kite runner power essay

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AS and A-level English Literature B 7716; 7717

Text overview - The Kite Runner

A text overview which shows how teachers can consider The Kite Runner in relation to the genre of political and social protest writing.

We haven't covered every element of this genre. Instead we hope this guide will provide a springboard to help you plan, and to get you and your students thinking about the text in more detail.

'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. Nothing.'

The political context of Hosseini's story of two brothers is of fundamental importance to the events which unfold and those events which have happened in the backstory. Hosseini incorporates into his narrative the late 20th century and early 21st century politics of both Afghanistan and the western world. The story shows how the lives of ordinary people are affected by domestic and international power politics. In writing The Kite Runner , Hosseini had a clear political intent: to humanise a region, for western readers, which is either remote or clouded by negative media coverage. Significantly Hosseini chooses to make his narrator a writer who himself has a political and personal mission – a mission to tell the truth about himself and his country.

Central to Hosseini's post-modern novel is the division between the two factions of Afghan society: the politically and financially superior Sunni Pashtuns and the oppressed Shi'a Hazaras. The two protagonists, Amir and Hassan, represent the two different ethnic groups and the different lives lived by those with and those without political power. This inequality is initially foregrounded through the characters' homes, (Amir's 'mansion' and Hassan's 'mud hut'), but is also present in the representation of everyday life for Afghan people in the early chapters of the novel. The 'school text books' Amir reads barely mention the history of the Hazaras showing how seriously they are marginalised, invisible to an extent. Hazaras are also subjected to terrible insults such as 'mice-eating, flat-nosed, load carrying donkeys' which is aimed at Hassan in the streets of Kabul and reflects the oppressive attitudes of many Afghan Pashtuns. Indeed, the divisions are so deep that even after the Soviet invasion the Hazaras are still scorned by their compatriots, and after the rise of the Taliban the divisions are intensified because the Taliban are largely Pashtuns. Late in the novel when Amir returns to Afghanistan to try to atone for his sins, the otherwise positively characterised Farid asks why Amir 'came all the way from America for…a Shi'a?'

Other power struggles and political tensions are also important in the narrative. The Soviet invasion, the rise of the Taliban, Amir's feelings of inadequacy with regards to his father, Soraya's rebellion against her parents (because of her having lost 'the genetic lottery') and Amir's physical fight with Assef for Sohrab, are all examples of conflicts between those with power and those without. In this way, Hosseini comments on gender politics, class and ethnicity by his representation of contemporary Afghan society.

Issues of power and ethnicity

The central event of the novel is the rape of Hassan, an atrocity that results from his loyalty to his Pashtun friend Amir (Assef calls Hassan a 'loyal dog'). This event which Amir witnesses and about which he does nothing haunts him for life. Assef's brutal actions on a domestic scale reflect the later, historically grounded, 'massacre of the Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif'. As a child, Amir knows he is complicit in the obscene bullying of Hassan, his friend, but at first refuses to acknowledge his guilt, instead compounding Hassan's misery by heaping on him further cruelty. As he moves into adulthood, carrying the burden of his sins, Amir realises he can only gain redemption by recognising his abuse of power, atoning for his wrongdoing and by rescuing and loving Hassan's son Sohrab as a person in his own right, distinct from his ethnicity. Amir's learning – and courage perhaps - is reflected in his angry outburst to General Taheri at the end of the novel: 'you will never again refer to him as Hazara boy in my presence. He has a name and it's Sohrab'.

The domestic and personal story of The Kite Runner i s sharpened by the backdrop of political turmoil. The narrative spans a time period of about forty years and is set against the tumultuous recent history of Afghanistan: the 1960s, when the country was at the end of a forty year rule by Zahir Shah, the 1973 'bloodless coup' by his cousin, the Soviet invasion, the guerrilla war fought by the mujahedeen, the Taliban rule and the events following 9/11 in the USA. It is important to note, however, that the history that Hosseini represents is somewhat revisionist (there is little sense given, for example, of the support supplied to the mujahedeen and the Taliban by the USA to oust the Soviets and Hosseini's representation of the peaceful days of the monarchy tends to gloss over the ethnic and religious tensions that divided the country). In the light of the turbulent history and its impact on its people, the historical details incorporated into the novel could be seen to present Afghanistan itself as a victim. As a result of the Soviet invasion Kabul becomes a city of secrets and suspicions and is described as being 'split into two groups: those who eavesdropped and those who didn't' and the very face of the country is physically devastated by war. The once beautiful landscape is strewn with the 'burned carcasses of old Soviet tanks' and Kabul is personified as an old friend who has become 'homeless and destitute' as a direct result of the ongoing political conflict.

Under Taliban rule (1996 -2001), the country becomes a terrifying and 'hopeless place'. Scenes such as the execution in the Ghazi stadium and the 'young man' who 'dangled from the end of a rope' after his public hanging explicitly highlight the political crisis Afghanistan undergoes at the end of the 20th century. Assef's readiness to become an active member of the Taliban is significant, showing how Afghanistan is partly responsible for its own terror and hopelessness.

Assef, as a representation of a Sunni Pashtun, in a sense is a product of the ethnic divisions that are historical. Hosseini's setting the early story in a peaceful Afghanistan carries with it some ambiguity. He said he wanted to 'remind people that ...the history of the Afghans in the twentieth century has been largely peaceful and harmonious' and to a great extent Amir's childhood memories are pastorally blissful. Amir remembers an Afghanistan with its ancient charms free from external conflict, with long summers, storytelling under the pomegranate tree and kite flying in winter. Even the servants seem to enjoy serving and the rich employers largely keep them safe. However, this vision is from Amir's perspective. Hassan and Ali do not have personal voices in the early part of the text and readers are left to imagine life from their point of view. It is also relevant to think about how uncomfortable many readers feel thinking of the servitude of Hassan and Ali and of the treatment of Sanaubar. The story suggests perhaps that the attitudes of the ruling Pashtun elite towards the Hazaras in part make Afghanistan the author of its own misery. Baba's status as a 'towering Pashtun specimen' for example means he is able to abuse his position, fathering Hassan despite his mother's marriage to Baba's Hazara servant, Ali. After the Taliban takes control, Assef easily gains a ruling position within the regime and this gives him the ability to abuse and murder with impunity, almost as if his early upbringing prepares him for his later violent behaviour.

Gender politics

Soraya's discussion of double standards highlights the gender inequalities within Afghan society. While men who father children out of wedlock are 'just having fun', after her affair Soraya is viewed as damaged goods. This negative reaction to female sexuality is seen more overtly in the depiction of Hassan's mother Sanaubar who had tempted 'countless men into sin' and is seemingly punished for her beauty when 'someone had taken a knife to her face' leaving her looking 'grotesque'. Similarly, Soraya's mother is silenced by her marriage to General Taheri. Khala Jamila, Amir reports, had been famous in Kabul for her singing voice but 'that she never sing again in public had been one of the General's conditions when they married'.

Power of nations

Afghanistan is seen to be at the mercy of both the Soviets and the Americans at key points in Amir's story. Its people are abused and dispossessed. The Soviet invasion is represented on a domestic level through the attempted rape of a young Afghan woman by a Russian soldier, as a 'price' for letting the lorry Amir is travelling in pass. Amir's and Baba's hurried leaving of Afghanistan for America, to secure their safety and ideals, shows how the larger political world impacts on the personal and domestic.

Towards the novel's close, when the time frame moves to post 9/11, Hosseini shows how Afghanistan's misery increases with the American bombing. Cities that the narrative had previously heralded as holiday destinations for a young Amir, are now described as the battle ground 'for the Taliban's last stronghold in the North' as America attacks. America is presented somewhat ambiguously, both as a saviour in destroying the Taliban but also a destroyer. Hosseini includes the initial presentation of these cities, as 'the cities of (Amir's) childhood', to encourage readers to consider these destinations as real and human, not merely as an unrecognisable feature of a news report and therefore to see their destruction in human terms too.

Power of organised religion

At the opening of the novel, Baba derides religious power stating 'God help us all if Afghanistan ever falls into' the hands of the mullahs. This is foreboding. Later there is evidence that religious power is corrupt when the cleric present at the Ghazi stadium execution, who justifies the woman's death, claims 'God says that every sinner must be punished'. Furthermore Assef's claim that God wants him to 'live for a reason' can be seen as signifying the arrogance of those with power who think that their actions are sanctioned by a God who is on their side.

The novel shows the horrors of religious extremism through the attitudes and behaviour of the Taliban. Although Hosseini acknowledges that the Taliban brought an end to the fighting of the tribes (who had made Kabul a 'proverbial hell on earth' after the Soviet withdrawal), he also shows that they were responsible for massacring Shiites and enacting fundamentalist supremacist laws – banning dance, music and kite flying and restricting women's rights. They replaced the secular laws of Afghanistan with Islamic Shari'ah law (illustrated in the novel by the punishment of two adulterers) with the intention of keeping the people as far away as possible from the enlightened lifestyle that the west claims to hold.

Perhaps, in the light of this, it is clear why Hosseini chooses for his narrator to be an emergent writer. In the story, Amir is encouraged to write a book about the miserable fate of his people: 'May be you should write about Afghanistan. Tell the rest of the world what the Taliban are doing to our country'. In this respect Amir's (and Hosseini's) novel is a political and social protest text, demonstrating perhaps the strength of the pen as a tool of protest.

Acknowledgement of copyright-holders and publishers

This resource is part of the Elements of political and social protest writing resource package .

Document URL https://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/as-and-a-level/english-literature-b/teach/protest-c-text-overview-kite-runner

Last updated 16 Feb 2021

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The Kite Runner

How khaled hosseini uses literature and stories to demonstrate the power of words to harm and heal in times of injustice. anonymous 12th grade.

