The Kite Runner: Sample Essay on Character Analysis

Character Analysis: Rahim Khan

In The Kite Runner, Rahim Khan is the moral centre and guiding light throughout. He is the voice of reason, someone who stands out in the entire novel for his undying loyalty and honesty to Baba and his family.

We get our first glimpse of Rahim Khan when he calls Amir in Chapter One and says, “There is a way to be good again.” This gently hints at what is to happen ahead in the story, yet not giving everything away, supplying the reader with adequate suspense at the start of the novel itself. He is a man who has stood up for the right cause and is portrayed as a no-nonsense man. There also is a fatherly-aura about him, the main reason why Amir is attached to him more than his own father.

Between Rahim Khan and Amir, the former literally fills in as a second parent to the latter. When Baba ignores or fails to understand Amir, Rahim Khan is right behind with an understanding word or encouragement, so as to keep the child going. We can see this clearly when Hosseini writes, “As always, it was Rahim Khan who rescued me.”

Rahim Khan was always the one to try and bring literature to Amir’s interest, something which Amir takes up as a hobby, and eventually ends up to be his passion. Also, Amir lands up learning more about his dead mother from Khan, rather than his own father. We could also attribute the understanding of Amir’s sense of religion and ethnicity to Rahim Khan’s casual story-telling, where he drops small hints of his own dislike towards racial discrimination in Afghanistan. He once tells Amir a story of how he had fallen in love with a Hazara woman, and his family reacted strongly, even threatening him with death lest he should marry her. This fact shows that Rahim Khan had a just mind and that he looked upon Hazaras as complete equals. It complements Amir’s feelings towards Hassan, and that someone he admires shares the same views.

Rahim Khan’s character certainly does not pop up much in the middle of the story, but we feel he is present due to Amir’s rare reminiscences. Such memories keep him going in the tough life of America. Even though Rahim Khan is not related to Baba by blood, there is a certain level of comfort and understanding that they both share, and the absence of this very companion in America reflects on Baba, where for the first time in the novel, we see him place his son Amir in control of all affairs and himself takes a backseat.

Towards the end of the book, we see Rahim Khan feature in one of the most important scenes in the entire novel. He calls Amir to Pakistan, revealing very little through the telephone, yet too much. His few words are enough for Amir to understand that the time for him to confess his sins had come at last. The events of this scene largely recount what happened after Amir and Baba left Pakistan for America. Several elements like the pain of guilt, racial prejudice, striving loyalty, discord between a father-son relationship and closely-kept secrets are revealed, throwing the reader into a completely unpredicted situation.

Rahim Khan lives up to his character in this last scene of his, where he bares all to Amir and confesses that Hassan is his half-brother and that he knew of all that happened in the alley. He emotionally reveals how tough it had been for him and Amir’s dead father to keep the secret hidden away, almost lock it in a cupboard forever and throw the keys away. He admits he is ashamed, and we see how hard it is for Rahim Khan to break Baba’s trust and loyalty for one last time in his life. He is literally ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of Hassan’s son, and to prove to Amir how strong the bond of blood can be. His one last request brings out his true character and we see what a wonderful person Hosseini has brought into the novel.

Although Rahim Khan is not a character who is present throughout the story, he is one who binds everything together when the reader needs it most. He is the person who finally reveals what brotherhood really means and conveys the basic theme of love and forgiveness in the story. Even though his role in the novel is small, it remains incomplete without him.

The Kite Runner: Sample Essay

How does Hosseini tell the story in Chapter 17?

The whole of Chapter 17 is narrated by the protagonist of the story, Amir. We see that he has travelled all the way from America to meet his old friend, Rahim Khan at his current residence in Pakistan. Rahim Khan has aged and the fact that his posture seems uncomfortable for him shows the kind of physical pain he is going through. The conversation between Rahim Khan and Amir takes place in the evening, and it has been specified that “the sun was beginning to set, glittering red through the cracks of the ramshackle buildings.”It can be interpreted that the setting of the sun implies the end of a major burden in Amir’s life or how Afghanistan as a country has turned to ruins or has “cracked” at the mercy of the Taliban.

Amir again goes into flashback mode, and thinks of what he had done and what was under his control in the winter of 1975. As Rahim Khan speaks, Amir almost relives his childhood as he remembers all the people who once meant the world to him. He hears names of people he himself hasn’t uttered for years together – Hosseini says, “Time can be a greedy thing.”  Immediately, we see the regret in Amir’s eyes and how he repents the many things he could have done when he had the time, but alas, it is too late.

