The Kite Runner - Key Scenes
Chapter 7
Summary:
The night before the kite tournament Hassan dreams of a monster in the lake that Amir and Hassan
Amir wins and Hassan runs to get the kite
★ Hassan gets raped in the alleyway by Assef ★
Amir receives the kite but Hassan is broken, the two boys never talk what happened
Key Quotes:
“I opened my mouth. Almost said something. Almost” “I just watched”
Simple action
Questioning authority isn’t easy
Consequence of this being oppression by own guilt
Trying to convince himself
His own self conscious is talking to him
Flashback
Allows Amir to escape from the reality of Hassan’s attack
Foreshadowing connection between Hassan + Amir
Hazaras + Pashtuns are a societal construct
Privilege (Amir) + oppressed (Hassan)
“And there’s nothing sinful about teaching a lesson to a disrespectful donkey”
Animal imagery - dehumanise Hassan
Degrading - lack of intelligence - stereotype Hazaras - donkeys are actually hardworking
Assef referring to social hierarchy and status
Manipulates religion to support what he wants - support his façade
Hypocrisy
“Hassan didn’t struggle. Didn’t even whimper” “It was the looks of the lamb”
Accepting/aware of his position as oppressed in society
Unwavering love and loyalty to Amir
Resistance? - knows Assef will relish in his suffering so he tries to limit this
Innocence
Religious reference - sacrifice - Hassan replaces Amir - this is for Amir’s redemption
Animal imagery - Hassan as lesser
Chapter 8
Summary:
Amir suggests a day trip to Jalalabad baba agrees but before the day comes he manages to invite a crowd, Amir feels no joy in his time away
Amir sees himself as the Monster in Hassan's dream
★ Hassan asks Amir to meet him by their pomegranate tree and he pelts him with Pomegranates and Hassan refuses to fight back ★
Baba throws Amir a large party where he receives Mien Kampf from Assef
Rahim Khan finds him sitting alone and tells of his attempted marriage to a Hazara woman, he gives Amir a notebook
Key Quotes:
“Lines etched into his tanned face and creases framed his eyes, his mouth”
Loss of innocence
“I might as well have taken a knife and carved those lines myself”
Taking responsibility for Hassan’s loss of innocence
“I wished he’d give me the punishment I craved”
Wants his redemption to be quick with little effort on his part
“Hassan did nothing”
Resistance
Defiance
Hassan’s loyalty/devotion for Amir has wavered
“He opened it and crushed it against his own forehead” “Are you satisfied? Do you feel better?”
Shift in dominance + status
Amir frames/betrays Hassan
Dispose of him
Chapter 9
Summary:
Amir sees the pile of gifts as Blood Money
★ Amir hides money under Hassan's mattress and Hassan confesses, Baba forgives yet Ali wants to leave ★
Baba cries as they refuse to stay and eventually drives them away in the rain
Key Quotes:
“Hassan’s reply was a single word, delivered in a thin, raspy voice: “Yes””
Protect Amir - sacrificing himself - morality
Powerlessness, oppression
Defiance
“Hassan knew”
Emphasises Hassan’s loyalty to Amir
“Ali, haven’t I provided well for you? Haven’t I been good to you and Hassan?”
Lost dominance - Ali in position of power - Baba “pleading”
Escalation of power in the face of Ali’s resistance
“You’re the brother I never had”
Never before referred to him as a friend
Chapter 10
Summary:
Amir and Baba are fleeing Afghanistan in March 1981
★ Russian Guards demand to rape a woman in the truck Baba takes a stand and is almost shot yet another Russian officer stops his murder ★
A man with a fuel tanker smuggles them to Pakistan and Kamal, Assef's friend dies in his fathers arms due to the fuel fumes and Kamal's father shoots himself
Key Quotes:
“Baba stood up”
Passive resistance, in this instance, has failed
Active resistance can be more powerful - contrasts Amir’s lack of resistance previously - Baba being successful + changing the womans fate
“Tell him I’m take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place”
Motif of “for you a thousand times over”
Baba’s morality
Foreshadows the closer connection between Baba and Hassan
Heightens contrast between Amir (with his lack of resistance) to Baba “Do you have to always be a hero?”
Chapter 21
Summary:
Amir and Farid travel Kabul eventually going to baba's house where he sees the dead pomegranate tree with Hassan and His name still carved
Amir pays exorbitant prices for a dirty bloodstained room where Farid and Amir share childhood stories and jokes
★ During the match a patrol whips anyone who cheers too loudly and at half time two people are stoned by a man in sunglasses for adultery in a ditch in the pitch, after there bodies are removed they continue playing football ★
After the match Amir secures a 3 o’clock meeting with the man in sunglasses
Key Quotes:
“Those are the words of GOD!”