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner depicts the lives of two Afghan boys who grow up in the turmoil of invasion, heartbreak and war. Amir, the protagonist and narrator of the story, is Pashtun and Hassan, a Hazara boy, is Amir’s servant with a cleft lip. Despite being separated by different ethnic and social backgrounds, the boys share a close friendship. However, the afternoon of a kite-fighting tournament in 1975, leads to circumstances that neither boy can foresee, an event that traumatises their lives. Afterwards, Amir struggles to find his place in the world, filled with guilt and regret. When the Russians invade Amir and his father, Baba, have to flee from Afghanistan to America. Amir eventually realises he must return to a war-torn Afghanistan in redemption of his sins. But Afghanistan has changed and will never be the same. From a foreign perspective, The Kite Runner positions the reader to gain insight of the history and injustices of Afghanistan, from the downfall of the monarchy and the oppression of the Hazaras, to the invasion of the Russians and the assumed control of the Taliban. Many symbolic elements of the story reflect the history of Afghanistan. In particular, the element of storytelling is used by Hosseini to...

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The Kite Runner

Introduction of the kite runner, summary of the kite runner, major themes in the kite runner, major characters in the kite runner, writing style of the kite runner, analysis of literary devices in the kite runner , related posts:, post navigation.

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The Ability of Words to Harm and Heal in "The Kite Runner"

Categories: The Kite Runner

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Published: Jun 29, 2018

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Power In The Kite Runner

Leveling the Scales: The Kite Runner and the Abuse of Power Power abuse is typically associated with corruption in the government or dictatorships. It is not commonly attributed to people on an everyday scale, and especially not to children. Yet, the abuse of power can be present in many different situations, most of which stem from the same root issues. Khaled Hosseini ’s The Kite Runner illustrates how the abuse of power originates when people have felt insecurity and a lack of power in their own lives, and it can happen on many different scales, shown through Amir, Assef, and the Taliban. Throughout the whole book, Amir has been vying for love from his father, often against Hassan, and feels powerless when he does not get it; this causes him to attempt to assert power in other aspects of his life, usually over Hassan. Amir feels as if Baba does not love him, and feels powerless to fix it; he says, “I always felt like Baba hated me a little, And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I? The least I could have done was to have the decency to have turned out a little more like him. But I hadn’t turned out like him. Not at all” (Hosseini 19). He believes there is nothing he can do to make his father love him; after all, he cannot change the past, and he cannot change himself substantially. This feeling of powerlessness affects him in such a way that he feels the need to compensate for this loss of power elsewhere in his life. He would exploit the kindness and forgiveness Hassan always showed him, and would try and prove his superiority and worth in that relationship. Amir once asked if Hassan would eat dirt if he asked him to, and afterwards said, “I knew I was being cruel, like when I’d taunt him if he didn’t know some big word. But there was something fascinating--albeit in a sick way--about teasing Hassan. Kind of like when we used to play insect torture. Except now he was the ant and I was holding the magnifying glass,” (Hosseini 54). Amir is filling the power gap he feels in his life with power over Hassan, and is trying to show Hassan how much control he has over him. Hassan, Amir’s servant and a genuinely kind person, is in a vulnerable position against Amir,

Dialectical Journal For The Kite Runner

Something that extremely irritated and disturbed me in chapters 6 through 9 was how Amir had the audacity (when he was a child) to treat Hassan incompetently, not considering him as a friend, nor entitling him as one verbally to others. He never stood up for Hassan and never has. He admitted that he "always envied his natural athleticism" (Hosseini 53). Amir just wants to be acknowledge by Baba, but he knows he never will because he isnt the athletic nor strong-minded son his father wanted, however Hassan was. Its so insulting of Amir to say "I had been mean to Hassan [and] almost apologized, then didn't" (Hosseini 60). It just goes to show that even though he felt guilty he didn't let Hassan be aware of it. This scene portrays how insecure

The Kite Runner Selfish Quotes

Amir cannot stand to look at Hassan and seeing the lamb-like eyes, so to make himself feel better about the situation, he frames Hassan. Amir is upset that Baba forgives Hassan but it is ironic because he is the one doing the sinful act and yet again it is Hassan who is saving and protecting Amir. These unfaithful acts are not in fact an act of selflessness but and an act of selfishness. Everything Amir is doing is for himself. He only cares about his own feelings but never is he putting himself in others people’s

Kite Runner Character Analysis

To add to Hassan’s admiration for Amir, Hassan would take the blame despite the fact that it is Amir’s fault. “But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor’s dog, was always my idea (4).” It is bizarre that Amir did not confess when Hassan was getting punished, like if someone has a friend, he/she would not want that friend getting hurt. Then he acts like nothing happened and does not even thank Hassan for covering for him, but instead he acts like it was Hassan’s fault and that Hassan deserves the punishment. Amir is most likely jealous that Hassan receives Baba’s attention while he needs to work for it, which is why he lets Hassan take the blame for him. “The group felt that Baba shows more kindness to Hassan as a way of overcoming his guilt for the affair, which in turn makes Amir feel unwanted: his literary talents are not appreciated because his father would prefer a son interested in football (Dennys).” It is assumed that Amir does not like Hassan because he can gain Baba’s attention easily while Amir has tried for years to get a little bit of attention. Amir thinks that if Hassan gets in more “trouble” then Baba would like Hassan less and start liking him more and pay more attention to him. Amir treats Hassan kindly when they are alone, but in public he degrades Hassan and acts like Hassan is nothing to him. “But he’s not my friend! I almost blurted. He’s my servant (41)!”

Amir Doesn 't Call Hassan His Friend

Although Amir thinks his father, Baba, is angry at him for not living up to his family’s beliefs, Baba does not hate Amir. Baba just wants Amir to be a proud man, so Baba can relate to him and further extend their relationship, but Amir does not live up to his father’s specific expectations. When Baba sees that Amir is not growing up like he did he becomes disappointed in Amir. Baba does not agree with Amir’s love and passion for reading poetry and writing stories, because he believes it shows a lack of courage and this does help their relationship. Amir simply wants to make his father happy and try and live in his footsteps. In the book I believe this relationship is part of the reason why Amir didn’t help Hassan when he was being raped, because he wanted to please his father with the victory kite of the contest. If he were to help Hassan the kite would be taken by Assef, but in actual fact I believe Baba would be happier if he stood up for his friend rather than winning the tournament. Amir could have also left Hassan because he is jealous of his father and Hassan friendship.

Power In The Kite Runner Essay

Lastly, another situation in which the theme, abuse of power and bullying, is evidently portrayed is when society’s power is abused and bullies Hazaras. Racial conflict is common, especially in Kabul, when those

Guilt and Emtions in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

He starts hating Hassan because of the guilt. In the novel Amir mentioned, “Every time Hassan was around, I was getting a headache” (Hosseini 93). It was a torture for Amir to see Hassan because he would remember what he did and feel bad about it because he knows that what he did was wrong and shouldn’t have sold his friend for a kite tournament to grab his father’s attention. Amir’s success as a loving and caring person is mostly influenced by Rahim Khan, he gives Amir the love that his father never gave him, he also encourage his creativity side, writing novels and short stories, Rahim Khan was always there for Amir when his own father wasn’t “Amir Jan, I enjoyed you story very much. Mashallah, God has granted you a special talent. It is now your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes his God-given talents is a donkey. You have written your story with sound grammar and interesting style. But the most impressive thing about your story is that it has irony. You may not even know what that means…My door is and always will be open to you, Amir Jan. I shall hear any story you have to tell. Bravo. Your friend, Rahim” That’s the main reason why Amir is willing to do anything to prove to his father that he his responsible and courageous and not like his father used to say. Ever since Amir has lived with Hassan he has always been jealous of him in every way because Amir’s father always said that Hassan was an ideal kid.

The Kite Runner - Amir and Baba's Relationship, Amir and Hassan's Relationship

From reading chapters one to four, one of the main aspects of Amir and Hassan’s relationship is the sense of control Amir has over Hassan. It becomes apparent that Amir is the one with the most authority in their friendship when he ‘talked’ Hassan into firing walnuts at the neighbour’s one-eyed German shepherd, ‘Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me’. This highlights the way Hassan looks up to Amir and obeys him due to their religious, cultural and social differences, ‘I was a Sunni and he was a Shi’a’. Nevertheless, Amir does express his sensitive side towards Hassan and feels protective over him, especially when he can see he’s upset, ‘I reached across my seat, slung my

The Kite Runner: Character Analysis. Essay

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Amir was the son of a wealthy social worker. He was brought up with the son of his servant, and perhaps his only best friend, Hassan. Amir had a rocky relation with his father. At times, it seemed as his father loved him but those moments didn’t lasted forever. He thinks Baba (his father) wishes Amir were more like him, and that Baba holds him responsible for killing his mother, who died during his birth. Despite being best friends, Amir thinks that Hassan is beneath him because he belonged to an inferior cast. He used to mock him jokingly or tried to outsmart him. In all fairness, it was Amir’s cowardly nature that

How Does Amir Grow Up In The Kite Runner

Amir had great influences on him as a child; Baba was a brave person, generous to everyone, and should’ve influenced Amir to be the same. On the contrary, Amir was selfish and chose not to stand up for his friend, even when the situation desperately needs it. This is not because of how he grew up, of his environment. Amir’s genetics made him to be fearful and mean, as shown throughout the book. “I knew I was being cruel, like when I’d taunt him if he didn’t know some big word. But there was something fascinating - albeit in a sick way - about teasing Hassan.” (Hosseini 54). Even though Amir had great influences growing up, Hassan took the brunt of his attacks and neglect. Near the beginning of the book, Hassan is raped in the alleys running a kite for Amir. Going after Hassan, Amir finds Hassan while this is going on but does not stop the rapist or stand up for his friend. Instead, Amir ran away and proceeded to abandon Hassan emotionally after the event. Baba was a brave man and would’ve stood up for Hassan, regardless of the danger to him, but Amir was not influenced nearly as much by his positive environment rather than his negative cowardice, or

Theme Of Motif In The Kite Runner

So this basically adds a violent touch to the story. This is on the contrary smoothened out by the late reveal that Hassan and Amir are even brothers. One might ask oneself if Amir would have acted the same way he did, if he had known about the relationship to Hassan. This insight similarly discredits as a father figure because he was the one who kept this share of gene between Hassan and Amir a secret his whole life. He is the one causing the rivalry through lying and being the one the jealousy is all

Theme of The Kite Runner Essay

Though Hassan was his best friend, Amir feelt that Hassan, a Hazara servant, was beneath him. He passively attacked Hassan by mocking and taunting him. Amir never learned how to affirm himself against anyone because Hassan always defended him. All of these factors lead to Amir not being able to stand up for Hassan when he needed him most.