It is soon understood that Rahim Khan has called Amir to speak about Hassan. When he hands Amir the envelope, there is a certain desperation with which he tears it opens and stares at its contents for a whole minute. It goes to show how much Hassan means to Amir, even though he may not display his affection for him – infact, there are times when he behaves like Hassan does not exist.

Suddenly, the entire narration shifts to Hassan as Hosseini cleverly introduces a letter handwritten in Farsi. The childlike handwriting conveys the innocence filled in Hassan and how he truly is the epitome of lifelong friendship and endows forgiveness upon Amir. The Afghanistan we see through Hassan’s eyes is horrifying and crude. The letter reads, “Always the killings.” This one sentence makes the reader reflect how brave Hassan is, to have kept watch over Baba’s palatial house in the absence of Rahim Khan, when he knows the Taliban could punish him over charges of trespassing. This makes Amir look cowardly and insecure; Baba’s foreshadowing is true, that Amir has never stood up for himself, and perhaps he never will. Hassan describes his dutiful son and the health of Rahim Khan to Amir in a way that makes one feel that absolutely no time has passed since they last met. There seems to be a magical connection between Amir and Hassan, almost like brotherhood. In short, Hassan has pumped into the letter all the years of vacuum that Amir has spent in the US. At the end, Hassan says he expects Amir to visit Kabul one day – this goes to show how the theme of hope is so prevalent in the entire story, and how much depth it gives to the Amir-Hassan relationship.

The narration shifts back to Amir once the letter ends, and we see that Amir enquires about Hassan and his family. Rahim Khan says that the Taliban accused Hassan and his family to be trespassers in Baba’s house and that “he was a liar and a thief like all other Hazaras.” This one line brings back to us the rigidity that lay in the Afghani caste system and how nothing, be it wars or mayhem could change the one fact that Hazaras were an inferior caste, the irony being that Hazaras were in actuality much more courageous in comparison to Pashtuns, like Amir. Unabashedly Rahim Khan gets to the point and amidst Amir’s cries, announces that Hassan is dead. This completely unexpected twist in the story opens new arenas and dips the novel as a whole into uncertainty. Khan goes on to add how they killed Hassan’s wife Soraya on the claim of ‘self-defence’.

Later the topic of Sohrab pops up and we see how he is being cared for in an orphanage in Karteh-Seh. Rahim Khan requests Amir to go rescue Sohrab from the orphanage and bring him to a old American pair living in Peshawar, stating they had clean accommodation and that he didn’t want Sohrab to turn into just another Afghani orphan. The fact that Amir believes this to be impossible shows how his nature of selfishness has not changed and the insecurity of leaving behind his great life and budding career in the US is a sharp contrast to the late Hassan.

Amir touches a nerve when he says he is ready to pay for someone to go bring Sohrab safely to Peshawar. The instinctive man Khan is, he exclaims how material benefits have never been his interest and how it is essential that only Amir do the deed. “What I’m asking from you is to grant an old man his dying wish.” The line speaks volumes of how Rahim Khan has fought for people’s rights and the ‘right cause’ – and even death cannot stop him.

It is apparent Rahim Khan is literally pleading Amir to go save Sohrab from treacherous Afghanistan. The fact that being the writer in the room, Amir is speechless shows the fear gripped inside and his being unsure as to whether he will be able to pull off this one task.

In an attempt to convince Amir to take up this challenge, Rahim Khan bares all; Ali’s sterility and Baba’s past come thrashing down at Amir. A completely unprecedented twist and fact is brought up to the forefront. It all comes tumbling back, the realisation of how Baba had wanted Hassan’s harelip operated upon, the constant feeling of Hassan’s absence back in the US and last of all, the shame at what he had done in the winter of 1975 – he hadn’t betrayed just another Hazara boy: he had betrayed his half-brother.

Naturally, Amir’s blood boils at the fact that none of the people who knew of this secret had revealed to Hassan his true identity. Physically, Hassan died a miserable Hazara’s death, while psychologically Amir is dying the death of an ashamed brother and betrayer.

Clearly, society has played an important role in these characters lives. Hassan is denied his true identity out of fear of what others would say and the consequences have been irrepressible. Baba has actually committed the biggest sin in his own eyes – the sin of theft.

Now that the cat is out of the bag and Amir is in complete disbelief as to his life being “one big lie”, the reader wonders whether Amir will take up Rahim Khan’s challenge with a vengeance, considering Sohrab isn’t just a Hazara servant’s son; he is his own nephew.

