Literature Analysis #1 ~ The Kite Runner

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

Exposition: An Afghan boy's struggle to fulfill his father expectations, never truly receiving affection, and his struggle with redemption and fixing the past. Amir's mother died when he was born, Hassan's mother had abandoned him, Baba took both children under his home, under his wing, almost like BROTHERS. Amir was  not the son Baba had hoped for. Amir always made a fool of Hassan, in return Hassan gave him loyalty, respect, protection, and that continued until his death. The novel quickly exposes Amir's internal struggles with the past, and the story rapidly regresses into his childhood. In the first events of his childhood, the reader can see that Baba isn't a loving man, rather he makes Amir feel useless/weak, while Rahim Khan is left to tend to some of Amir's childhood needs.

Inciting Incident: One day, Amir's opportunity to acquire his father's attention presents itself, the kite and kite runner competition. Amir ends up winning, and as Hassan takes off to do his job of catching the last kite, he yells "For you a thousand times over" at Amir. But that day, Hassan takes longer than usual and as Amir looks for him he sees Assef, a boy that always bullied them, raping Hassan. Hassan was never the same, and although he kept his loyalty to Amir, Amir felt awkward, embarrassed, ashamed, that he hadn't stopped the rape. Amir does his best to get rid of both Ali and Hassan, they eventually leave when Hassan reveals to his father what had occurred that day. When the war begins in Afghanistan, Amir and his father move to America, where Amir meets his wife Soraya. In his years in America, attempting to forget his past, Amir's father dies of cancer, Amir finds out Soraya cannot bear children, and he receives a call from his father's old friend, Rahim Khan.

Rising Action: Rahim Khan wants to meet up with Amir, he wants him to return to Afghanistan. When Amir agrees and arrives at Rahim Khan's home he is faced with shocking news. Amir is faced with the facts that Hassan and his wife were murdered, that Hassan had a child by the name of Sohrab, and that Hassan is actually his half-brother. Rahim Khan gives him the opportunity to redeem himself from his past, to rescue Sohrab from an orphanage and set him somewhere safer with a couple.

Conflict: The conflict lies inside Amir, he wants to but can't bring himself to return to a war ridden area to rescue the boy that will be a constant reminder of his past.

Climax: However, he decides to search for him, eventually finding him in the grasp of his old bully, the man that raped his brother, and the man who was now raping and damaging that same man's son, Amir comes face to face with Assef. Here, back in his hometown, Amir drops the burden he had been carrying for so long. He and Assef fight, Assef destroying him with his brass knuckles, and just like his father, Sohrab steps in to save Amir. Amir is taken to the hospital, and when well again, he and Soraya decide to adopt Sohrab, wanting to bring him to America. But times are difficult, and with no way to prove Sohrab an orphan, it becomes necessary to put him back into an orphanage. Sohrab, traumatized is terrorized by this thought and attempts suicide. With his attempt at ending his life, goes all the excitement he once had of a new family.

Falling Action: Eventually, Amir and Sohrab are able to return to America, but Sohrab has no light, no sign of life within him. He seems like a vacant carcass of the child he used to be, he rarely speaks and takes no joy in anything.

Resolution: One day, during a picnic, kites begin to fly. Amir buys Sohrab a kite and they win a battle together, Amir chases the kite he had just beat. And for a moment their is hope, a faint, crooked smile appears on Sohrab's face, and that is all the hope they need.

One sentence summary: A man's struggle to redeem himself, to rid himself of sin, and sin past, to correct all his mistakes, to "wrestle the bear," to become the man he was meant to be, to find a way "to be good again."