Exile In The Kite Runner

When Amir was looking for Hassan after the kite flying contest he is talking to someone asking if they had seen him. He refers to Hassan as “our servant’s son” (69). He and Hassan are best friends at home through their entire childhoods. Despite this, he still does not even refer to him as a friend to society; to the people around him Hassan is just his servant. Then later in the novel after he has witnessed Hassan getting raped, he does not want Hassan to be living with them anymore. He asks Baba “have you ever thought about getting new servants?” (89). He tries to exile his best friend for no reason at all even though they have been through everything together. This is the foundation of Amir showing this theme of exile towards Hassan, and it only gets worse. Hassan begins to notice what Amir is doing and tells him “I don’t know what i’ve done, Amir agah I wish you’d tell me. I don’t know why we don’t play anymore” (88). He ignores Hassan and shuts him out into exile even though all he has done is be loyal to Amir. Soon after Amir wants to completely exile Hassan and get him out of his home for good. Amir decides to frame him so he “lifted Hassan’s mattress and planted [his] new watch and handful of Afghani bills under it” (104). Amir lets Hassan take the blame for this act completely and exiles him out of his life forever. Hassan even writes to him but Amir does not respond. Amir exiles Hassan and shows the theme of exile through his actions toward Hassan throughout the

The Kite Runner Analysis

Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.

Theme Of Good And Evil In The Kite Runner

When Amir and Baba went to the lake one day when Baba had built the orphanage, Amir exclaimed, “he asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs” (13). This associates the power Aamir wants in order to impress his father. Furthermore it embellishes the fact that Amirs quench for power over Hassan was growing since the beginning of the book, Hassan was always, “steps in to fend them off” (22), which made Amir feel weak and powerless. This enraged the evil that was brewing inside him, and created a dynamic of always wanting more. The power that came from Baba’s approval always came so easily to Hassan, However for Amir, he always went out of his way to be vengeful towards him. Hosseini depicts this constantly throughout his life, for example when he graduated highschool in California and Baba mentioned how good it would be to have Hassan there with them in the new car they had gotten, Amir said, “a pair of steel hands closed around my windpipe at the sound of Hassan's name” (134). Hosseini wants us to see that Amir is constantly wants that power over his father’s relationship with him, but Hassan always gets in the way of that. Even when Amir was doing an act of good to save Sohrab, he “hadn’t felt happy and [he] hadn’t felt better, not at all” (289). Amir began to laugh during the time that he

The Kite Runner And Macbeth Comparison

Throughout the novel, Amir endeavors to be approved by his father, Baba, who is admired by people in Kabul. Unfortunately, Baba believes that Amir, unlike him, is very unmanly “and [that he] never fights back. He just... drops his head ” (Hosseini 24). Since Baba wishes for a son who would stand up for himself, he can’t help but observe that Amir’s friend Hassan, as the guy who “steps in and fends the [bullies] off” (Hosseini 24) is his idea of the ideal son. Though aware of his father’s expectations, Amir is unable to change himself and instead envies Hassan and the fact that Baba treats him like his own son by“[patting]Hassan on the back. [and even putting] his arm around his shoulder [like a fatherly figure]”(Hosseini 15). Despite the manifestation of this hatred in Amir, he continues to recognize the bond that he shares with Hassan, “ brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast” (Hosseini 11) which is because both their mothers died during birth. The confusing emotions he feels for Hassan has Amir face a situation in which he acts inappropriately and allows the guilt to manifest upon him. After winning a very important kite tournament for the first time and “seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last” (Hosseini 71) Amir begins to search for Hassan who had gone to run his kite earlier. Finally, Amir finds him in a dark alley and as he “peeks around the corner” (Hosseini 75) he witnesses a sight that eradicated not only his relationship with Hassan but also Baba’s brotherly relationship with Ali, Hassan’s father. Peeking through the corner of the alley, like a bystander, he watches his one and only friend getting raped. The guilt that came upon him was for two reason; one, his lack of courage to stand up to

The Kite Runner

Khaled hosseini, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The narrator, Amir , grows up in a luxurious home in Kabul, Afghanistan, with his father Baba . They have two Hazara (an ethnic minority) servants, Ali and his son Hassan , who is Amir’s closest playmate. Amir feels he is a disappointing son to Baba, but he is close to Baba’s friend Rahim Khan . Amir and Hassan fly kites and read stories together, though Hassan does chores while Amir goes to school. One day three boys named Assef , Wali , and Kamal threaten Amir, but Hassan scares them away with his slingshot.

In the winter there is a big kite-fighting tournament where boys try to cut each other’s kites with glass-covered strings, and then “kite runners” chase after the fallen kites. Amir wins the tournament, and then Hassan goes to retrieve the losing kite. When Amir goes after Hassan he finds him in an alley, trapped by Assef, Wali, and Kamal. Amir watches as Kamal and Wali hold Hassan down and Assef rapes him. Amir runs away, and later both he and Hassan pretend nothing has happened.

Amir and Hassan soon drift apart. Amir is tormented by guilt, and he decides to make Hassan leave the house. He hides some money under Hassan’s mattress and tells Baba that he stole it, and Hassan doesn’t deny it. Baba forgives Hassan, but Ali and Hassan leave the household.

In 1981, Baba and Amir flee Kabul, which has been invaded by the Soviets. They eventually make it to Pakistan, and months later move to Fremont, California. Baba works at a gas station and Amir finishes high school and then studies writing at college. Baba and Amir sell things at a flea market, where Amir starts noticing Soraya , the daughter of Baba’s friend General Taheri . After much delaying, Amir starts courting her. Soon afterward Baba is diagnosed with lung cancer. Amir asks Baba if he will ask General Taheri to let him marry Soraya. General Taheri accepts, and Amir and Soraya get married soon after. Baba is pleased with Amir’s marriage, and he dies a month later. Amir gets his first book published and he and Soraya start trying, unsuccessfully, to conceive. Meanwhile, the Soviets are driven out of Afghanistan.

One day Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan, who is dying and asks Amir to come to Pakistan. Once Amir arrives, Rahim Khan tells him about the horrors of the Taliban regime and war-torn Kabul. Rahim Khan says he had been watching Baba’s house for a while, but then found Hassan and convinced him and his wife Farzana to come back to Kabul. Later Farzana had a boy, Sohrab . After Rahim Khan went to Pakistan he learned that Hassan and Farzana were executed by the Taliban, and Sohrab was sent to an orphanage.

Rahim Khan asks Amir to go to Kabul and find Sohrab, saying this is Amir’s chance to “be good again.” He also reveals that Baba was Hassan’s true father. Amir agrees to go, and he finds the orphanage where Sohrab was supposed to be, but learns that a Taliban official took him away a month earlier. Amir (and his companion Farid ) go to a soccer game, where at halftime the official they are looking for executes a man and woman.

Amir meets the official and the man calls in Sohrab, who has clearly been sexually abused. The official then reveals himself as Assef, and he beats Amir with his brass knuckles until Sohrab shoots him in the eye with his slingshot. Amir and Sohrab escape and Amir recovers in Pakistan. Amir then asks Sohrab to come back to the U.S. with him, and Sohrab hesitantly accepts.

Amir discovers it will be almost impossible for him to adopt Sohrab, and he tells him he might have to go back to an orphanage. Soraya figures out how to get Sohrab an American visa, but then Amir finds Sohrab has tried to kill himself. Sohrab survives, but stops speaking altogether. Amir brings Sohrab to California, but he remains silent and withdrawn. One day they are at a park and some Afghans are flying kites. Amir buys one, and he and Sohrab fight another kite and cut it. Sohrab smiles, and Amir goes to run the kite for him.

The Kite Runner Research Paper

The Kite Runner Essay No one is born evil, the environment in which one is raised influences what kind of person they will be. The Kite Runner, a historical fiction novel written by Khaled Hoesseni, follows a young Afghani boy named Amir. Amir makes some regrettable decisions in his youth and the guilt haunts him throughout his life as he searches for a way to redeem himself. Amir also grew up with his friend/servant named Hassan. Hassan is a Hazara boy that lived in the mud shack behind Amir’s house. Amir is a very selfish and cowardly character, but he was not born with these character traits, some factors can be attributed to Amir’s selfishness or cowardice. Baba, Amir’s father, would always treat Hassan with the same amount of love and …show more content…

Amir is an introvert, instead of talking through his problems and feelings he prefers to keep them to himself. Amir tends to use his writing to convey his thoughts and emotions. One night, Amir said, “That same night, I wrote my first short story It took me 30 minutes. It was a dark little tale about a man who found a magic cup and learned if he wept into the cup, his tears turn into pearls.” (33). In this quotation, Amir wrote his first short story. Ecstatic to get his father’s opinion on the piece Amir rushes to Baba’s office. When Amir entered the office, Baba could not have bothered to read Amir’s story. This devastated Amir. Amir longed for his father’s approval but never got it. Amir is clearly going through a lot of mixed thoughts and emotions as he said he would write a hundred books if Baba even bothered to read one. It is evident that Amir is seeking attention and approval from his father, but Baba shuts him out instead, lowering his self-esteem. Also, bottling up feeling and emotions has proven to increase anxiety/depression levels. Amir loved reading as well as writing. Amir read to Hassan frequently because Hassan was unable to read. One day while reading to Hassan, Amir thought to himself, “That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali and most Hazara had decided the minute he had been born, […] after all, what use did a servant have for the written word?” (30). Despite growing up with …show more content…

In Afghanistan, there are two main social classes and religions. There is the Pashtun (Sunni religion) and the Hazara (Shi’a religion). The Pahtuns are the group that is superior, and Amir is Pashtun while Hassan is Hazara. Amir takes advantage of Hassan and notes, “Hassan never wanted to, but if i asked, really asked, he wouldn’t deny me. Hassan never denied me anything” (4). In this example, the social class standard in Afghanistan is proven true, the Pashtun have more power than the Hazara. Amir forces Hassan to do things not because he can but because he is envious of Hassan. Baba payed special attention to Hassan because he is courageous and athletic while Amir was neither of those. Amir takes his bottled-up anger out on Hassan, usually in a passive aggressive way. Further, Amir grew up with Hassan. Hassan thought of Amir and himself and best friends, but Amir does not feel the same. Amir thinks to himself, “The curious this was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either […] Never mind any of those things. Because history isn’t easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was Pashtun and he was Hazara” (82). In this quotation Amir realizes that he does not even think of Hassan as his friend. The social classes and divide of religion in Afghanistan make it hard for Amir to see Hassan as his friend and not his servant. In the first

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The Asian Traveller

Matthew Mohan

PARIS: Singapore’s world champion Maximilian Maeder began his Olympics campaign with a mixed bag of results on Sunday (Aug 4) and sits third overall in the fleet after four races.

