Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The scene set with the first word of the chapter, "Winter". This is by far Amir's favourite season, due to there being no school, snow and the kite running competition. He uses plosive language to describe the snow, as he says it "crunched"under his black rubber boots.

Amir has always said that him and Baba have never been very close, sometimes due to their different interests, like Amir prefer reading to watching a soccer match. In winter though, he says that "the chill between me and Baba thawed a little.". Using the word "thawed" really indicates the coldness of their relationship, and how they become slightly closer, more warming to each other during this season. The reason for this is because of the kites. A mutual interest, and something Amir is proud to take part in, and says that he is quite good at.

The narrator describes the kite running as a "war", as he describes going to sleep the night before the event, like a soldier trying to sleep in a trench. He compares the scars to his other class mates's at school, and calls them "battle scars". I think he uses the comparison of war to the kite running, because you are doing the battle for something you are proud of, something you believe in, and something that, when you win, you are admired for. I think Amir classes this as one of the toughest things he's done, and that in another way, compares to the soldiers in the war, but on a much vaster, more dangerous scale. Baba also purchases kites for the two boys, after they try and but succeed at making their own. Amir is jealous of Hassan though, as he also gets the same kites as any Baba purchases for him, even if he were to ask for a bigger, more extravagant kite. I think he jealous because they are being treated equally, even though Baba is his father. He says that he "wished he'd let me be the favourite.". I don't think that Amir understands that they are just being treated equally, as he may be used to being an only child, and wanting all the attention focused on him.

One new boy, a Hindi kid, tells Amir and Hassan that there are more rules to kite running, but they are fooled. The narrator uses a prolepsis to show how he felt about what the Hindi boy said, telling us about what the russians would learn in the 1980's, that Afghans are independent people. 

When Amir explains that Hassan is one of the fastest kite runners, this again shows their relationship. You need two people to be able to enter the competition, and Amir and Hassan would obviously enter together, showing yet more friendship and brotherhood. Hassan would always know where the kite was going to land, and one time, Amir recalls, he followed after Hassan as they ran to collect the falling kite. There are some trust issues, Amir does not believe that Hassan is correct about the location the kite is going to fall, but Hassan says "Would I ever lie to you?". This exposes more of their relationship, that Hassan would never lie to Amir, but also makes us think make to when Amir has lied to Hassan, when reading him the stories. Amir seems like a sly character when you compare this, as Hassan truly believes that they would never lie to each other, and exposes a bit more of Amir's nature, as well as Hassan's ability to trust.

There is another prolepsis used when the two boys are sat under the sour cherry tree, waiting for the kite to fall. Amir says 

"Really looking at each other. That's when it happened again: Hassan's face changed. Maybe not changed, but suddenly I had the feeling I was looking at two faces, the one I knew, and another, a second face, this one lurking just beneath the surface."

This could be something that happens in the future, Hassan changes, and we already have the feeling that he is going to be an underdog, due to the slight deformity on his face, the hair lip.

Amir starts to explain the kite running event in the winter of 1975, and says immediately "I saw Hassan run a kite for the last time.". His first, opening sentence of the entire novel is "I became what I am today in the winter of 1975", so we already have some idea, that something bad may just be about to happen. Baba comes out with a comment that sticks in Amir's mind - "I think maybe you'll win the tournament this year". Not wanting to fail his father, Amir sets his mind on winning. Not just for the glory of winning, but for the acceptance by his father, that they might actually have something to talk about, a reason to go and visit places, and for Baba to actually want to spend time with him. He says right at the end of this descriptive paragraph that "And maybe, just maybe, I would finally be pardoned for killing my mother." This is a very emotional line, that shows he still feels the guilt, and thinks that his father may think that he is the reason for her death too. This can be an example of an unreliable narrator though, as it is his opinion, and it may not be strictly true that Baba even is blaming him for his wife's death. This view can make us question whether Baba is really that harsh towards Amir, when it comes to their relationship.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The chapter opens with gunfire in the street, and Amir says it was the beginning of the end of Afghanistan. The gunshots were part of a coup in which Dauod King, the king's cousin, took over the government. You can see that Amir is quite jealous of the father and son relationship between Hassan and Ali on the night of the explosions, as he is very caring and protective, a side that hasn't been shown from Baba yet. The roads are closed, so Baba does not return home until the morning. This is one of the first times we see Baba showing love and affection towards Amir, he "opens his arms wide", and the two boys embrace the hug. Amir also says that he had never seen fear in his father's face, and this is because he is quite a masculine, manly character, who would not let anyone see if he were upset.

