan – Baba’s friend, business partner
and ‘ uncle figure’ to Amir
* Ali – Hassan’s father and Baba’s long time
servant.
* Rahim’s phone call at the beginning of the
book ‘foreshadows’ the events in the rest of
the book.
* Amir begins to tell us about the key day at the
beginning of the book ‘ a frigid overcast day’
this is an example of the author’s use of the
pathetic fallacy where the weather is used to
reflect the author’s oppressive and chilling
feelings.
* ‘a face like a Chinese doll chiselled from hard
wood … eyes that looked depending on the
light , gold green, even sapphire’
* Amir looking back shows that he loved Hassan
making what happens in the novel even more
powerful.
* Hassan is a Hazara who are seen as an inferior
ethnic tribe in Afghanistan. Hassan is teased,
taunted and bullied because of this
* Amir is from the Pashtun tribe who as seen as
superior and the ruling class.
*Amir recounts in Chapter 3 a story of Baba wrestling a
bear… Rahim’s nickname for his is ‘Mr Hurricane’
*Baba is portrayed as someone who does things which are
usually beyond other people … the bear, his business, his
marriage, the orphanage,
*He feels that Amir is the only thing
in his life he could not mould.
He is an almost mythological figure in
Amir’s eyes. He can never live up to his father’s wishes
because he is a myth rather than
reality.
*When criticised fir his drinking Baba says ’God help us
all if Afghanistan ever falls into their hands…’
foreshadowing the Taliban rule later in the novel.
* Baba and Amir go to the
‘Bazkashi’ tournament and
When one of the contestants is killed Amir
cries all the way home. Baba is very
disappointed in him. We see that Amir’s desire
to please his father results in his cruelty to
Hassan who he snaps at the next day.
* The Western (John Wayne ) is a motif good
guys and bad guys
* Baba is a sort of John Wayne of Afghanistan
* ‘…life went on as before . People went to work
Saturday through Thursday and gathered for
picnics on Fridays , on the banks in the parks
on Ghargha lake in the gardens of Paghaman.’
* We are given a view of Kabul p38 to help
contrast with the Kabul we see later in the
novel
* Amir tells Hassan his stories
* Most of the novel is Amir telling us a story it is
his view and he is often biased
* Stories allow Amir to express some of his pent
up emotions and feelings
* Assef and his bully friends challenge Amir and
Hassan , Hassan fends them off showing his
unquestioning love and loyalty.
* Assef is representative of the violent , uncaring
and self –destructive country which Afghanistan
is in the process of becoming.
*Kite Flying is a symbol of freedom and
independence
*Amir’s descriptions of Kabul in winter
reinforce his feelings of freedom. He uses
poetic imagery
‘ The sky is seamless and blue, the snow so white
my eyes burn’
*The affectionate descriptions of the city of
his boyhood continue and convey the
remembered love he has for his home.
* Central event of the novel
* The juxtaposition of winning the tournament
and the attack means that the act of winning is
immediately contrasted with the act of losing
* The setting of a disused alley makes it all the
more seedy and horrible
* It occurs on a day with a clear blue sky that
Amir calls ‘blameless’.
* Amir tries to pretend that nothing has
happened and so internalises his guilt… it is
related to his insomnia and his car sickness.
* This is added to his feelings of guilt related to
the death of his mother
* He feels the presents he receives at his party
are like ‘blood money’ the bike his father gives
him is even bright red in colour.
* Only Rahim Khan gives him a present which is
different . The notebook is a reward for his
writing and free of any association with the
rape.
*
*Amir buries his watch under Hassan’s
mattress in an attempt to relieve his guilt
by removing its cause.
*Ali and Hassan leaving makes Amir realise
that he should have been honest about
what he saw.
*He imagines in a film how he would’
‘chase the car, screaming for it to stop…
pull Hassan out of the backseat and tell
him he was sorry, so sorry ..’
*
* Baba forgives Hassan showing his great love for
the servant’s son
* When Ali and Hassan leave Baba cries which is
unexpected given the image we have been
given of Baba so far.
* The writer uses the pathetic fallacy and the
rain provides the symbolic tears for Amir to
view his departure through.
*
* The story jumps to 1981 Amir and his father
escape in a truck.
* Baba stands up to a Russian soldier who wants
to rape a young mother in the truck.
* Baba’s moral courage is in direct contrast to
Amir’s weakness
* The death of Kamal is symbolic of the chance
Amir has to put the troubles of his home in
Afghanistan behind him.
* The events described in their first years in
California echo chapter 3 where we are told
stories of how people see Baba and how his is
admired and liked; the bar scene after
graduation
* Amir meets Soraya she too has a past she wants
to forget. Amir advises her that
‘ a few days, sometimes even a single day, can
change the course of a whole lifetime’
*Baba’s illness can be seen of a sign that
although some aspects of America suit him
he is not at home here and it diminishes
him and he declines.
*Amir adapts because it suits him he can
forgive Soraya’s past because in America it
is not such a big deal. He has become
Americanised.
*Baba’s death seems to show that he can
relinquish his hold on life now that Amir is
married , looked after and finally become
a man.
* Khaled Hosseini seems to have a view about
the balance of good and bad in the novel.
When a good thing happens something bad
balances it.
Winning the Kite battle – the rape of Hassan
His marriage – Baba’s Death
His publishing success – Soraya’s infertility
Amir’s success – the decent of Afghanistan into
civil war
* ‘There is a way to be good again’
* The juxtaposition of Soraya’s childlessness
with his dream of Hassan in the snow suggests
that Amir cannot have children of his own until
his debt has been paid.
* The repetition of the phrase ‘a thousand times
over’ adds poignancy to his feelings of futility
with Soraya.
* Amir learns about what has happened in
Afghanistan and the cruelty of the Taliban.
* The destruction of his father’s orphanage is
like a second death of Baba.
* The death, hurt or the threat to children is a
recurring motif in the novel signifying the
breakdown of culture and family in
Afghanistan.
*Rahim relates the story of Ali and Hassan to Amir in the first
person
*He has the key to Amir’s redemption
*He fulfils his role as a second father
*Hassan ‘s son is named after the character from his
favourite story that they shared in happier times
*Rahim rebuilds the ‘Wall of Ailing Corn’ as a symbolic
gesture to recall earlier less troubled times.
*We learn that Baba was Hassan’s real father and that he
was Amir’s brother
* Brings us up to date and introduces an adult
Hassan with a wife and child
* Introduces Hassan’s own voice instead of it
being related through Amir
* Establishes that Hassan cherished the same
things that Amir does; the pomegranate tree,
the graveyard, the stories, kite flying…
* Rahim’s request that he go back to Kabul and
rescue Sorhab is Amir’s chance to finally make
penance for what he didn’t do for Hassan. The
fact the boy is in an orphanage is a reference
back to Baba’s orphanage . Saving Sohrab is
therefore revealed as something Baba would
have done and something Amir can do to finally
become the man his father wished him to be,
as well as repay his debt to Hassan
*Amir’s feelings are tied up with his feelings about the
‘ravaged’ country of Afghanistan.
“My mother had died on this soil. And on this soil, I had
fought for my father’s love.”
*Amir leaves a gift of money in thanks to the family who
welcome them on their journey to Kabul under a mattress.
Symbolically this is exactly the method he uses to disgrace
Hassan all those years ago.
*This is a symbol of the beginning of his progress on the road
to redemption.
*Hosseini uses rich imagery to describe Kabul now
“jagged stumps of brick and stone”
*He describes the city as an old friend “homeless
and destitute”
*The state of Afghanistan seems to be part of
Amir’s divine punishment both for his offences
against Hassan but also for deserting Afghanistan.
With no people like Baba to provide and protect
the country and its inhabitants Afghanistan has
become as vulnerable and fatherless as its
orphans.
* The tree was a symbol of the close relationship
between Amir and Hassan.
* Its death symbolises the end of their physical
relationship
* The survival of the inscription carved on it
shows their friendship can exist beyond the
barrier of death.
* The Talib who oversees the stoning is dressed
in white a symbol of innocence and purity he is
also wearing John Lennon sunglasses again a
symbolic champion of peace
* The juxtaposition of the stoning and the
football game show that such cruelty and
violence have become commonplace , like a
sport.
* Assef is the Talib in charge of the execution and
who is keeping Sohrab
* The price of freeing Sohrab is to finish their
childhood fight
* Amir laughs as Assef beats him with his brass
knuckledusters because he is finally receiving the
beating he deserved and tried to get Hassan to give
him all those years ago.
* He is rescued by Sohrab’s slingshot but this time
there is no shame because he has done his part.
* Amid dreams of wrestling a bear. He has found a way
of being the man his father wanted him to be
* Amir’s lip has been split in the fight with Assef and
symbolically he now even looks like Hassan’s brother –
one more step to redemption
* Rahim Khan has gone into the desert to die Amir’s
childhood retreats into the past as he now turns to
deal with the present.
* Farid( the driver) uses the phrase ‘For you a thousand
times over’ reminding us of Hassan but at the same
time indicating that Amir is now capable of taking on
the stature of his father and people will admire him
for having the courage to follow his convictions.
* Amir is taken as Sohrab’s father
* He embraces his Afghan identity
* Instead of running from his responsibility and
pushing the boy away he pulls the boy to him
and lets him cry
* Having put right so much of the wrongs he has
done both Hassan and his homeland Amir is
rewarded with the son he craved.
* Sohrab’s suicide sees Amir still determined to
succeed in doing what is right
* He prays and takes the last step in fully
reconnecting with his heritage
• Amir’s journey to find himself is at an end – he looks at the picture of
Hassan and instead of turmoil he feels peace.
• He stands up to his father in law and says
‘ You will never again refer to him as “Hazara boy” in my presence’
• The story return to its main motif Kite Flying. The clouds clear to reveal
sunny skies
• At the end Amir offers to run the kite for Sohrab something Hassan used
to do for him and completely reversing the roles to say to Sohrab
’For you a thousand times over’
• The book returns to the lyrical prose that we met at the beginning of the
novel and Amir has redeemed himself, reconnected with his Afghan
heritage, assuaged his guilt for Hassan and become the man his father
would have admired. His journey is complete
* From the Higher English Paper 2007
* Choose a novel in which a character reaches a
crisis point.
* Explain briefly how this point is reached and go
on to discuss how the character’s response to
the situation extends your understanding of
him/ her.
*The Critical Essay
* ‘The Kite Runner ‘ by Khaled Hosseini is a novel where the
main character Amir reaches a crisis point. The novel
portrays his childhood in Afghanistan and his friendship with
his servant Hassan. This close relationship is destroyed by
Amir due to his inability to cope with his own reaction to his
friend’s rape. He struggles to cope with the guilt he then
carries through the rest of his life until he is given a chance
to redeem himself. This is the crisis point in the novel and
brings the narrative and the themes of redemption together.
* Or
* ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khaled Hosseni is a novel where the
main character reaches a crisis in his life. The resolution of
this crisis is the basis of both the theme and the narrative
of this book.
*Introduction
How to start the essay using Q words
* This crisis is arrived at early in the book. We know it is
going to be important right from the start as Rahim Khan
phones the main character Amir as an adult now living in
California and offers him the chance ‘to be good again’.
The novel then continues as a flashback to his childhood.
We learn of his relationship with his servant Hassan and
their closeness and of the key incident where Hassan is
raped by the bully Assef. Amir runs from defending his
friend and has Hassan’s father dismissed from the house.
This, coupled with the dramatic events affecting
Afghanistan and his ongoing need to gain his father’s
approval, takes the reader on a journey from moral
cowardice to redemption. The book could be seen as an
allegory of the political fate of a nation, as an exploration
of the relationship between a father and a son or as one
man’s battle with the ghosts of his past; whichever the
reader chooses to see it all revolves around the crisis
point.
*Plot summary
The context for the crisis
* Right from the phone call of Rahim Khan…
*Paragraph 3
How the crisis comes about
* Redemption Amir spends the first half of the book running
from the moral imperatives he feels relating to this crisis
*Paragraph 4
The way themes of the book relate to this crisis
* Baba, being good , father and son moral bravery
*Paragraph 5
Father and son
* The city of Kabul is like another character in
the book and it, like Amir finds itself in crisis.
Hosseini ties the fate of the two together in a
sometimes poetic way.
*Paragraph 6
The portrayal of a nation in crisis
* The author constructs a series of steps that
Amir takes which bring the reader and Amir
back to confront the wrongs of the past and
reach some sense of atonement symbolised by
the kite flying motif.
*Paragraph 6
Steps to redemption
* In conclusion we can see how Amir’s reaction
to this crisis point lead the reader to a greater
understanding of the writers themes and the
wider allegory of the fate of Afghanistan itself.
*Conclusion
Answer the question