At the Marseille Marina, Olympic debutant Maeder accumulated eight net points after four races in the opening series. He trails Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek (six) and Austria’s Valentin Bontus (eight).

Maeder finished fifth position in his first race, topped the second, took second in the third race and did not finish the fourth.

There are up to 16 fleet races in the opening series from Saturday to Wednesday for kite-foilers, before the medals are contested on Thursday.

The opening series makes use of a low-point system like sailing, where points are awarded based on an athlete’s finishing position. For example, the athlete who wins a race gets one point.

The top two move on directly to the final, while the third to tenth kitefoilers compete in two semi-finals for the remaining final spots. The winner of each semi-final moves on.

In the final, competitors will need three race wins to secure gold.

However, the top kitefoiler from the opening series begins the final with two wins and will only need one more to take gold.

The runner-up from the opening series will need two race wins to take gold, while the winning semi-finalists need all three wins.

How Olympic medal hope Max Maeder was raised as a 'decision-maker' – who would choose Singapore 'over and over again'

Singapore world champion kitefoiler Max Maeder takes spotlight in stride ahead of Olympics debut

In May, Maeder successfully defended his kitefoiling world title. Last August, the kitefoiler clinched gold in the men's kite event at the Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands.

Prior to the Olympics, the Asian Games gold medallist won five events in a row, with the youngster winning the men's title at the Formula Kite European Championships in March.

Born in Singapore to a Swiss father and a Singaporean mother, Maeder was introduced to kiteboarding at the age of six by his father, Valentin, before he eventually progressed to kitefoiling.

Kitefoiling is a style of kitesurfing or kiteboarding, which are essentially sports using wind power from a kite to pull a rider along.

Kitesurfing is believed to have been invented in the 1970s, but it was only in the 1990s that it gained popularity, with the first competition held in Hawaii in 1998.

In 2008, the International Kiteboarding Association was founded. The sport then appeared at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Three years later, it was announced that kiteboarding will make its Olympic Games debut in Paris 2024, in the Formula Kite class which features a hydrofoil board.

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Scottish Tory leadership front-runner ‘wouldn’t unite party’, says new rival

Liam Kerr joins race to lead the party, warning that Russell Findlay, the favourite, could not deliver ‘team cohesion’

Liam Kerr pictured in the corridors of the Scottish Parliament

The front-runner to become the next Scottish Tory leader would struggle to unite the party, a senior MSP has warned as he declared his own candidacy.

Liam Kerr became the fourth candidate to enter the race to succeed Douglas Ross , promising to harness the talents of the Holyrood group to set out a “genuinely Conservative programme” to voters that would deliver a “realistic path to power”.

While Mr Kerr praised the campaigning abilities of Russell Findlay, widely seen as the current favourite, he said he had concerns about his ability to deliver “team cohesion” should he win.

Allies of Mr Findlay have been accused of launching a smear campaign against potential opponents, and he has upset some colleagues by seeking endorsements and support from members before the rules of the contest were announced.

Mr Findlay, who is seen as the preferred choice of the party establishment , has vehemently denied being behind the smears and called for them to stop.

However, a truncated timetable for the contest set by party chiefs has further angered some Tory MSPs. Several believe it was designed to favour Mr Findlay, who was part of Mr Ross’s inner circle.

Douglas Ross campaigning, standing at a lectern gesticulating

Mr Kerr, who has held a series of senior posts at Holyrood since he became an MSP in 2016, said he was best placed to “unify our excellent MSP cohort”.

He praised several Holyrood colleagues including Mr Findlay, who he said had “had impressed in the justice portfolio he’s held during his three years in parliament”.

However, he added: “I do have concerns that his campaign so far could lead to a reduction in the team cohesion we need to deliver us a result in 2026, but there is no doubting his campaigning ability must be harnessed and celebrated.”

Four hopefuls

Mr Kerr; Mr Findlay; Brian Whittle, a former Olympian ; and Meghan Gallacher, deputy leader of the Scottish part y, have all announced they will run to succeed Mr Ross.

More candidates are expected to emerge in the coming days, with nominations formally opening on Thursday. Candidates will then have until Aug 22 to gain signatures of 100 party members to make the ballot.

Confirmed candidates will then have less than two weeks before ballot papers are sent out on Sep 4, with voting closing on Sep 26 and the new leader announced the next day.

Some MSPs favoured a much longer “battle of ideas” process. The five-week campaign decided upon by the party is significantly shorter than the UK contest to elect a successor to Rishi Sunak .

‘Failed status quo’

Jamie Greene, the West Scotland MSP who is also considering entering the race, last week claimed the timetable would make it “very difficult” for candidates to challenge a “failed status quo”.

In a thinly-veiled swipe at Mr Findlay, he added: “One of the runners appears to have left the starting blocks early.”

Setting out his vision to lead the party, Mr Kerr said the recent general election had been sobering for the Scottish Tories.

While the party lost only one seat compared to 2019, its vote share almost halved, plunging to just 12.4 per cent.

Should the result be repeated at the Holyrood elections in May 2026, it would mean heavy losses for the party under the proportional representation voting system used by the Scottish Parliament.

‘A reason to vote for us’

“Going into 2026, we have to present the people of Scotland with a genuinely Conservative programme which gives them a reason to vote for us while also showing a unified, proactive, ideas-led team which presents a realistic path to power,” Mr Kerr said.

“Under my leadership, the Scottish Conservatives will start from the future: a 15-year vision of what a vibrant, prosperous, UK and world-leading Scotland will be.”

Mr Kerr, a North East Scotland MSP , is a former chef and musician who later retrained as a lawyer.

He is currently his party’s shadow education secretary and has previously held the justice and net zero, energy and transport briefs.

He said he did not “covet or crave” the leadership but now felt “duty-bound to step up”.

He added: “I have the vision, the strategy and the ability to unify our excellent MSP cohort, with our members and our supporters, into a proposition that will deliver power and allow us to implement our policies in a way we’ve never previously been able to in the devolution era.”

‘A positive campaign’

Mr Findlay has so far been endorsed by eight of the 31 Scottish Tory MSPs.

Responding to Mr Kerr’s comments, he said: “I am grateful to have already secured the public support of a sizeable number of my MSP colleagues and, if I am elected as the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives, I will lead a united team which draws upon the talent found across our party.

“I’m running a positive campaign to unite the party and build a common-sense Conservative platform that delivers the electoral success we need. I’d encourage other candidates and their supporters to focus on outlining their own vision for the future of the party.”

Douglas Ross,
Scottish National Party (SNP),
Conservative Party
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Some Republicans Embrace Conspiracy Theories on Trump Assassination Attempt

Right-wing lawmakers and candidates have made baseless suggestions that the shooting was orchestrated by Democrats or government actors who targeted former President Donald J. Trump.

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Representative Eli Crane of Arizona wearing sunglasses outside in front of several news cameras.

By Annie Karni

Reporting from Washington

Representative Eli Crane, an Arizona Republican and former Navy SEAL, says he is no conspiracy theorist. But in the weeks since the attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump, he has made the baseless suggestion that the shooting was part of a coordinated campaign by Democrats or shadowy government actors to try to stop the former president from reclaiming the White House.

“Not only did they try and bankrupt him, but they tried to put him in prison,” Mr. Crane told Jeff Oravits, a right-wing radio personality in Arizona, last week. “When that didn’t work, they tried to put him in prison for 750 years. And many of us said the next step in this escalation is for them to try and kill him because they can’t — they know they can’t beat him fair and square.”

In an appearance on The Glenn Beck Program, Mr. Crane, who traveled to the Pennsylvania rally site where Mr. Trump was shot to conduct his own investigation, said, “I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but at the same time, I don’t want to, you know, rule anything out because I don’t put it past some of the people in our government to do anything necessary to hold on to power.”

No evidence has emerged that anyone other than a lone gunman, Thomas Crooks, tried to kill the president in July. Mr. Crooks, 20, was a registered Republican who was killed at the scene and left few clues about his beliefs or what motivated him to open fire at a Trump rally on July 13.

But in the telling of Mr. Crane and several of his right-wing Republican colleagues in Congress, as well as G.O.P. candidates seeking election this fall, there is far more to the story. They are trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories that insinuate that Democrats and government forces played a role in trying to take out Mr. Trump.

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illustration of two boys standing back to back and one is holding a kite

The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

Maria Elena Caballero-Robb

Maria Elena Caballero-Robb earned her Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She works in publishing and teaches courses in U.S. literature and culture and composition. In this essay, Caballero-Robb interprets Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner as a work that intertwines the private and public realms of experience .

Perhaps what garnered Hosseini's first novel, The Kite Runner , so much early praise, aside from the political relevance of its subject matter when the book was published in 2003, is its successful intertwining of the personal and the political. The novel has an ambitious agenda: to sketch the maturation of its protagonist from a callow boy beguiled by mythical stories of heroes and to portray the political situation of contemporary Afghanistan. The novel begins to show how the personal and the political affect one another through the peculiar relationship between Amir and Hassan. Indeed, James O'Brien, in his review in the Times Literary Supplement , argues, "this muddled, unbalanced and ultimately tragic relationship" between the privileged Amir and the servant Hassan "lies at the heart of The Kite Runner and echoes the betrayals and power shifts that begin to shape the country shortly after the story begins." Through the course of the novel, Amir's personal quest takes him on a decades-long journey from his birth country to the United States and finally back to his country of origin. In passing through this transforming crucible, Amir not only atones for past personal failings but also embraces a hopeful ideal of citizenship capable of upholding principles of liberty and human rights even in the face of repressive, fascist systems.