The two boys go off to their tree again, as they don't really understand what is going on with the politics, when Baba and Ali are listening to the news in the smoking room. They encounter Assef and two other boys on their walk there though, and Assef is famous for his "stainless steel brass knuckles". Using the stainless steel to describe his knuckles shows that they are very strong, and could be feared of. Amir explains how he has beaten up other children in the village, and how he thinks it is cruel. This also backs up the point that Baba made, how Amir cannot be mean, as he does not agree with the violence. But this could also be seen as hypocritical, as they were being cruel to the animals earlier, and just seeing it as a bit of harmless fun, not realising the pain that can be caused when on the othe end of the deed.

The context of the Pashtuns and the Hazaras also comes up in this chapter, when Assef starts to insult Hassan about his "flat nose". He also says that "His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood." Watan means homeland in Pashtun terms, so is relevant to the setting in Afghanistan. He also says that Afghanistan should only consist of Pashtuns, and he says that he knows the president of Afghanistan, so will get the land ridden of Hazara's, the "dirty, kaseef Hazaras". He also talks about Hitler, and says that something like what happened in Germany need to happen in Afghanistan, to get rid of all the Hazaras.

Assef also picks on Ali a lot, due to the Polio that cripples him. He is well known for his meanness, and started off most of the chants that are called at Ali.

Hassan comes to the rescue, as he pulls his slingshot out of his back pocket, and threatens the other boys, with "a walnut sized rock" loaded in his slingshot. This shows out the "mean side, that Baba says Amir does not have, which is very true in this instant, as he tries to reason with words, not violence. Baba does not mention that Hassan is not manly enough, and by this gesture, he shows that he has a mean streak that can come out, when he is defending his beliefs.

This chapter seems to be a lot about violence and destruction, due to the explosions and shootings starting off the chapter, and then Assif becoming featured later on.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In chapter 4, we see the relationship between Baba and Ali, and Amir states that "Ali and Baba grew up together." This shows the parallel narrative, as Amir and Hassan also have this same relationship. He also says that Baba and Ali used to get up to lots of mischief, which is very like Amir and Hassan. They start to describe some of the things they got up to as children, one of which includes pulling a stinger off of a bee, and trying string round it so it was unable to fly away. This shows how they were so oblivious as children, as it seemed like just a bit of fun, but was in fact cruel. They also played Cops and Robbers, which is a very western game. This shows the mixture of cultures, and especially as Amir starts to describe their favourite film "The Magnificent Seven", which they saw thirteen times. This could be a Prolepsis, as Amir ends up in San Francisco, in America, in his later years, as he explains at the beginning of the book. The Western genre of films are also very manly, and as Baba was criticising Amir of not being tough or mean enough, he could have encouraged the boys to watch these films, as there is a lot of violent fighting scenes as people stand up for what they believe in. This is yet more of the western culture, which is coming into the mix as well as their Afghan culture.

There are also more details of Amir and Hassan's relationship, and this is shown when Amir describes his routine before school.

"By the time I had lumbered out of bed, Hassan had already washed up, prayed and prepared my breakfast: hot black tea and a slice of toasted naan topped with my favourite sour cherry marmalade."