Use of religion as a scapegoat for extremism
Utilising what they need to suit their agenda
Warped view of religion
Contrast - protesting against the misinterpretation of Muslims in society - Hosseini actively wants to highlight separation
“The spectators’ “OH!” rhymed” “Second half was underway”
Connects to opening of Chapter 21 - society has become desensitised to this sort of extreme behaviour/oppression
Informal setting intensifies punishment
Ability to interrupt normal life at any point
Personal + political intertwined
Lack of questioning authority - “thousands of people” - due to fear
Performance, entertainment - immoral
““OH!” rhymed” “Low pitched murmur” - controlled
Chapter 22
Summary:
Amir insists to go to the meeting alone which Farid attempts to challenge but fails
The man in the sunglasses rips off Amir's disguise and has a long speech bragging about murder, slating America and saying those who leave their country are traitors.
The man calls in Sohrab to dance for them and It is revealed the man is Assef
Assef describes his allegiance to the Taliban and says if he wants Sohrab he must fight to the death
★ Assef pulls out the brass knuckles and a bloody fight ensues resulting in Amir laughing through the pain, Sohrab pulls a metal ball back in a slingshot and hit Assef in the eye (one-eyed Assef) as Farid, Amir and Sohrab run away ★
Key Quotes
“I don’t know at what point I started laughing, but I did”
Amir laughing from relief - waiting for someone to punish him - feel he had got what he deserved for hurting Hassan
Ironic - Amir thriving and successful - reality - miserable when being beaten
Finally laughing + happy when being beaten
Shows how guilt was weighing him down
Similar to Assef’s moment - however, Amir’s pain is emotional, not physical - euphoric moment
“For the first time since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace”
Amir’s oppressive nature stemmed from inaction
Amir does not actively discriminate or oppress - just doesn’t resist convention or prevent harm from befalling vulnerable individuals - Hassan
Now he is trying to make a difference, he understands the significance of his actions or inaction
Amir has become braver and now stands up for what is right - confronting guilt and taking responsibility for actions
“My body was broken” "“but I felt healed”
Physical punishment
Journey of oppression through to escape
Symbolic of new beginning - however forever changed and wont be able to completely forget
“Sohrab had the slingshot pointed to Assef’s face”
Hassan protected Amir as a child - now Sohrab saving Amir - his age, wealth, status are immaterial
Sohrab + Hassan - stronger + braver than Amir - in this aspect Amir is inferior
Reflect scene in Chapter 5 - Hassan threatened Assef with slingshot + Assef backed down but promised to come back for them - Assef cam after them but it was Sohrab who followed through on his father’s threat
Amir and Sohrab both avenging Hassan - Sohrab couldn’t save his father from the Taliban but he can maim the person responsible
Symbol of resistance
Chapter 25
Summary:
Amir is in a hospital, he prays for Sohrab and says he will pray for the rest of his life if Allah saves him and has been kicked out by the hotel owner for the stigma of suicide on the property he brings the Shahnamah the book on which Sohrabs namesake came from for him
Sohrab wishes for his old life and never grants Amir forgiveness for the talk of returning to the orphanage
After seven months Sohrab remains silent and as the General demands the truth Amir sternly tells him he is his nephew and he will no more be called Hazara
After the 2001 September Attacks Soraya helps with aid and the Afghan military calls the general back as Jamila waits to rejoin him Amir now prays daily
★ In San Francisco Amir sees a kite fighting tournament and tells Sohrab how great a runner Hassan was, He then run the kite for Sohrab he promises Sohrab to get the kite 1000 times over ★
Key Quotes:
“For you a thousand times over”
Motif - Hassan’s phrase
Phrase demonstrated Hassan’s compassion + selflessness - now represents these qualities in Amir - undergone a moral journey
Amir is loyal to serving the memory of Hassan
Amir cares for Sohrab as much as Hassan cared for Amir - enough to repeat the same words Hassan said to him as a child
Amir can finally understand how Hassan felt
“It didn’t make everything alright. It didn’t make anything alright”
Ending of novel is not ‘happily ever after’ but still optimistic
Amir no loner fantasises about unattainable ideals - more practical + logical approach to life - matured + became more responsible
“I ran”
Hassan ran the blue kite for Amir - catalyst for events that altered his life forever
Kites symbolise hope, freedom + innocence - here they represent Amir’s hope for a future with his family
Amir honouring Hassan by running the kite for Sohrab