 

The Kite Runner: Sample Essay

What is the significance of structure in 'The Kite Runner'?

‘The Kite Runner’ is a novel which stands out for its uniqueness in structure and the variation with which it uses events and other happenings to keep the reader interested until the very end. The structure follows a conventional scheme with exception of a few instances where there are time-shifts and the use of letters makes us feel we have gone back in time.

Hosseini has used a chronological time-scheme throughout the book, and jumps time only in highly significant parts of the novel. The first chapter is set in December 2001, which is the ‘present’ throughout the story. It ends at the same time, somewhere around December 2001 – this is what makes the structure of narrative in ‘The Kite Runner’ quite unusual. We then go back in time and learn of Amir, the narrator’s past and how he spent his childhood back in Kabul, Afghanistan.

As the story progresses, we reach the first dramatic climax of Hassan’s rape. For quite some time, the story concentrates on the hardships Amir and Hassan go through after that period. Later, the narrative drifts away from Afghanistan and shifts to America, where Baba and Amir gain political asylum – Ali and Hassan leave the house much earlier out of misunderstanding between Hassan and Amir. Momentarily, the plot seems to revolve around a young man’s hardship in a new land, and vaguely comes across as an immigrant story.

Much later, a call from Rahim Khan, Baba’s best friend, changes the entire plot. He requests Amir to go see him in Pakistan, as a dying man’s plea. After this, the pace picks up to such a rate that the novel almost turns into a thriller and the dramatic events do not disappoint the reader. Amir gets a chance to make up for his ‘unatoned sins’ – as Rahim Khan says, “There is a way to be good again.” The moral issues that had earlier taken a setback come back in double measure, and it is gratifying to see Amir fight the battle for redemption.

Small events such as Baba’s love for Amir and Hassan can be seen again in the form of Amir’s love for Sohrab. Hosseini has consciously crafted these events so as to make the story satisfying as a whole. Similarly, we see Hassan’s threat of turning Assef one-eyed come true when Sohrab instinctively aims for Assef’s eye with his slingshot; it almost is prophetic. The recurrence of the hare-lip; first in Hassan and then in Amir brings out the theme of suffering. ‘Smiling’ also has a large significance in this story – Hassan’s smile always conveyed joy and faith, and we see his son Sohrab smiling at the end of the story, hinting to the reader that everything after that turned out to be eventful.

Overall, the structure in ‘The Kite Runner’ has proved to be an extremely vital part of the book. Hosseini has used this to his advantage so as to make the plot more interesting and to give it the required depth at relevant points in the novel. All of this adds up to make one of the classics of its time.

 

Repetition, Symbolism and Imagery in The Kite Runner

This is with respect to either AO2 and AO3 of the exam!

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

Repetition:

-          Baba’s love for Amir and Hassan is repeated by Amir’s love for his nephew Sohrab

-          Hassan’s rape echoes later in the rape of his son Sohrab

-          The reappearance of Sanaubar vitally emphasises on Hassan’s forgiveness of Amir, and how he is not afraid to forgive his own mother

-          The case of “one-eyed Assef”

-          The flying of kites

-          “Smiling” – Hassan’s harelipped smile, and then Sohrab’s smile

Symbolism:

-          Afghan carpets show pride in the community and the colours in them are relative to the colour in Amir and Hassan’s life as children

-          Blood: the rape scene, the execution at the stadium, the fight with Assef, hospital, etc.

-          The harelip: recalls suffering in the novel

-          Assef’s eye can be used as a symbol of the eye of evil and how good triumphs over it

-          Pomegranate tree

-          Hassan and Sohrab’s smile

Imagery:

-          Amir and Hassan’s childhood home and how it plays psychologically on Amir’s mind once he is in America

-          The flea market is an image of the life Amir has sacrificed along with Baba to save their lives; at the same time it reminds him of the inverse situation that Hassan must be facing, which brings us back to his suffering and inner devastation

-          The devastated city of Kabul demonstrates how the once peaceful city where snow fell soundlessly, and one could smell kebabs in the streets has now become victim to unbearable violence and how, Kabul, the city of Amir’s dreams has turned to rubble – this also casts an image of Amir’s dream of meeting Hassan turned to debris, i.e. it is never fulfilled

-          The imagery of Hassan’s rape and the execution are not described in detail, as a discreet explanation is better left to imagination. Nevertheless, the effect is so powerful and is maintained in such a way that we do not feel the lack of detail