Amir is waited on hand and foot, and seems very privileged, especially as Hassan also gets all his books ready for him, whilst he "complains about homework". But this doesn't stop their fun, and another relationship shines through after Amir gets back from school, which is more like father and son. They head up to an abandoned cemetery at the top of a hill, which can set the scene for use, as this indicates death and lack of care. But this is juxtaposed by there being a pomegranate tree, which still has plenty of fruit, as this indicates new life. The redness of the pomegranate is highlighted by the narrator though, so this could indicate a darker side. The father and son relationship however, is indicated when Amir reads Hassan the story - "We sat up for hours under that tree, sat there until the sun faded in the west and Hassan insisted we had enough daylight for one more story, one more chapter." They also carved their names into this tree, saying "Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul.". To us, in a western culture, this would indicate love and romance, but in their culture, it may indicate different things, and just friendship or brotherhood. The one thing that isn't very brother like about their relationship though, is when Amir teases Hassan, because he is not educated. When Hassan doesn't understand a word,Amir takes it upon himself to tease Hassan with it, telling him the wrong meaning, just because of his lack of knowledge, and a good education. Although Amir did tease Hassan a lot about this, he said that "I would always feel guilty about this later. So I'd try to make up for it by giving him one of my old shirts or broken toy." This seems like Amir doesn't think Hassan needs good quality, new things, and instead gives something to him that he doesn't even appreciate himself.

But I think the most important thing that happens between Hassan and Amir in this chapter, is when Amir decides to make up a story, leading Hassan to saying it was the best story he's read. This, in a way, is an analepsis, as later he gets his novel published. Amir then writes another story, inspired by Hassan's praise, but does not recieve the same praise from his father Baba. In fact, Baba doesn't even read it. The way the narrator uses lexis to describe this event really highlights how awkward Amir felt in his presence - "I probably stood there for a minute, but to this day, it was the longest minute of my life.".

Amir's storyline is very detailed, but Hassan manages to pick it apart, which Amir is a little annoyed at. "What does he know, that illiterate Hazara? He'll never be anything but a cook. How dare he criticise you?"This is a really important quote, as Hazaras are devalued in society as they are the minority, but when you are friends with someone, you shouldn't judge them on these things. But Amir does, he disrespects his opinion because of his religion, even though they are friends and trust each other. I think this might have a big part to play later in the book, as if Amir had a slight disrespect for him when he was younger, this may continue when they are older.

Overall there is a lot of detail in this chapter, so therefore I think it is quite reliable, as he isn't hesitant about any of the details. There is some more exposition about other characters, and we learn a little more about Ali and Baba's friendship.

The Kite Runner - Context

The Kite runner - Context

We learn in the first few opening chapters of The Kite Runner, that Amir and Hassan are both Musilm, but from two different groups. Amir is a Pashtun, where as Hassan is an Hazara. From what I've researched, Pashtuns are made up of mostly Sunni Muslims. The Pashtuns also make up a near majority of Afghanistan, so the Hazara's are the minority. This will be one of the reasons that Amir cannot find much history about the Hazara's, as Afghanistan has been populated by mainly Pashtun's. Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam, where as Shi'a are the second largest group. The Shi'a Muslims do not believe in caliphate, where as Sunni muslims do. I had never heard of the term caliphate before, so did some research, and the definition for the word caliph is "A leader of Islamic policy, regarded as a successor of Muhammed and by tradition always male." and the definition of Caliphate is "The office or jurisdiction of Caliph.". This is one of the things that they disagree on, but they are also from different origins, the Hazara Muslims are from Asian or Caucasian decent, and some can look very chinese or mongolian, as Hassan has been described by Amir - "A face like a chinese doll chiselled from hardwood.". The Pashtuns however, are largely Caucasian.

The definition of a Pashtun Muslim is  "A member of the predominant ethnic group of Afghanistan and parts of western Pakistan".

The definition of an Hazara Muslim is "A minority ethnice group making up about 19 percent of Afghanistan's population".

Definitions

Definitions

Narrative voice - The voice of whomever is telling the story/poem

Analepsis - A flash back

Pathetic Fallacy - When weather reflects the current mood of the setting

Lexical choices - The choice of language

Idiolect - The speech habits of a particular person

Socialist - The dialect of a particular social class

Unreliable narrator - If the narrator may be telling the story correctly, or whether it has been changed slightly because of their opinion. Whether it may be biased.

