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.