In the first several chapters, the novel's action revolves around the relationship between Amir and his friend and servant Hassan, and Amir's constant attempts to earn the respect and love of his father, Baba. Amir describes Hassan as a wise innocent, incapable of deceit, yet uncannily perceptive. Hassan's character and unschooled intelligence are apparent in his complete loyalty to Amir and his ability to perceive things about Amir that not even Amir is aware of: "Hassan couldn't read a first-grade textbook, but he could read me plenty." Indeed, critic Melissa Katsoulis points out in her review in the Times (London), "Though Hassan cannot read or write, he loves to hear Amir read aloud and is perfectly capable of pointing out the gaping hole in Amir's first attempt at plotting a story." Hassan is also admired for his physical talents—a faultless aim with a slingshot and the ability to predict where a loose kite will drift "as if he had some sort of inner compass." Baba's unusually high regard for his son's servant makes Amir, who cannot seem to please his father, jealous. When Baba pays for an operation to correct Hassan's harelip and dotes on the boy during his recovery, Amir thinks, "I wished I too had some kind of scar that would beget Baba's sympathy. It wasn't fair. Hassan hadn't done anything to earn Baba's affections; he'd just been born with that stupid harelip." Meanwhile, Amir is acutely aware that there is little understanding between himself and his father: "The least I could have done was to have had the decency to have turned out a little more like him." He senses that his father blames him for his mother's death in childbirth; and to compound matters, he overhears his father remark to Rahim Khan, "If I hadn't seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I'd never believe he's my son."

While the dynamics of these relationships remain central to the story, in later chapters, the political events outside the limits of the family circle propel the story's action. The first hint of this transition occurs when Amir and Hassan have an encounter with a violent older boy named Assef, who wants to persecute Hassan for being a Hazara. Assef, who believes Hitler was an ideal leader, tells Amir that he is betraying his Pashtun heritage by treating a Hazara boy as his close friend. While Assef's bigotry outrages Amir, Amir is unable to think of a response. Ultimately, Hassan stands up to Assef and his lackeys; when Assef and his lackeys threaten to hurt the two younger boys, it is Hassan, not Amir, who saves them both by using his slingshot to drive the bullies away.

The boys'second encounter with Assef is much less victorious. Ironically, the encounter occurs immediately after Amir wins the kite-running tournament, which Amir believes is his chance finally to live up to his father's expectations:

There was no other viable option. I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I'd bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over. I let myself dream: I imagined conversation and laughter over dinner instead of silence broken only by the clinking of the silverware and the occasional grunt.

The novel's frequent reference to the Afghan heroic tale, the Shahnammah , implicitly creates a comparison between Amir's relationship with his father and the larger-than-life interactions between the father-and-son warriors Rostam and Sohrab in the myth. When Amir wins the kite tournament, he begins to think of his anticipated reunion with his father in mythical terms:

In my head, I had it all planned: I'd make a grand entrance, a hero, prized trophy in my bloodied hands. Heads would turn and eyes would lock. Rostam and Sohrab sizing each other up. A dramatic moment of silence. Then the old warrior would walk to the young one, embrace him, acknowledge his worthiness.

The additional stakes of the kite tournament—the need not just to obtain the last fallen kite, but to win his father's love—compound the dilemma Amir faces when he finds Hassan being threatened by Assef and the other bullies in an alley. While Amir chooses to run, out of fear rather than to help his friend, he wonders whether he has actually sacrificed his friend for his own ends. Even as Amir sees that Hassan is in danger, he is also focused on the coveted blue kite: "Hassan was standing at the blind end of the alley in defiant stance…. Behind him, sitting on piles of scrap and rubble, was the blue kite. My key to Baba's heart." Although he is horrified at what happens to Hassan, he allows his friend to become a casualty of his quest to improve his relationship with his father. Amir's actions mirror the ethnic inequalities between Pashtuns and Hazara that are reflected in a dozen daily occurrences in the first several chapters. He uses Hassan as an instrument to achieve a desired end. Amir's failure to treat his playmate as a person marks the fatal character flaw that the adult Amir will seek to remedy.

The adult Amir moves to remedy this failure by accepting the mission to rescue Hassan's son, Sohrab, from an uncertain end. Amir redeems himself by confronting Assef and assuming responsibility for Hassan's child. The climax of the novel parallels the earlier violent crisis in which Assef rapes Hassan, but offers a victorious outcome. The battle between Amir and Assef presents Amir with the belated opportunity to fight as he believes he should have fought to save Hassan when they were children. By risking his life to save Hassan's child from a sadistic pedophile, Amir begins to atone for his earlier inhumanities.

Throughout the novel, the author uses corresponding symbols and images to emphasize the way that Amir's adult choices are belated remedies of past failures. After the climactic fight with Assef during his rescue of Sohrab, Amir is taken to a hospital in Pakistan with serious injuries. While he recovers, he discovers that his upper lip has been split clear up to the gum line, forming a harelip similar to the one Hassan was born with. Echoing an earlier scene in a hospital, in which the twelve-year-old Hassan recovers from an operation to mend his harelip, the adult Amir must wait for his own split lip to mend and quickly learns that it hurts to smile. This simultaneously reminds the reader of the moment when Amir sees Hassan smile for the last time. The reader may view Amir's injury as a moment of belated sympathy between two brothers now separated not only by geographic distance and differing fortunes, but also by death.

The novel's use of literary techniques contributes to a political statement about the relationship between individuals and systems—or the capacities of individuals to combat broad injustice in political systems. The Kite Runner turns on more than one astounding coincidence: when Amir returns to Kabul, he meets a beggar who turns out to have known Amir's mother; and, most startling, Assef, the childhood bully, turns out to be the prominent Taliban official who has kidnapped and brutalized Hassan's son Sohrab. While Rebecca Stuhr of the Library Journal finds fault with the novel's "over-reliance on coincidence," Hosseini's use of the device shows how even personal conflicts like Amir's lifelong struggle with his own guilt are intertwined with world events. This narrative twist also emphasizes the interplay between the present and the past—"the past claws its way out"—by showcasing the way that the deeds of childhood cast their shadows into adulthood. (In a similar vein, the author's use of foreshadowing sometimes signals to the reader that an imminent event will have lasting consequences, as when Amir plants money in Hassan's room in order to implicate him in a theft.)

That Amir's former nemesis turns out to be the Taliban official from whom he must rescue Sohrab lends an allegorical and mythical dimension to the battle between the two men. As a young boy, Assef is already described as "a sociopath;" an admirer of Hitler, Assef displays fascist tendencies and openly advocates removing the Hazara population from Afghanistan. Amir, on the other hand, who is by and large a good boy, is self-interested and lacks conviction. If the grown Assef appears to be a nearly cartoonish embodiment of sadism and the desire for absolute power, Amir's struggle to defeat him and save the young Sohrab appears to be an allegory for a broader struggle for Afghanistan. Whereas Amir had been able to escape the daily violence of contemporary Afghanistan as a result of his relative privilege, his Hazara friend Hassan had no choice but to raise his son among a generation of Afghan children, born into a turbulent society, who "know nothing but the sound of bombs and gunfire."

Interestingly, when Amir, a successful writer, tries to use his privilege to rescue Sohrab by offering Assef money, he is rebuffed; instead he must put his life at risk in order to complete his mission. Amir's decision to return to Afghanistan to save the son of his forsaken friend represents a choice for the exiled to return to his birth country to confront the problems that drove him away. The Kite Runner focuses more on interpersonal dramas than on political ones; it is a matter of interpretation whether Amir feels responsible for the future of his birth country in the same way that he feels accountable for his nephew's fate. Still, through Assef's embodiment of the evil of fascism and Amir's willingness to fight him for a good cause the reader is presented with a stark contrast between a theocratic regime that starves and crushes the freedoms of its people, and a reluctant but ultimately courageous citizen willing to risk his life for what he believes in.

Remarkably, the novel does not allude to the enormous controversy that accompanied the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, including the bombing of Afghanistan in retaliation for the Taliban's harboring of terrorist camps. If one can discern an author's view of politics from his fiction, Hosseini views developments in Afghan national politics of 2001 and 2002 with some optimism. In the last two chapters, the narrator speaks warmly of the ousting of the Taliban and the emergence of Hamid Karzai as the new leader of Afghanistan, and describes the hope with which the imminent Loya jirga , the exiled king's return to Afghanistan, is anticipated by Afghans and Afghan Americans alike. This optimistic attitude toward contemporaneous developments in Amir's home country parallels the novel's final flicker of hope regarding Sohrab. Afghanistan, the novel seems to argue, so recently brutalized and repressed, may yet survive.

Source: Maria Elena Caballero-Robb, Critical Essay on The Kite Runner , in Literary Newsmakers for Students , Thomson Gale, 2006.

Cite this page as follows:

"The Kite Runner - Maria Elena Caballero-Robb." Literary Newsmakers for Students, Vol. 1. Gale Cengage, 6 Aug. 2024 <https://www.enotes.com/topics/kite-runner/critical-essays/criticism#critical-essays-criticism-kite-runner-criticism-caballero-robb>

James O'Brien

In the following review, O'Brien discusses the author's use of voice, and how the two main characters reflect the character of Afghanistan itself .

Rare is the exiled author whose remembrances of home resist becoming rose-tinted as the years pass. Given the ravages visited on Afghanistan since the young Khaled Hosseini and his family sought political asylum in the United States in 1980, the foremost of many triumphs in this startling first novel must be that its consideration of cultural, religious and deeply personal upheavals remains cool and considered throughout. Hosseini's own profession—he is a doctor—perhaps provides a more convincing explanation of his narrator's unemotional tone than the fictional claim that he has become an English-language author of some repute.

