Preview

Literary Elements In The Kite Runner

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
475 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Literary Elements In The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner Essay on Literary Value

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner relies too heavily on coincidence; consequently, surrealism masks the novel. Though the novel portrays the cruelty of the Taliban and poverty in Afghanistan, Hosseini’s reliance on coincidence lessens its literary value as the novel descends into ridiculous and unrealistic plot twists. As critic Edward Hower notes, such plot twists are “better suited to a folk tale than a modern novel.” Hosseini thickly foreshadows the plot line and in doing so, uses coincidence as a form of simplicity. He thus not only insults the intelligence of the reader, but also lessens the novels literary value by using contrived plot twists. When Amir randomly starts talking to a homeless

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Set throughout the time of Afghanistan’s feud with Russia and also the control of the Taliban cluster, Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner takes US through the excruciating journey that emeer (The main character) should endure to achieve redemption for his sins still as his father’s love. Hosseini shows US the death of a child's innocence once emeer horrifically witnesses his supporter, Hassan, obtaining raped and will nothing to prevent it, each attributable to the very fact of their social variations and also the ‘reward’ that emeer would gain if he let it pass. This death of emeer's innocence propels the story forward by pushing Amir to come back to extreme measures so as to disembarrass himself of the…

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Afghanistan’s troubled times resulted in the Taliban’s takeover and the suffering of the Afghan people which would challenge the people to face great adversity in the time to come. The characters would have to seek redemption despite the circumstances in Afghanistan and its society’s standards. In the books A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini betrayal allows the theme of redemption and self-sacrifice as well as the perseverance in the face of adversity to develop, these themes are shown through the characters Amir and Miriam.…

    • 89 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Kite Runner Summary

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The story opens in pre-Taliban Kabul, Afghanistan. The protagonist, Amir, is recalling events from his childhood. He lived a lavish life with his father, Baba, and their servant, Ali and his son Hassan. Hassan and Amir grew up together and were almost like brothers, however Ali and Hassan belonged to the religious minority group, the Shias, and Baba and Amir, Sunni Muslims, superior. The different religious sects made it difficult for the boys to be real friends, despite their many character similarities and personal connection to one another. Hassan and Amir had a lot in common, such as the fact that they both grew up without a mother. Though they were raised with different beliefs, they were brought up together, and spent their entire childhoods making memories with each other.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I believe the source of Amir’s power is in his ethnicity because he was born in a higher class. I also believe that Hassan had some power since he was the son of Baba. Throughout the book, you can see that Hassan had lived a plight free life. Amir would always scoff at Hassan about literature even though Hassan is unschooled. Hassan always stayed loyal although I would think he would feel animosity towards Hassan. I also think that Hassan’s passive ways have power over Amir. Amir hates that he cannot undo what he did, or have Hassan deal the same pain unto him. This makes Amir feel bad because he knows that he has hurt Hassan. While Hassan doesn't hurt Amir back, Amir is handling things in a pragmatic way. Amir’s goal was to get rid of Hassan.…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Yes, I agree that figurative language improves the understanding of the novel in Woods Runner. I reached that conclusion because the picture the words paint gives you an idea of what is happening throughout the novel. Firstly, an example of this is found in chapter 4 on page 27 where it says “Samuel smelled it before he saw anything. Not just the smoke from the fires. But the thick, heavy smell. Blood. Death.” and this adds to the way the reader would paint a picture of the story in his head. Next, another example is where it says “He had seen no fresh sign until he came halfway up the fifth ridge, a thickly forested round hump shaped like the back of a giant animal.”(Paulsen, 19) giving…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Amir is a flawed protagonist. In no way does he sugarcoat his want to escape the past, nor the decisions he selfishly makes for himself. Instead Amir showcases what it…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is a blessing to have both parents. Some people lost that opportunity. Losing a parent is like losing a part of yourself, it's not easy to live without it. Losing a parent can be a huge impact on someone’s life especially on a young child, they suffer from the lack of love, attention and support, which affects the child physically, mentally, and emotionally. The lost of a parent might also affect the child’s education and social life.…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When you read two great stories you always notice that they have things in common and some things different. From what I read “The Bean Trees” and “The Kite Runner”, their meaning had the most in common.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book "The Kite Runner" Amir and his father escape from Afghanistan before the Taliban can get them. Amir is happy to be in America because he longs for peace from what had happened to Hassan. Yet, he cannot escape the events that had happened that changed his life. He is still an insomniac and he carries guilt over not standing up against Assef when he was raping Hassan.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Set during the rough times of the Taliban's reign of terror in Afghanistan and Afghanistan's war with Russia, Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner takes us through the agonizing journey t main character Amir makes as he struggles to gain redemption from his past sins, as well as gain the acceptance of his father, Baba. Hosseini shows us the death of a child's innocence when Amir horrifically witnesses his best friend, Hassan, getting raped and does nothing to stop it because society's social rankings hold him back. This death of Amir's innocence propels the story forward by pushing Amir to come to extreme measures in order to rid himself of the guilt pressing down on him, and allows the theme of redemption to be displayed through his desperate journey. Hosseini employs the device of imagery throughout his novel, which allows the characters to come alive off the pages, and aids us in truly understanding the immense suffering and pain the novel's characters endure.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    the kite runner notes