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
Like with any novel, their seemed to be multiple themes, including brotherhood, betrayal, and redemption. Brotherhood is clearly depicted in the relationship of Hassan and Amir, although mostly on Hassan's part. The author clearly wanted to make a statement on their relationship as he constantly repeated that "there was a brotherhood between people who fed from the same breast." Betrayal tags along with the idea that Amir wasn't as loyal as Hassan, Hassan would have died for Amir, and Amir couldn't even save him (or attempt to save him) from Assef and rape. Redemption is probably the biggest theme, the idea that we can all be "good again." Amir's earnest need for redemption began with being redeemed for having "killed" his mother. However, he finds himself unable to do so, his father constantly telling him that someone who cannot stand up for himself will not stand up for anything as an adult. Amir's redemption begins with achieving just that, and he eventually succeeds, standing up for what is right and saving his brother's child.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
Sad (Baba's stony eyes bore into mine and, just like that, I wasn't laughing anymore. "I mean to speak to you man to man. Do you think you can handle that for once?" "Yes, Baba jan," I muttered, marveling, not for the first time, at how badly Baba could sting me with so few words." We'd had a fleeting good moment- it wasn't often Baba talked to me, let alone on his lap- and I'd been a fool to waste it."); disappointed/ashamed ("Where were you? I looked for you," I said. Speaking those words was like chewing on a rock. Hassan dragged a sleeve across his face, wiped snot and tears. I waited for him to say something, but we just stood there in silence, in the fading light. I was grateful for the early-evening shadows that fell on Hassan's face and concealed mine. I was glad I didn't have to return his gaze. Did he know I knew? And if he knew, then what would I see if I did look in his eyes? Blame? Indignation? Or, God forbid, what I feared most: guileless devotion? That, most of all, I couldn't bear to see."); and angered ("And you know how he always worried about you in those days. I remember he said to me, 'Rahim, a boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.' I wonder, is that what you've become?" I dropped my eyes."); The young boy who is constantly depressed because his father will not show him any affection, the young boy who is ashamed of his actions and for not intercepting something when he should have, the young boy angered by his own past and present actions.


4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

1. Metaphor: "...there was a brotherhood between people who fed from the same breast... Hassan and I fed from the same breast."  pg 11 OR "My father was a force of nature..."
2. Simile: "...attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun." pg 13
3. Irony: "It appeared that on the same night I had learned about one of writing's objectives, irony, I would also be introduced to one of it's pitfalls: the Plot Hole. Taught by Hassan of all people. Hassan who couldn't read and had never written a single word in his entire life." pg 34
4. Paradox: "...none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. Our way of life. If not quite yet, then at least it was the beginning of the end." pg 36
5. Foreshadowing: "In the winter of 1975, I saw Hassan run a kite for the last time." pg 55

6. Allusion: ""Cut him! Cut him!" grew louder, like Romans chanting for the gladiators to kill, kill!" 

7. Personification: "...dusk had painted the sky pink and purple." pg 68

8. Flashback: "Friday afternoon in Pagham. An open field of grass speckled with mulberry trees in blossom . Hassan and I stand ankle-deep in untamed grass, I am tugging on the line, the spool spinning in Hassan's calloused hands... we don't have to say anything- that's how it is between people who are each other's first memories, people who have fed from the same breast. ...the memory lived in me, a perfectly encapsulated morsel of a good past..." pg 122

9. Colloquialism: ""It's so fucking unfair," she barked." OR "Takes a donkey to know a donkey." pg 235

10. Symbolism: "What did you and Hassan call it, "the Wall of Ailing Corn"?" pg. 208

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?

DIRECT - "...congenital paralysis of his lower facial muscles, a condition that rendered him unable to smile... polio had left Ali with a twisted, atrophied right leg that was sallow skin over bone.."

"A young woman's voice. She was standing behind us, a slim-hipped beauty with velvety coal black hair, an open thermos and Styrofoam cup in her hand. ... She had thick black eyebrows that touched in the middle like the arched wings of a flying bird, and the gracefully hooked nose of a princess from old Persia... Her eyes, walnut brown and shaded by fanned lashes, met mine."

INDIRECT - "But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor's dog, was always my idea.