Amir is twelve when the novel begins in 1975, but the seeds of his story were sown much earlier. He "killed" his mother in childbirth and, a bookish, somewhat sickly child, has done little since to earn either affection or respect from his father. Amir's only solace is Hassan, his hare-lipped servant and best friend. It is this muddled, unbalanced and ultimately tragic relationship that lies at the heart of The Kite Runner and echoes the betrayals and power shifts which begins to shape the country shortly after the story begins.

The two boys suckled at the same breast—it belonged to a wet nurse; Hassan's mother quit her humdrum existence in search of glamour shortly after Amir's quit this life altogether—and so forged a bond which Afghans believe to be unbreakable. Their early life was idyllic, with only the uncaring shadow of Amir's Baba blighting their days of storytelling, fruit-gathering and kite-running. In Kabul, the kite strings are laced with glass to slice all-comers from the skies until just one remains aloft. Hassan is the finest kite-runner in Kabul, with an unerring ability to predict the progress of these wind-borne tissue creations. It is a gift which proves of little use when Amir, confused, embittered and convinced of his servant's elevated status in Baba's affections, sets about severing ties of a different kind.

The exposure of Amir's myriad failings is brought starkly home in a scene of breathtaking brutality when he is too cowardly to stop the punishment inflicted on Hassan. This constitutes one of the book's few flaws. When Hosseini strays from the simple narrative style he prefers, he struggles to retain credibility and, on occasion, leaves Amir sounding like Kabul's half-baked answer to Holden Caulfield: "That was the thing with Hassan. He was so goddamn pure, you always felt like a phony around him". These lapses are rare, and for the most part the story of Amir's grand betrayal of Hassan and his painful search for redemption across generations is told in a cool, detached voice that provides a counterpoint to the growing sense of tension which is frequently stretched to breaking point as the story unfolds.

From exile in America to a clandestine return to Kabul in the grip of the Taleban, the narrative ranges freely across the globe engaging the reader's emotions. Amir is a difficult hero, largely unlovable but utterly sympathetic, while the plight of blameless Hassan reflects the fate of his country. There are history lessons here; among the deepest of Afghanistan's wounds is the fact that its past has been largely obscured by its bloody present. There are also questions. Is any bond truly unbreakable? Can sons atone for the sins of fathers?

Source: James O'Brien, "The Sins of the Father," in Times Literary Supplement , October 10, 2003, p. 25.

"The Kite Runner - James O'Brien." Literary Newsmakers for Students, Vol. 1. Gale Cengage, 6 Aug. 2024 <https://www.enotes.com/topics/kite-runner/critical-essays/criticism#critical-essays-criticism-kite-runner-criticism-obrien>

In the following essay, Noor reviews The Kite Runner as a novel about sin and redemption, but contends that it fails to give a complete picture of the Afghan conflict .

The Kite Runner is Khaled Hosseini's best-selling first novel. It is the very first novel in English by an Afghan, in which a thirty-eight-year-old writer named Amir recounts the odyssey of his life from Kabul to San Francisco via Peshwar, Pakistan. The protagonist was born into a wealthy family in Kabul. Raised by his father, his mother having passed away during his birth, Amir lives a relatively happy life until the Soviet tanks roll into Afghanistan. Then he and his family flee to Pakistan and end up in America. In the United States, his father becomes a gas-station manager, selling junk on weekends with his son at the San Jose flea market. Amir meets Soraya, the daughter of a former Afghan general, and soon ties the knot with her.

For fifteen years the young couple tries in vain to have children. Then Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, a friend and former business partner of his now-deceased father. Amir flies to Peshwar to meet with him. Rahim Khan reveals that Hassan, Amir's childhood friend, the presumed son of the family servant Ali, was in reality Amir's half-brother, his father's illegitimate son with Ali's wife. Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban. Rahim Khan wants Amir to go to Kabul and bring Hassan's son to Peshwar. After much hesitation, Amir goes to Kabul and frees his nephew from the clutches of an unscrupulous child molester. Later he brings the child to America for adoption.

This lucidly written and often touching novel gives a vivid picture of not only the Russian atrocities but also those of the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. It is rightly a "soaring debut," as the Boston Globe claims, but only if we consider it a novel of sin and redemption, a son trying to redeem his father's sin. As far as the Afghan conflict is concerned, we get a selective, simplistic, even simple-minded picture. Hosseini tells us, for example, that "Arabs, Chechens, Pakistanis" were behind the Taliban. He does not mention the CIA or Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security advisor to President Carter, "whose stated aim," according to Pankaj Mishra in the spring 2002 issue of Granta , "was to'sow [s—t] in the Soviet backyard.'"

Hosseini also intimates that the current leader handpicked by foreign powers, Hamid Karzai—whose "caracul hat and green chapan became famous"—will put Afghanistan back in order. Unfortunately, that is all Karzai is famous for—his fashion, Hollywood style. His government does not control all of Afghanistan, which is torn between warlords as in the feudal days. Farmers are producing more opium than ever before for survival. And the occupying forces, according to human-rights groups, are routinely trampling on innocent Afghans. There is no Hollywood-style solution to such grave problems of a nation steeped in the Middle Ages, is there?

Source: Ronny Noor, "Afghanistan: The Kite Runner ," in World Literature Today , Vol. 78, No. 3-4, September-December 2004, p. 148.

"The Kite Runner - Ronny Noor." Literary Newsmakers for Students, Vol. 1. Gale Cengage, 6 Aug. 2024 <https://www.enotes.com/topics/kite-runner/critical-essays/criticism#critical-essays-criticism-kite-runner-criticism-noor>

Khaled Hosseini

In the following excerpt, Hosseini discusses how being a physician gives him a compassionate insight to humanity and makes him a better writer .

Khaled Hosseini. (Physician writers)

A blinking little red light. Another voice mail. Didn't I just go through them? I sat down. I never delay listening to voice mails; call it a compulsion, a personal quirk.

I put down Mrs CR's chart and dialed my answering machine. It was my father-in-law, telling me he had loved my short story, The Kite Runner, but wished it had been longer. At some point between the instant I put down the receiver and the moment I knocked on the door to tell Mrs CR about her diabetic nephropathy, a seed planted itself in my mind: I was going to turn The Kite Runner into a novel.

And so it began. For the next 15 months, I tapped away at the keyboard. I created a troubled, 12-year-old boy named Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy Pashtun merchant living in Kabul, Afghanistan, circa 1975, and his angelic friend Hassan, a minority Hazara and the son of Amir's crippled servant. I developed a deep and unusual friendship between the boys, only to make Amir betray Hassan in an unspeakable way. I shattered the boy's lives. I watched the brutalised Hassan pay the price for his guileless devotion to Amir, and watched Amir grow into a brooding, haunted, guilt-ridden man in the USA. Then I sent Amir back to Kabul, now ruled by the Taliban, on one last desperate quest for redemption. In June, 2002, The Kite Runner was completed. A year later, while on a US book tour to promote the novel, two of the most common questions people asked me were: how do you find time to write as a doctor; and did being a doctor help you writing?

My day at work ranges from busy to frantic. Between prescription refills, referrals, meetings, laboratory reviews, voice mails, and seeing patients, I have developed an appreciation for the concept of free time. And when I go home, I have my wife and two children, not to mention an extended Afghan family life. That leaves the early morning. My free time. And if there is one thing we doctors have been trained for, it's getting by with less than ideal hours of sleep. So for 15 months, I woke up at 0500 h, drank cupfuls of black coffee, and created the world of Amir and Hassan. Luckily for me, the soulful early morning hours coincided with my creative time.

As for the second question, the answer, surprisingly, is yes. A writer, like a doctor, has to be a good listener and observer. Whereas a doctor listens to learn about his or her patient, a writer listens and observes to learn about nuances of dialogue, body language, and the peculiar verbal and non-verbal ways in which people express themselves. My medical practice provides me with ample opportunity for this sort of observation, since in a typical working day, I sit and listen to some 20 stories, all told in unique voices. I listen to them as a doctor and observe them as a writer. Furthermore, it's essential in both crafts to develop some insight into human nature. Writers and physicians need to understand to some extent the motivations behind behaviour and appreciate how such things as a person's upbringing, their culture, their biases, shape that person, whether it be a patient or a character in a story. Writers say the more you understand your characters, the better you can write them. Similarly, the more doctors understand their patients, the better they can help them.

While on tour, one person raised what seemed a far more important question: did writing help you become a better doctor? It did. I firmly believe that. The medical profession offers satisfying rewards, but for some the challenges of today's medicine can prove exhausting, or worse—we have all crossed paths with jaded colleagues who have long lost sight of the rewards of healing in the rigorous frenzy of daily practice. Writing, by contrast, is creative. For me, starting the day with an act of creation is therapeutic. It brings me closer to my emotional state and, as a result, I go to see my patients with a positive frame of mind. To be sure, that's good for me, but far more importantly, it's good for my patients.

Source: Khaled Hosseini, "Khaled Hosseini: Physician writers," in Lancet , Vol. 362, No. 9388, September 20, 2003, p. 1003.

"The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini." Literary Newsmakers for Students, Vol. 1. Gale Cengage, 6 Aug. 2024 <https://www.enotes.com/topics/kite-runner/critical-essays/criticism#critical-essays-criticism-kite-runner-criticism-hosseini>

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Critical Evaluation

Critical Overview

Announcing the NeurIPS 2023 Paper Awards

Communications Chairs 2023 2023 Conference awards , neurips2023

By Amir Globerson, Kate Saenko, Moritz Hardt, Sergey Levine and Comms Chair, Sahra Ghalebikesabi

We are honored to announce the award-winning papers for NeurIPS 2023! This year’s prestigious awards consist of the Test of Time Award plus two Outstanding Paper Awards in each of these three categories:

Two Outstanding Main Track Papers
Two Outstanding Main Track Runner-Ups
Two Outstanding Datasets and Benchmark Track Papers

This year’s organizers received a record number of paper submissions. Of the 13,300 submitted papers that were reviewed by 968 Area Chairs, 98 senior area chairs, and 396 Ethics reviewers 3,540 were accepted after 502 papers were flagged for ethics reviews .