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Amir’s complex relationship with his father is a significant factor in his life. Baba, Amir’s father, does not understand his son, he complains to his best friend and business partner Rahim Khan about his confusion with Amir. “He’s always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he’s lost in some dream…I wasn’t like that” Baba cannot understand why Amir does not have the same interests as he does. When Amir over heard this conversation between Baba and Rahim, it was like “Baba sounded frustrated, almost angry”. Baba is disappointed that Amir is not a replica of him; he wants a son to take over the business and keep his name intact, which is why Baba does not try to make a bond with his own son. “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”. Baba is very distant from Amir because he feels that there is no real connection between himself and Amir. Amir’s Childhood was very tough on him because he was brought up without a mother, and blames himself for her death, as she died giving birth to him. Amir also lacks a proper relationship with his father in his early years. Amir makes it clear that he longs to become like Baba and for him and Baba to have that special bond and connection that fathers and sons are meant to have. Baba is an honourable man at heart; he is just unable to understand his son’s interests and neglects him because of it. Amir’s relationship with Baba is very hard on him and makes him feel like he needs to prove something to Baba, which is one thing he has always tried to do his whole life.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kite Runner Themes

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Kite Runner is an Afghan American fiction novel written by Khaled Hosseini. In the text the story of a man, named Amir’s, past is told. In continuation, a reader of the novel may get the impression, at the beginning of the book, that Amir is just an ungrateful child that receives everything he wants, but in reality that is not the case. Throughout his journey he dealt with various hardships that inflicted drastic alterations on it. As readers explore a journey down memory lane with Amir, a magnitude of themes is presented through the challenges that Amir faces. Ultimately, the trials and tribulation that people face help mold them into who they are.…

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Kite Runner, conflict is evident throughout; physical conflict of the war, Baba’s internal fight against cancer, Hassan’s constant battle with the society he lived in, Sohrab’s struggle to accept and trust Amir, but none more prominent than Amir’s conflict with his emotions and his own image of himself. The entirety of Hosseini’s novel is based around the self-conscious narrative of a guilty man who struggles to come to terms with the consequences of the, decisively wrong, decisions he made as a child, which seems to have caused a domino effect on his whole life, never truly able to make the right choice until the end of the novel when he finally chose to stand up and stand up for what is right instead of running and hiding- saving the last ounce of his brothers happiness, his son, Sohrab.…

    • 1205 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossenini deals primarily with the theme of guilt and redemption and subtly approaches the correlations between religion and violence through these main themes. The novel centers on the relationship between the narrator Amir and his friend/servant Hassan and Amir’s guilt when he witnesses an act of violence done to Hassan that he fails to intervene in. This personal conflict ties into the narrator’s experiences with religion as he attempts to redeem himself. Through this aspect of the novel, we can see the personal journey of finding the true Self through traumatic experience and the dichotomy of religion as a tool to explain suffering and violence as well as a justification for violence.…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Novels have to be catching to eye; a good book has to possess certain characteristics to allow the reader to be engaged in the novel and to be able to make personal connections or references to their everyday lives. Having a theme gives the novel an edge and creates a better story to read. Three key themes that are portrayed in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini are betrayal, forgiveness and atonement.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays