Khaled Hosseini’s historical fiction novel, “The Kite Runner“, is a really emotional and powerful coming-of-age drama that focuses on themes such as friendship, betrayal, guilt, and redemption. The story follows Amir, a young boy growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan. It shows how one decision he made ended up affecting his entire life, both in the present and the future. The reader can see how much the past can stay with someone and play a large role in their life. It also shows how hard, yet possible, it is to find redemption for one’s mistakes.
Summary of The Kite Runner
The beginning of the novel takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan, where Amir lives with his father, Baba. He spends most of his time with Hassan, a young Hazara boy who is the son of Baba’s servant. Although Amir and Hassan grow up together and act like best friends, their relationship lacks equality because of social class and ethnic differences. This is because Amir is a Pashtun, whereas Hassan is a Hazara. This automatically gives Hassan a societal disadvantage.
Hassan’s character expresses extreme loyalty, love, and friendship towards Amir, always standing up for him.However, Amir’s character doesn’t always treat Hassan equally or the way he deserves. This relationship imbalance becomes very important during the kite-fighting tournament. This is one the biggest, most pivotal moments in the story. After Amir wins the tournament, he witnesses something bad happen to Hassan, but chooses not to stop it– and that moment shapes not only the story, but the rest of Amir’s life.
My Take On The Novel
One thing that I genuinely enjoyed in this book was the perfect balance between the historical events and the story line. While we saw things occur internally in the characters as readers, we also saw that there was always something going on in Afghanistan politically. For example, Soviet invasion and later the Taliban. However this never took away anything from the plot and its powerful messages. Instead of taking away, the history and story both coincided and worked together really well to efficiently portray the lessons and ideas the author was trying to encompass.
The historical events in the story help explain why things are happening, as well as profoundly mirror and amplify the conflicts going on internally in Amir. However they don’t overpower any of the characters or their personal struggles. They only assist in shaping them even better. I feel that this is why I believe the novel was written perfectly. Not only because of its efficiency in portraying the messages and themes well, but because all of the factors the author included made the story feel realistic instead of like a history lesson.
Potential “Hard-Read” Areas for Readers
In addition to this, I also enjoyed how the novel didn’t avoid difficult or uncomfortable topics and conflicts. It talks about important things like betrayal, violence, and class differences. These all play vital roles in the story and its plot. The way Hassan’s character is treated isn’t included in the story solely for historical accuracy. It is utilized as a plot driver to explain many of the characters’ actions. Although some areas of the book were hard and upsetting to read, I feel that those are the moments that truly made the book feel real, powerful, genuine, and overall meaningful.
Despite the inclusion of these heavier, difficult topics, I still really enjoyed the book. If anything, they helped keep me interested and enticed the whole time. They also evoked strong emotions out of me. One of the biggest messages that stood out was that even if someone makes a really bad choice, there’s still a chance for redemption. Both for oneself and others. Amir’s character exemplifies this idea, showing that you can’t erase the past. But, you can try to make up for it. I feel that this is such an important lesson to understand. It genuinely shows people that they can grow and change.
Relatability to Readers and Common Human Experiences
I also liked the parallels between Hassan, Amir, and Soraya. Each of these characters deal with various kinds of guilt, judgement, and secrets. I think that these parallels help connect them in a very interesting way that also highlights common human conflicts. Ultimately, it helps show that even though their situations might be different, they all struggle with similar themes of forgiveness and acceptance. These can be things that appear in real life and the readers can relate to.
Overview
Overall, there is nothing I feel that I could genuinely critique this book with. I think that everything was executed impeccably. The balance between the historical background and fictional story line, as well as character parallels and development. I didn’t think that anything felt unnecessary or out of place. The aspects of history and fiction in the story supported each other. It drove the plot instead of competing for it. Although the book included a lot of serious and sometimes uncomfortable topics, that aspect of the novel is what truly made the story and message so impactful.
Ultimately in the end, “The Kite Runner” is a really memorable book with an incredibly strong message about common human experiences. This includes guilt, forgiveness, and redemption.