We thank the awards committee for the main track: Yoav Artzi, Chelsea Finn, Ludwig Schmidt, Ricardo Silva, Isabel Valera, and Mengdi Wang. For the Datasets and Benchmarks track, we thank Sergio Escalera, Isabelle Guyon, Neil Lawrence, Dina Machuve, Olga Russakovsky, Hugo Jair Escalante, Deepti Ghadiyaram, and Serena Yeung. Conflicts of interest were taken into account in the decision process.

Congratulations to all the authors! See Posters Sessions Tue-Thur in Great Hall & B1-B2 (level 1).

Outstanding Main Track Papers

Privacy Auditing with One (1) Training Run Authors: Thomas Steinke · Milad Nasr · Matthew Jagielski

Poster session 2: Tue 12 Dec 5:15 p.m. — 7:15 p.m. CST, #1523

Oral: Tue 12 Dec 3:40 p.m. — 4:40 p.m. CST, Room R06-R09 (level 2)

Abstract: We propose a scheme for auditing differentially private machine learning systems with a single training run. This exploits the parallelism of being able to add or remove multiple training examples independently. We analyze this using the connection between differential privacy and statistical generalization, which avoids the cost of group privacy. Our auditing scheme requires minimal assumptions about the algorithm and can be applied in the black-box or white-box setting. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework by applying it to DP-SGD, where we can achieve meaningful empirical privacy lower bounds by training only one model. In contrast, standard methods would require training hundreds of models.

Are Emergent Abilities of Large Language Models a Mirage? Authors: Rylan Schaeffer · Brando Miranda · Sanmi Koyejo

Poster session 6: Thu 14 Dec 5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. CST, #1108

Oral: Thu 14 Dec 3:20 p.m. — 3:35 p.m. CST, Hall C2 (level 1)

Abstract: Recent work claims that large language models display emergent abilities, abilities not present in smaller-scale models that are present in larger-scale models. What makes emergent abilities intriguing is two-fold: their sharpness, transitioning seemingly instantaneously from not present to present, and their unpredictability , appearing at seemingly unforeseeable model scales. Here, we present an alternative explanation for emergent abilities: that for a particular task and model family, when analyzing fixed model outputs, emergent abilities appear due to the researcher’s choice of metric rather than due to fundamental changes in model behavior with scale. Specifically, nonlinear or discontinuous metrics produce apparent emergent abilities, whereas linear or continuous metrics produce smooth, continuous, predictable changes in model performance. We present our alternative explanation in a simple mathematical model, then test it in three complementary ways: we (1) make, test and confirm three predictions on the effect of metric choice using the InstructGPT/GPT-3 family on tasks with claimed emergent abilities, (2) make, test and confirm two predictions about metric choices in a meta-analysis of emergent abilities on BIG-Bench; and (3) show how to choose metrics to produce never-before-seen seemingly emergent abilities in multiple vision tasks across diverse deep networks. Via all three analyses, we provide evidence that alleged emergent abilities evaporate with different metrics or with better statistics, and may not be a fundamental property of scaling AI models.

Outstanding Main Track Runner-Ups

Scaling Data-Constrained Language Models Authors : Niklas Muennighoff · Alexander Rush · Boaz Barak · Teven Le Scao · Nouamane Tazi · Aleksandra Piktus · Sampo Pyysalo · Thomas Wolf · Colin Raffel

Poster session 2: Tue 12 Dec 5:15 p.m. — 7:15 p.m. CST, #813

Oral: Tue 12 Dec 3:40 p.m. — 4:40 p.m. CST, Hall C2 (level 1)

Abstract : The current trend of scaling language models involves increasing both parameter count and training dataset size. Extrapolating this trend suggests that training dataset size may soon be limited by the amount of text data available on the internet. Motivated by this limit, we investigate scaling language models in data-constrained regimes. Specifically, we run a large set of experiments varying the extent of data repetition and compute budget, ranging up to 900 billion training tokens and 9 billion parameter models. We find that with constrained data for a fixed compute budget, training with up to 4 epochs of repeated data yields negligible changes to loss compared to having unique data. However, with more repetition, the value of adding compute eventually decays to zero. We propose and empirically validate a scaling law for compute optimality that accounts for the decreasing value of repeated tokens and excess parameters. Finally, we experiment with approaches mitigating data scarcity, including augmenting the training dataset with code data or removing commonly used filters. Models and datasets from our 400 training runs are freely available at https://github.com/huggingface/datablations .

Direct Preference Optimization: Your Language Model is Secretly a Reward Model Authors: Rafael Rafailov · Archit Sharma · Eric Mitchell · Christopher D Manning · Stefano Ermon · Chelsea Finn

Poster session 6: Thu 14 Dec 5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. CST, #625

Oral: Thu 14 Dec 3:50 p.m. — 4:05 p.m. CST, Ballroom A-C (level 2)

Abstract: While large-scale unsupervised language models (LMs) learn broad world knowledge and some reasoning skills, achieving precise control of their behavior is difficult due to the completely unsupervised nature of their training. Existing methods for gaining such steerability collect human labels of the relative quality of model generations and fine-tune the unsupervised LM to align with these preferences, often with reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). However, RLHF is a complex and often unstable procedure, first fitting a reward model that reflects the human preferences, and then fine-tuning the large unsupervised LM using reinforcement learning to maximize this estimated reward without drifting too far from the original model. In this paper, we leverage a mapping between reward functions and optimal policies to show that this constrained reward maximization problem can be optimized exactly with a single stage of policy training, essentially solving a classification problem on the human preference data. The resulting algorithm, which we call Direct Preference Optimization (DPO), is stable, performant, and computationally lightweight, eliminating the need for fitting a reward model, sampling from the LM during fine-tuning, or performing significant hyperparameter tuning. Our experiments show that DPO can fine-tune LMs to align with human preferences as well as or better than existing methods. Notably, fine-tuning with DPO exceeds RLHF’s ability to control sentiment of generations and improves response quality in summarization and single-turn dialogue while being substantially simpler to implement and train.

Outstanding Datasets and Benchmarks Papers

In the dataset category :

ClimSim: A large multi-scale dataset for hybrid physics-ML climate emulation

Authors: Sungduk Yu · Walter Hannah · Liran Peng · Jerry Lin · Mohamed Aziz Bhouri · Ritwik Gupta · Björn Lütjens · Justus C. Will · Gunnar Behrens · Julius Busecke · Nora Loose · Charles Stern · Tom Beucler · Bryce Harrop · Benjamin Hillman · Andrea Jenney · Savannah L. Ferretti · Nana Liu · Animashree Anandkumar · Noah Brenowitz · Veronika Eyring · Nicholas Geneva · Pierre Gentine · Stephan Mandt · Jaideep Pathak · Akshay Subramaniam · Carl Vondrick · Rose Yu · Laure Zanna · Tian Zheng · Ryan Abernathey · Fiaz Ahmed · David Bader · Pierre Baldi · Elizabeth Barnes · Christopher Bretherton · Peter Caldwell · Wayne Chuang · Yilun Han · YU HUANG · Fernando Iglesias-Suarez · Sanket Jantre · Karthik Kashinath · Marat Khairoutdinov · Thorsten Kurth · Nicholas Lutsko · Po-Lun Ma · Griffin Mooers · J. David Neelin · David Randall · Sara Shamekh · Mark Taylor · Nathan Urban · Janni Yuval · Guang Zhang · Mike Pritchard

Poster session 4: Wed 13 Dec 5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. CST, #105

Oral: Wed 13 Dec 3:45 p.m. — 4:00 p.m. CST, Ballroom A-C (level 2)

Abstract: Modern climate projections lack adequate spatial and temporal resolution due to computational constraints. A consequence is inaccurate and imprecise predictions of critical processes such as storms. Hybrid methods that combine physics with machine learning (ML) have introduced a new generation of higher fidelity climate simulators that can sidestep Moore’s Law by outsourcing compute-hungry, short, high-resolution simulations to ML emulators. However, this hybrid ML-physics simulation approach requires domain-specific treatment and has been inaccessible to ML experts because of lack of training data and relevant, easy-to-use workflows. We present ClimSim, the largest-ever dataset designed for hybrid ML-physics research. It comprises multi-scale climate simulations, developed by a consortium of climate scientists and ML researchers. It consists of 5.7 billion pairs of multivariate input and output vectors that isolate the influence of locally-nested, high-resolution, high-fidelity physics on a host climate simulator’s macro-scale physical state. The dataset is global in coverage, spans multiple years at high sampling frequency, and is designed such that resulting emulators are compatible with downstream coupling into operational climate simulators. We implement a range of deterministic and stochastic regression baselines to highlight the ML challenges and their scoring. The data (https://huggingface.co/datasets/LEAP/ClimSim_high-res) and code (https://leap-stc.github.io/ClimSim) are released openly to support the development of hybrid ML-physics and high-fidelity climate simulations for the benefit of science and society.

In the benchmark category :

DecodingTrust: A Comprehensive Assessment of Trustworthiness in GPT Models

Authors: Boxin Wang · Weixin Chen · Hengzhi Pei · Chulin Xie · Mintong Kang · Chenhui Zhang · Chejian Xu · Zidi Xiong · Ritik Dutta · Rylan Schaeffer · Sang Truong · Simran Arora · Mantas Mazeika · Dan Hendrycks · Zinan Lin · Yu Cheng · Sanmi Koyejo · Dawn Song · Bo Li

Poster session 1: Tue 12 Dec 10:45 a.m. — 12:45 p.m. CST, #1618

Oral: Tue 12 Dec 10:30 a.m. — 10:45 a.m. CST, Ballroom A-C (Level 2)

Abstract: Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models have exhibited exciting progress in capabilities, capturing the interest of practitioners and the public alike. Yet, while the literature on the trustworthiness of GPT models remains limited, practitioners have proposed employing capable GPT models for sensitive applications to healthcare and finance – where mistakes can be costly. To this end, this work proposes a comprehensive trustworthiness evaluation for large language models with a focus on GPT-4 and GPT-3.5, considering diverse perspectives – including toxicity, stereotype bias, adversarial robustness, out-of-distribution robustness, robustness on adversarial demonstrations, privacy, machine ethics, and fairness. Based on our evaluations, we discover previously unpublished vulnerabilities to trustworthiness threats. For instance, we find that GPT models can be easily misled to generate toxic and biased outputs and leak private information in both training data and conversation history. We also find that although GPT-4 is usually more trustworthy than GPT-3.5 on standard benchmarks, GPT-4 is more vulnerable given jailbreaking system or user prompts, potentially due to the reason that GPT-4 follows the (misleading) instructions more precisely. Our work illustrates a comprehensive trustworthiness evaluation of GPT models and sheds light on the trustworthiness gaps. Our benchmark is publicly available at https://decodingtrust.github.io/.