Syntax - The arrangement of words in a sentence

First person - A point of view for writing, which uses "I" or "We"

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The chapter starts off with some more description about Baba, where he tells us about a rumour that Baba "wrestled a bear with his bare hands, and how if the story had been about anyone else, it would have been dismissed as a "laaf" (Afghan tendency to exaggerate). After Amir has described the event, he says "I have dreamt about Baba's wrestling match, and in those dreams I can not tell Baba from the bear.". He is comparing him to an animal, and shows that he must be big, and sometimes quite scary, due to not knowing which was the bear or his father. He also gives us an image of how Baba looks, saying that he had "three parallel scars" on his back. He is also nicknamed "the hurricane", and this shows Khaled Hosseini using the force of nature to describe him, which again shows that he is big and strong, like the bear. But later Amir says that "when all six foot five of him thundered into a room, attention shifted to him like a sunflower turning to the sun.", which uses Pathetic Fallacy to describe the mood. It also shows that he is god like, as he is able to change the weather. The "hurricane" also suggests that he does not stop for anything in his path, which is backed up when Amir says that people doubted him when he was building the orphanage. He proved them wrong by building it, and it being a success. He also proved people wrong when he married a beautiful woman, as people did not expect him to get her.

Some more imagery that is used to describe Baba is when the narrator says "He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose, the air hissing through his moustache."
"Crushed an ice cube between his teeth". The narrator uses plosive language to help achieve a violent, strong effect, the "crushing" indicates a loud sound, that is attention seeking, and this supports the quote earlier, about the attention shifting to it. He seems to like being in the lime light, and doesn't want to go unnoticed.

One day at school, Amir's teacher tells the class that drinking is a sin, and seeing his father drink whiskey, he questions Baba about what his teacher has said. This is another contextual reference, due to the religion in the country, as Islam is the main religion in the setting. But Baba says that the only sin in stealing, whether it is stealing something that belongs to someone else, or stealing their life. "Now, no matter what the Mullah teachers tell you, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft."

Amir feels like he is not living up to his fathers expectations, as he reads a lot, and Baba prefers Soccer. Amir says that he once won a game at school, and he felt proud of this. The game was called "Battle of the poems", and as you can tell, Baba was not as proud of his son as he would have been if he had won something athletic. This then results in Baba talking to Rahim, a business associate, about how he is worried that Amir will not be able to defend himself when he's older, as he isn't able to do it now. Rahim has been mentioned once before, as he is the friend who called Amir when he was living in San Francisco, back in the beginning of chapter one.
'"But he's always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he's in some kind of dream"
"And?"
"I wasnt like that" Baba sounded frustrated, almost angry'
It seems like Baba wants Amir to be more masculine, and is worried that he won't grow up to be like him, as he is very resilient, and stands up for what he believes in, as was shown earlier by him saying that drinking was not actually a sin.
"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can stand up for anything"

There is a lot of Exposition in chapters two and three, as it gives us Background information on a lot of characters, and some on the setting of the place. Even though he is looking back on his past, I wouldn't say this chapter is an analepsis, as that is a flash back, and this seems too long and detailed to be just a flashback. This chapter is reliable in some places, as he is recalling some events, but may not be as reliable when he is recalling Rahim and Baba talking. This is because the conversation is about him, in a negative way, so he may take Baba's comments to mean worse than they were actually meant to be. But front past evidence we were given about Baba, he does seem like quite a proud, outgoing character, so he may be ashamed of having a quieter son, that prefers reading to sport.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Firstly, the chapter has a lot of description about Hassan. Amir describes Hassan as having "A perfectly round face" and also comparing him to a chinese doll "chiselled from hardwood". He then goes onto describe Hassan's cleft lip, saying it was where "the chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped", so is saying they Hassan is almost perfect, but not quite. He has a flaw, and the characters is stories that have a flaw generally turn out to be the villain or the underdog, so the author is leaving subtle hints to as what we may expect from Hassan in the rest of the book.

A few pages later, the narrator mentions "Hazaras". This is a contextual reference, as Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. He also speaks about the Hazaras not being in the textbooks, and from research, I found out that this was because the Pashtuns were in control at the time, so had erased Hazaran people's history from pretty much all of the school books. Amir also goes on to say that the Pashtuns had "persecuted and oppressed the hazaras". I didn't know anything about these different types of people, so this is a contextual reference in the book, which I enjoyed researching.

