The Kite Runner

The kite Runner- Analysis and Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1
Starts off in the present day when Amir receives a phone call from Rahim Khan in Pakistan telling him that he must go and see him. We are told about the events that made him who he is today and we also find out that the grown up Amir has moved to America.
Key quotes:
“I became what I am today at the age of twelve.”
“there is a way to be good again"
“the hard ripped kite runner.”
Flashbacks: The story is being told from end point December 2001, the rest is told as extended flashbacks such as techniques allows the reader to foreshow events which have not yet occurred, building dramatic tension. Two key characters- Ali and Hassan are introduced.
Narrator: first person narrative shows only Amirs version of events, rather than those of other characters- all coloured by Amirs personal reactions and emotions.
“The past claws its way out” – no matter how much you want to forget about it, you cant escape it. The use of the word claw carries an image of the theme of redemption.

Chapter 2
Amir looks back on his relationship with Hassan. He looks back at the history of religion. We learn that amirs mother died giving birth to him whereas hassans mother ran away after she had him. Hassan is abused on the street for the way he looks.
Images of the past: amir take us back to his childhood. The way Hassan is described shows that he is important to amir and is important to the man he has become.
“a face like a chinese doll”- poetic imagery expresses the love he feels for Hassan.
Theme of friendship: Amir tells of the time when him and Hassan would get into trouble and Hassan would always take the blame. The friendship is based on Hassan’s loyalty to amir. Amirs first word was ‘baba’ whereas hassans was ‘amir’.
Theme of fathers and sons: introduced to baba who is amirs father. He is a powerful man and we are shown early signs of amirs attempts to gain his fathers approval. Both boys have absent mothers which makes everyoes relationship stronger.
Theme of religion and ethnicity: ali and Hassan are members of the hazara ethnic group which is seen to be inferior to the Pashtun group.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 is about amir learning that he is not good enough for is father. We see that amir looks up to baba at the beginning of the chapter when we understand how proud amir is because his father did a very selfless thing and built an orphanage with his own money. We see that amir could probably gain more comfort from Rahim Khan than he could from his own father. Yet again, we also see that Hassan cares more for amir as he stands up fr him, but we know at this point that amir wouldn’t do the same for him.
Amir wants to live up to his fathers success, we see that amir becomes jealous of baba and hassans relationship as he fights for his attention over Hassan. This results to cruelty to Hassan.
Chapter 4
We understand that ali was adopted and brought up b baba’s family. Even though Hassan is amirs friend, he was still treated as a servant. Hassan loves to hear amirs stories, he was the one who encouraged him to write short stories. Baba didn’t want to hear amirs stories whereas Rahim Khan praised them.
Setting: rich description of Kabul; colours, noises of the city creates a wild setting for the events of amirs childhood but also provides a basis for comparison when we are presented with a much changed Kabul later in the novel. The setting can be used to portray mood, plot and character.
Symbolism: the power of reading- amirs reading to Hassan seems like a friendly act as his mother was a teacher. Amir doesn’t teach Hassan, instead he teases him by teaching him the wrong meaning of words. The pomegranate tree: shows the sweetness of the bond between the two boys who share fruit before amir reads to Hassan. The cemetery and tree are symbols which can be seen throughout the novel.
Chapter 5
We see that even though amir isn’t always nice to Hassan