Test of Time

This year, following the usual practice, we chose a NeurIPS paper from 10 years ago to receive the Test of Time Award, and “ Distributed Representations of Words and Phrases and their Compositionality ” by Tomas Mikolov, Ilya Sutskever, Kai Chen, Greg Corrado, and Jeffrey Dean, won.

Published at NeurIPS 2013 and cited over 40,000 times, the work introduced the seminal word embedding technique word2vec. Demonstrating the power of learning from large amounts of unstructured text, the work catalyzed progress that marked the beginning of a new era in natural language processing.

Greg Corrado and Jeffrey Dean will be giving a talk about this work and related research on Tuesday, 12 Dec at 3:05 – 3:25 pm CST in Hall F.

2023 Conference

Announcing NeurIPS 2023 Invited Talks

Reflections on the neurips 2023 ethics review process, neurips newsletter – november 2023.

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COMMENTS

Cruelty and Abuse of Power in "The Kite Runner"
The abuse of power can be defined as misusing one's authority for his own personal gain or a lack of action when it is in one's power to act against something negative. Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner, takes readers on an eye opening journey of peace and war in Afghanistan through the eyes of the young Afghan protagonist, Amir.
The Kite Runner Critical Essays
Essays and criticism on Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner - Critical Essays. ... In 1996, the Talibs had come to power. In the novel, Rahim Khan tells Amir that Talibs had banned kite fighting in ...
The theme of power in The Kite Runner
Summary: The theme of power in The Kite Runner is explored through the relationships and social structures in Afghanistan. Power dynamics are evident in the interactions between characters, such ...
The Kite Runner Essay • Examples of Topics, Prompts
The Kite Runner was published in 2003 by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-American writer. The story focuses on Amir, a young boy from Kabul, and Hassan, his closest friend, as they witness a series of events from Afghanistan's turbulent history: the fall of the monarchy, Soviet invasion, refugee exodus, and the rise of the Taliban.
The Kite Runner: Study Guide
The Kite Runner, written by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini and published in 2003, is a powerful and emotionally charged novel that explores themes of friendship, betrayal, guilt, and redemption.The novel begins in Kabul in the 1970s, depicting the close but complicated friendship between Amir and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant.
The Kite Runner: Mini Essays
Rape is among the most prominent motifs repeated in the novel. It is Hassan's rape that establishes the main drama of the story, and it is later Sohrab's rape by the Taliban that gives Amir the chance to redeem himself. The act of rape in this context carries a great deal of significance. First, it is presented as a form of perversion.
The Kite Runner: Themes
Throughout The Kite Runner, racism is depicted both overtly and more subtly and systemically. Assef, the most overtly racist character in the novel, directly justifies his rape of Hassan by saying, "It's just a Hazara.". Later, Assef compares Hazaras to garbage littering the "beautiful mansion" of Afghanistan, and he takes it upon ...
The Kite Runner Themes
The betrayal of a loyal friend by a wealthier, more corrupt "master" is a recurring motif in The Kite Runner, and Amir and Baba 's feelings of guilt for their betrayals drive much of the novel's action. The central betrayal comes when Amir watches and does nothing as Hassan, who has always stood up for Amir in the past, gets raped by Assef.
The Kite Runner Themes
The Kite Runner essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner study guide contains a biography of Khaled Hosseini, 100 quiz questions, a list of major themes, characters ...
The Kite Runner Analysis
Analysis. The Kite Runner is a bildungsroman, as it follows the narrator, Amir, from boyhood to middle age, focusing on his psychological and moral growth as he seeks redemption for his past ...
AQA
Central to Hosseini's post-modern novel is the division between the two factions of Afghan society: the politically and financially superior Sunni Pashtuns and the oppressed Shi'a Hazaras. The two protagonists, Amir and Hassan, represent the two different ethnic groups and the different lives lived by those with and those without political power.
The Kite Runner Essay
Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner depicts the lives of two Afghan boys who grow up in the turmoil of invasion, heartbreak and war. ... How Khaled Hosseini uses literature and stories to demonstrate the power of words to harm and heal in times of injustice. ... Essays About The Kite Runner; Amir's Quest for Salvation in The Kite Runner;
The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is based on the childhood memories of Khaled Hosseini of his homeland, Afghanistan. It was published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, and immediately created ripples on the US shelves. The unusual appearance of the story seems to present the Afghan background, culture, and ethnic tensions in the city of Kabul and the country on a ...
The Role Of Power In The Kite Runner, By Khaled Hosseini
Power In The Kite Runner Essay "The strong were always eating the weak," James Rollins. Those who have power are more likely to take advantage over those categorized in a lower class. In this fictional novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the overall concept of abuse of power and bullying is portrayed. The protagonist, in particular ...
The Ability of Words to Harm and Heal in "The Kite Runner": [Essay
Published: Jun 29, 2018. Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner depicts the lives of two Afghan boys who grow up in the turmoil of invasion, heartbreak and war. Amir, the protagonist and narrator of the story, is Pashtun and Hassan, a Hazara boy, is Amir's servant with a cleft lip. Despite being separated by different ethnic and social ...
Power In The Kite Runner Essay
Power In The Kite Runner Essay. The Power of Power "The strong were always eating the weak," James Rollins. Those who have power are more likely to take advantage over those categorized in a lower class. In this fictional novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the overall concept of abuse of power and bullying is portrayed.
Power In The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini 's The Kite Runner illustrates how the abuse of power originates when people have felt insecurity and a lack of power in their own lives, and it can happen on many different scales, shown through Amir, Assef, and the Taliban. Throughout the whole book, Amir has been vying for love from his father, often against Hassan, and ...
How has power impacted Assef's life in "The Kite Runner"?
When the Russians take over the country, Assef learns to hate them, and he joins the Taliban in order to use their brutality as a means to continue his own violent ways. Assef has progressed from ...
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Plot Summary
The Kite Runner Summary. Next. Chapter 1. The narrator, Amir, grows up in a luxurious home in Kabul, Afghanistan, with his father Baba. They have two Hazara (an ethnic minority) servants, Ali and his son Hassan, who is Amir's closest playmate. Amir feels he is a disappointing son to Baba, but he is close to Baba's friend Rahim Khan.
The Kite Runner Conflict Essay
The Kite Runner How does Khaled Hosseini examine Afghanistan's History of conflict and explore its effect in the novel, The Kite Runner? Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, uses central themes such as violence and rape, society, class and power, as well as redemption to examine the effects of conflict in Afghanistan's History.
The Kite Runner Research Paper
The Kite Runner Essay No one is born evil, the environment in which one is raised influences what kind of person they will be. The Kite Runner, a historical fiction novel written by Khaled Hoesseni, follows a young Afghani boy named Amir. ... In this example, the social class standard in Afghanistan is proven true, the Pashtun have more power ...
The Kite Runner: Historical Context Essay: The Kite Runner and The
Historical Context Essay: The Kite Runner and The Taliban. The Kite Runner is set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Afghanistan, from the overthrow of the monarchy in the 1970s, to the rise of the Taliban regime in the 1990s. Some Afghans believed that the rise of the Taliban would be a beneficial change, since the Taliban were a ...
Kitefoiling: Singapore's Maximilian Maeder third in fleet after first
PARIS: Singapore's world champion Maximilian Maeder began his Olympics campaign with a mixed bag of results on Sunday (Aug 4) and sits third overall in the fleet after four races.
In a Corner of Florida, Preparing for Storm Debby Stirs Familiar
By midday Sunday, Debby was still a tropical storm, with winds of 65 miles per hour. But it strengthened rapidly over the gulf ahead of its landfall, with winds of at least 74 m.p.h.
The Kite Runner Key Ideas and Commentary
The Kite Runner is being marketed as not just the first novel by its author, Khaled Hosseini, a medical doctor, but the first novel of its kind: an Afghan novel written in English. That, however ...
Scottish Tory leadership front-runner 'wouldn't unite party', says new
The front-runner to become the next Scottish Tory leader ... to voters that would deliver a "realistic path to power". ... less than two weeks before ballot papers are sent out on Sep 4, with ...
Trump Says He Wouldn't Be a Dictator, 'Except for Day 1'
Pressed by Sean Hannity to promise not to abuse power, Donald Trump agreed he wouldn't, "other than Day 1," adding: "We're closing the border. And we're drilling, drilling, drilling ...
Some Republicans Embrace Conspiracy Theories on Trump Assassination
Two days after the shooting, Tim Sheehy, the G.O.P. front-runner in the race to challenge Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, told supporters at a meet and greet with constituents that Mr ...
The Kite Runner Criticism
In this essay, Caballero-Robb interprets Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner as a work that intertwines the private and public realms of experience. Perhaps what garnered Hosseini's first novel, The ...
Announcing the NeurIPS 2023 Paper Awards
Announcing the NeurIPS 2023 Paper Awards By Amir Globerson, Kate Saenko, Moritz Hardt, Sergey Levine and Comms Chair, Sahra Ghalebikesabi . We are honored to announce the award-winning papers for NeurIPS 2023! This year's prestigious awards consist of the Test of Time Award plus two Outstanding Paper Awards in each of these three categories: . Two Outstanding Main Track Papers

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Text overview - The Kite Runner

Issues of power and ethnicity

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The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner

The Ability of Words to Harm and Heal in "The Kite Runner"

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The Kite Runner

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