The Kite Runner

Reading log: 2
Text title: The Kite Runner
Author/Director: Khaled Hosseini
Text type: Extended text

In its own way, The Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini's novel adopts a semi-mythical storytelling mode that runs through the life of its main characters, Amir and Hassen. Amir is the son of a wealthy man whom he calls Baba, and as we see throughout the first few chapters, they do not have a great relationship. Hassen and his father Ali are the polar opposites of Amir and his father. Ali is a poor man who has a disease which effects his leg and his appearance, making him the subject of jokes and ridicule, but still loves and cares for his son. This is a story of a childhood betrayal and eventual redemption that is as realistic and unrealistic as the expectation of redemption itself. The author shows a social divide in Kabul between the Hazara and the Pashtuns through the harassment of Hassan and other Hazara. It seems that the author attemps to create the mindset in the readers that the Pashtuns are insulting and ignorant while the Hazara are being repressed, for example, "They chased [Ali] on the street, and mocked him when he hobbled by. Some had taken to calling him Babalu, or boogeyman. 'Hey, Babalu, who did you eat today?' they barked to a chorus laughter." This is an example which really shows the extent of what Ali has to live with, and not only does he manage to live with such a devastating disease, but he also remains kind to others around him.

The Kite Runner is warm with sense of old Kabul and the Afghan community in exile, drawn from the author's experiences. The accuracy of Afghan courtship are captured in a San Jose flea market, as Amir first approaches his beloved, "Up to that point, our encounter could have been interpreted as a respectful inquiry. But I'd ask her a question and if she answered, we'd be-well, we'd be chatting. Me a morjarad, a single young man, and she an unwed young woman."

A great deal of the novel lies in the richly detailed characterisation. Baba is emotionally complex, a compelling and troubled man at home and abroad who despairs when he cannot get his bookish son to enjoy watching football, let alone play it. Meanwhile, Amir's parents-in-law are telling social stereotypes: the woman forbidden her one passion (singing) who puts all her energy into her family and the once great man who refuses to damage his reputation with menial work while he waits for the call to return to the old country.

Hosseini loses his grip on events, however, in the final third of the book. Determined to thoroughly redeem his protagonist, he creates a series of parallels that allow Amir undo some of his wrong doings, and a series of cringe making coincidences that brings the story to a full circle.