The kite runner

Topics:
1.Role of Women - Women in Afghanistan have the role of second-class citizens whose lives are controlled by Muslim laws and traditions. Women in Afghanistan are respected, however, must still live to serve their fathers and husbands. Even in America, Women are forced to live by traditions, though, they have more apparent role in making their own life decisions.

2.Betrayal - The theme of betrayal plays an important role in the Kite Runner. Betrayal is shown in the novel in full cycle from Amir's betrayal of Hassan to Baba's betrayal of Amir. Amir lives in guilt for betraying Hassan, which only grows more and more as he tries to avoid any memory of it. Later, in the book, when Amir learns the truth about Hassan being his half-brother, Amir feels betrayed by his father and even guiltier for his betrayal.

3.Brothers - The author showed through the actions of Hassan towards Amir and Baba towards Ali that you didn't have to be blood to treat someone like family. Amir never treated Hassan like a true friend or brother. At the end of the book Amir tries to make up for the betrayal of his half-brother Hassan by rescuing his own his nephew, Sohrab.
4.Guilt - Hidden Guilt - Amir lives his whole life with hidden guilt after he watches Assef rape Hassan and never helped defend Hassan like Hassan had defended him. He feels even guiltier for betraying Hassan later and forcing Hassan and Ali to leave their home.
Open Guilt - An example of open guilt is when Amir and Hassan are at the Pomegranate tree and Amir asked “What would you do if I hit you with this?” When Amir hit Hassan with the pomegranate at him, he yelled at Hassan “Get up! Hit me!” Amir wanted Hassan to hit him so he could have the punishment he craved and so he could sleep at night. Hassan did nothing and Amir called him a coward. After that, Hassan then got up walked towards Amir, took a pomegranate and crushed it on his own forehead and said “Are you satisfied? Do you feel better now?” Amir then cried.
5.Redemption - Amir's only form of redemption comes from rescuing his nephew, Sohrab, and bringing him to the United States where he can live a better life, something that was defined to his half-brother, Hassan.
6.Journey/Exodus - The most apparent journey in The Kite Runner is that of Amir and Baba from Afghanistan to America. Amir and Baba have a wonderful life in Afghanistan with a big house and servants, all of which they are force to leave behind, because of the Soviet invasion. Along with the physical journey, there is an emotional journey that father and son take together, which brings them closer together. The physical journey Amir takes later in life to rescue his nephew could be considered as closure to Amir's life long journey of searching for atonement.
7.Father & Sons - In a patriacharial family, the father is authority of the household. Whereas, the son's role is make his father proud by obeying his father and carrying on the Pashtun tradition. In The Kite Runner, it seems Baba, Amir's father, doesn't really understand Amir. Amir spends most of his childhood seeking acceptance from his father, only to be compared to other boys who show traits his father wished he had.
8.Class distinction - In Afghanistan, there is a class distinction among the people. There is the high class Pashtuns and the lower class Hazaras. In The Kite Runner, Hassan was a Hazara and put down by a lot of people, including his Pashtun half-brother Amir.

Style-
1. Parallelism - A parallelism in this book is how Amir and his wife tried and tried to have a baby but couldn't. It is similar to how Ali couldn't have a child himself. Another example is how Ali took Baba's son and treated him like his own, while Amir adopted Hassan's son and treated him like his own.
2. Character foils - Hassan is a foil character in The Kite Runner. He is Amir's foil; his qualities of honesty, courageousness, and loyalty to Amir are obvious throughout the book. These qualities make Amir's cowardice even more apparent. Hassan, though smaller than Assef, always stood up for Amir and protected him. However, after Amir is not strong enough to stand up for Hassan, he betrays Hassan in order to remove him from his life. It is because of these differences in their personality that causes Amir to live with guilt for the rest of his life. It is because of these differences that Baba seems to show Hassan more attention, despite Amir and Hassan being half-brothers.
3. Foreshadowing - An example for foreshadowing is when Baba tells Amir that the mullahs would
ruin Afghanistan and that the only sin is theft of any kind. Later in the book, when the Taliban takes control of Afghanistan, Baba's words become true, as the Taliban steals the rights from the people of the country.
4. Flashbacks - The author uses flashbacks to explain why Amir feels so guilty about his past and when he found out the truth between him and Hassan. He remembered how his father used to say “No matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft”. Amir would always go back to the quote Baba used, "When you kill a man, you steal his life, you steal his wife’s rights to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you cheat, you steal someone’s right to the truth."
5. Positives & negatives aspects of the writing - Some could view that the author's lack of detail in the political and historical turmoil in Afghanistan as a negative aspect, while others could view it as a positive aspect as it did not deter the reader from the main story.

Setting-(5 cultural aspects of setting identified in novel)
1.Afghanistan Pre-War vs. Afghanistan Post-War
2.Pakistan vs. Afghanistan
3.Kabul vs. San Francisco
4.America vs. Afghanistan
5.Hazara vs. Pashtun

Minor Characters
1. Khala Taheri (Khala Jamila) - She was the wife of General Sahib and mother of Soraya. When her daughter and Amir met, she would secretly give information to Soraya about Amir and would always ask Amir to come to the table at the market anytime he wanted. Also, Khala Taheri taught Farsi and history at Zarghoona High school for girls in Kabul.
2. Farid – He was the driver who takes Amir back to Afghanistan. Farid calls Amir a tourist thinking he has only come back to take the money he gets from his father’s house, but Farid learns of the real reason for Amir's return and helps him.
3. Sanaubar – She was only mentioned in the book a few times, but she was Hassan's mother. Sanaubar abandoned Hassan soon after giving birth to him. She then returned after many years to take care of her grandson.
4. Dr. Armand Faruqi – He was the surgeon who operated on Amir's injuries after his fight with Assef.
5. Raymond Andrews – Mr. Andrews was the man at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan who told Amir that it was going to be very difficult to take Sohrab back to the U.S. Raymond introduced him to a guy that could help, Omar Fiscal. Omar and Amir talked about how maybe Sohrab had to stay in an orphanage one more year, but Amir said no.

Symbols & Significance-
1. Slingshot - The slingshot symbolizes both Amirs’ childhood and the need to stand up for what is right. In his childhood days, Hassan used the slingshot as a threat to protect Amir from Assef. Later in life, Hassan's son, Sohrab, actually uses the slingshot to stop Assef from hitting Amir.
2. Amir’s scar- Amir’s scare reminds Amir of Hassan and symbolizes his relationship with Hassan. After being beaten by Assef, he realizes his scar makes him just like Hassan, and how they are alike now that they each have their own “harelip.”
3. Kite Flying - Kite flying is symbolic of freedom and joy. When Amir and Hassan were growing up, flying kites was a very popular event to be in. Then in 1996 it was banned in Afghanistan entirely.
4. Sohrab - Sohrab symbolized change within Amir’s life. When Rahim Khan told Amir the truth, Amir knew that Khan had called him to come because he and Baba were alike with the same sins, theft. Now Amir knew that the boy, Sohrab was the only way Amir could make up for the sins him and Baba had made.
5. Pomegranate Tree - The pomegranate tree symbolizes the friendship of Amir and Hassan. When they hung out at the tree they carved their names in. When Hassan is dead, Amir is filled with guilt. Amir goes back to the tree and thinks of the memories of his past and sees that their names have faded away.