There are also a few more aspects to do with teh context of religion and time in chapter 2, for example in Hassans room, there is a tapestry with the words "Allah-u-akbar", which after some research I found out it meant "God is the greatest". This is relevant to their religion, Islam.

As described in the first chapter, Amir talks about Hassan, and how he compares the two of them to the "pair of kites". There is another reference that shows how close they are, on page 10 saying ...

"Then he would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break.

Hassan and I fed from the same breast. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And under the same roof we spoke our first words."

These few lines really highlight how close Amir and Hassan were as children, and shows that they had "brotherhood", and the similarities of their first actions shows that they were in some ways like twins.

"Mine was Baba

His was Amir. My name"

This shows the importance of Amir to Hassan, but Amir not saying Hassan as his first word, strikes a chord with us, and with Amir himself, as he goes on to say "I think the foundation for what happen in the winter of 1975 was already laid in those first words." This doesn't give us much more information about the event that occurred, but gives us a feeling that it will involve Hassan.

These past few lines were told to Amir by Ali, who is a new character introduced to us in chapter 2. He also has a disability, who's lower lip muscles were paralysed by Polio, and also walks with a limp. This could tie in with the idea of the villains or underdogs having a deformity, so Khaled Hosseini may be trying to imply something about Ali's character here. Although by how he is described, it does not seem like he would seek vengeance on anyone, even though he has been picked on by the neighbourhood children, being called Babalu or Boogeyman. He does not care about what they think, as according to Amir, he loves Hassan too much to care.

One other character that is mentioned in more detail is Baba, Amir's father. Amir's mother died during child birth, and Baba has taken care of him. Baba is a well respected man, as the narrator says "everyone agreed that Baba had built the most beautiful house". This shows that Baba takes a lot of pride, and cares what others think about him. But he does have a smoking room, and smoking is frowned upon in their religion, so this may cause a bit of controversy to what other people think of him.

Overall this chapter summaries a lot of Amir's past, giving us more information about the character of Hassan, the man who is believed to be Hassans father, Ali, and Amir's own father, Baba. This chapter does seem reliable, even though it is written in first person, as there aren't many opinions in there, the narrator is just stating the facts of what happened at this period of time.

Chapter 1

The Kite Runner - Chapter 1

We are introduced to the character of Amir straight away, as the first quote of the first chapter says "I became what I am today at the age of twelve". This shows that something very important has happened to him at this age, meaning that he had to grow up fast, like he had no other option to. His friend, Rahim Khan, is also introduced in the first chapter, as Rahim calls Amir, and this brings a whole world of memories back to Amir, including "my past of unatoned sins". This shows us that he has done something in his past that he regrets, but then at the end of the chapter, Rahim says "there is a way to be good again". This shows that Rahim wants for him to be good again, and this gives something for Amir to reflect upon in the first chapter. Of course, as the reader, we don't know what is meant by "unatoned sins", but we believe what the character of Amir is saying, as he seems to be reliable. Another way Amir is shown to be reliable in the first chapter, is when he deeply describing an event that happened in the winter of 1975. He states that "I remember the precise moment", which leads us to believe that the information he will be providing us with is reliable.

The narrator provides us with a setting in the opening chapter, which is San Francisco, but this is shown to not be his true home or birth place by Amir says "The city I now call home". We are not given his original home country, but in the blurb it states that Amir is from Afghanistan.

One relationship that is given to us obviously is when Amir tells us about his friend Rahim. But there is another relationship in the chapter, when Amir goes on to mention Hassan. He sees a pair of kites in the sky whist reflecting on the phone call with Amir, in Golden Gate Park. The word "pair" really links in the relationship, as it shows they are like twins, they are very close. I think this will come into more relevance as we learn more about Hassan. He also uses some narrative devices when describing the kite, for example personification when describing how the kits moved - "danced". Also a simile to describe how the kites looked "like a pair of eyes".