 

""Hit me back!" I spat. "Hit me back, goddam you!" I wished he would. I wished he'd give me the punishment  I craved, so maybe I'd finally sleep at night. ...Then Hassan did pick up a pomegranate. He walked toward me. He opened it and crushed it against his own forehead. "There," he croaked, red dripping down his face like blood.

• The author uses both direct and indirect characterization to show that his characters are not just superficial but that the character's actions largely reflect on them as well. For example, we know Ali and Soraya, their physical aspects, but not who they are. With the indirect characterization, we get a pretty good sense of who Hassan and Amir are. Amir is the trouble maker, yet Hassan always takes the blame, showcasing that he's constantly loyal. In the second quote we see both of their true colors. We see Amir's violence in desperation, he wants Hassan to snap and react, but Hassan would never hurt his beloved friend, he would rather hurt himself, and THAT says a lot about someone. Self-sacrifice since the beginning.

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
Although the author doesn't change his syntax/diction for the characters, he does change his syntax in certain areas of the text. The words on the page reflect the actuality of the situation, the syntax and choice of words coming together to create a vivid scene. For example, in the scene were Hassan is violated, the setting is described as full of scarps, rubble, filled with trash, not only showing how crude the situation is, but symbolizing the pollution  of the mind of these boys who commit such a heinous crime. The syntax also changes, it begins to come as short blurbs, signifying that things are going by quickly, sort of surreal, things speeding up as Assef becomes more excited because of the control he has over this boy. Another example is when Amir meets Sohrab for the first time, the syntax and diction change slightly. The author already provides us with lengthy and extremely descriptive sentences, but in certain areas he does more. Like when Sohrab and Amir meet and Assef begins to beat Amir, you can feel the anger in Assef, you can feel and almost visualize Amir's relief at finally being punished for all his sins as he begins to laugh, the scene becoming consistently intense as Assef's anger rises because of the laughter, and Amir's laughter growing because of his anger. The syntax in, "My body was broken- just how badly I wouldn't find out until later- but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed." depicts the scene perfectly, the entirety is ironic, yet perfect for the situation.

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
Amir is a static and dynamic character. He is fully developed with all the characteristics of a true person, jealousy, depression, shame, etc, all the range of emotions one feels in life. Amir is dynamic because throughout the story he exhibits constant change, the biggest transformation was going from being a 'wimp' to standing up for what he believes in and fighting for it.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.

After finishing the novel, I definitely felt like I had witnessed the story of a real person. Like stated above, the characters goes through the full range of emotions, and reacts to things realistically. For example, when Amir saw Hassan get raped, he felt fear, fear to act, fear to admit what he had seen, fear to let anyone know what he witnessed. And at the same time, he felt a lot of guilt for pretending not to see his friend be raped, and for not helping. Amir also develops a sense of jealousy for his friend and brother, because before he knew he had a sibling, he pondered why his father gave so much attention to Hassan, why he was always so proud of him, and why he would ultimately show him affection and not his 'real' son. And like any real person, Amir has the needs for acceptance and love, constantly searching for them in his father but never finding them. And even when he found acceptance when he became the kite champion, it didn't last long, because the relationship between him and his father was artificial.

Characters:

Amir:protagonist, mother died at his birth

Hassan: protagonist best friend, rape victim

Ali: Hassan's dad, servant to Baba; Hazara Mogul descendants - Shi'a Muslims

Sanaubar: Hassan's mom, left one week after his birth to join a clan of traveling dancers; married because of convenience, whore, eventually received forgiveness from Hassan

Baba: protagonist father, mansion; Pashtun descendants - Sunni Muslims (persecuted Shi'a)

Rahim Khan: fathers best friend & business partner

Assef:son of Baba's friend, German and Afghan. Reputation of savagery. Entourage: Wali and Kamal, believes in Hitlers ideals, Pashtuns are pure Afghans

Soraya Taheri: General Sahib Iqbal Taheri's daughter, Amir met her at swapmeet, Amir's wife
Sohrab: Hassan's son