Bio Blurb

In Kabul, Afghanistan, 1965, the award winning author of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, was born. His father was a diplomat of the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry, and his mother was a high school Farsi and History teacher at a large school in Kabul. At the tender age of fifteen, Khaled’s family was relocated to France as a cause to his father’s duties with the Afghan Foreign Ministries. Little did he know, this would be the last time he would ever see him home country again. Upon their attempt to return to Afghanistan in 1980, his family learned that upon their absence, Afghanistan had been invaded by the Soviet army, and was now suffering under  Communist rule. After gaining this knowledge, the Hosseini family moved to San Jose, California in that same year. Here, Khaled was able to graduate from high school in 1984, obtain a Bachelor’s degree in biology by 1988, and then move on to earn a Medical degree at The University of California in San Diego by the year 1993. After undergoing these educational accomplishments, Khaled worked as an intern/assistant for several years at Cedars-Sanai in Los Angeles where he then began to write The Kite Runner in March of 2001. The book was officially published in 2003, and Hosseini currently acts as a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Northern California with his wife and two children.

Publication

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, was first published on May 29, 2003 by Riverhead Books at 371 pages in length. This is the first English-language novel to be published by an Afghan author, and since its publication, has become a New York Times bestseller as well as an international bestseller in forty different countries. Some reviews concerning this novel include: “A powerful book…no frills, no nonsense, just hard, spare prose…an intimate account of family and friendship, betrayal and salvation that requires no atlas or translation to engage an enlighten us. Parts of The Kite Runner are raw and excruciating to read, yet the book in its entirety is lovingly written.”
- The Washington Post Book World
“P0werful…haunting.”
- The New York Times Book Review
“The frame of the story is the rhythm of life. This novel, set in Afghanistan in the 1970s and later in America, is a work of universal interest because of the literary genius of Khaled Hosseini. The culmination of the novel, too brutal and beautiful to reveal, demonstartes the author’s capacity to bring life full circle in a great arc of grace and redeeming activity. A profoudn work of literature with a rare healing power.”
- The Buffalo News

“There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft…”

This statement, or general idea of thievery as the one and only sin, was presented several times throughout the novel, and served as a sort of main idea and motive behind the actions of the characters and the way in which the story unfolded in all of its irony and haunting redemption. This was originally stated by the main character’s father, Baba, who went on to further support his statement through explaining that, “When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you telll a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.” After first reading this, I thought to myself “No, there is no way that this is true. There are so many different sins in which someone could commit, why thievery?” But after thinking about it for a minute, i understood. Through every sin in which we commit, we are taking something from someone else, whether it be their trust in us, someone else’s life, etc. Theft, especially in The Kite Runner, is an idea in which we run across upon a regular basis. Throughout the novel, the characters rob each other of various things, whether they be physical or emotional, such as when Assef robbed Hassan of his virginity after raping him in seek of revenge, or when Amir falsely accused Hassan of stealing his watch in order to get rid of him. After reading the entire book, I found that in the end, the whole thievery concept comes together and makes since. I found this quote to be really moving actually, and it really made me take my own actions into consideration and what I am robbing people, as well as myself, of through doing certain things.

“That was a long time ago,but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.”

This was said by the main character, Amir, who was affected by the hauntings of his past to such an extent, that it potentially ruined and effected his life forever, and because of these regrets from the past, he was never the same. But it wasn’t just Amir in the story who was affected by the past, it seemed like all of the characters had their own crosses to carry as far as previous events in their lives. Baba, Amir’s father was affected by the past of his wife’s death upon his son’s birth, and the fact that Hassan was secretly his son, but was forced to secrecy for the sake of his relationships with others. Amir was haunted by the fact that he treated Hassan horribly, lying and cursing him for no reason at all, and then watching him suffer and be tortured and raped without ever attempting to defend his “friend” and in the end, his brother. Hassan lived with knowing that he had been raped and falsely accused of several acts upon the boy who was supposed to always be there for him, Amir, but still went on with his everyday life as if it never happened, when deep down, he was suffering greatly from the effects of these occurences. These are all just a few examples of how the past always seems to come back and “claw its way out.” No matter what, you will never be able to truly escape it, and as human beings, we must live with what we have done, and realize that what you do, in the end, will always remain, and can never be truly “buried” or left in the past. This novel truly put this idea into perspective and harped upon this notion that for our actions, there are consequences in the end, whether they be good or bad, and that we all must live with these, as the characters within The Kite Runner did.

A Quest for Redemption

The quest for redemption is a prominent theme within the novel, and is what trully drives the characters (esp. Amir) to follow through with certain actions, and ailed him with the many poor decisions that he made along the way. Amir lives his life in strife as he constantly tries to please his father and redeem himself in his Baba’s eyes. Because his mom died during child birth, Amir feels ultimately responsible for the  death of this mother, and feels that he has commited the single worst sin of “theft” by robbing his father of his wife. Because of this, Amir feels that the only way in which he can successfully redeem himself is by winning the kite tournament which further ensues upon the riveting incidents in which the story was built upon. Amir has a complex relationship with his father that is solely based upon his quest for redemption because although he loves his father, he does not experiences his father’s love and affections in return, and as a result, seeks ways in which he can make it up to his father so that one day, he would accept him and proudly redeem him as his son. The ongoing theme and quest for redemption is also seen in his father, who has difficulty connecting with Amir because he does not want Hassan to think that he does not love them equally, even though Hassan is unaware that Baba is his actual father rather than master. In order to make it up to Hassan, or to redeem himself, Baba invites Hassan to come along with he and Amir when they would go out. This theme is evident in the novel when Amir states, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over…this was my one chance to  become someone who was looked at, not seen, listened to, not heard. If there was a God, He’d guide the winds, let htem blow for me so that, with a tug of my string, Id cut loose my pain, my longing.”

“Winter. And kites, of course. Flying kites. And running them.”

The kite serves as a symbol of connection in The Kite Runner  because it is the way in which Amir and Baba are able to connect, as well as the way in which Amir is able to connent with Sohrab at the end of the novel. As a child, Amir’s favorite time of the year was winter because that was when the kite tournament was, meaning that he was then able to spend more time with his father than usual.  However, the kite takes a on a different source of significance when because of the kite tournament and Amir’s desire to win and finally please his father, he allows Hassan to be raped. The kite suddenly becomes a symbol of guilt and shame, and Amir is unable to fly a kight ever again until he unites with Hassan’s son, and his half nephew, Sohrab when they are together in America at the end of the story which mirrors Amir’s relationship with Baba and the kite’s role in their sense of connection and common bond.

Book2Media

The novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, was converted into a film by director Marc Forster in 2007. The film stars:
-Khalid Abdalla as Amir
-Ahman Khan Mahmidzada as Hassan
-Homayoun Ershadi as Baba
-Atossa Leoni as Soraya
-Shaun Toub as Rahim Khan
-Abdul Salaam Yusoufzai as Assef
Although for the most part, the film was set in Afghanistan as in the novel, many of the scenes were actually shot in China because of the dangers of shooting a film in Afghanistan at the time.  Much of the film’s dialogue is in Dari/English. Although they finished filming the movie in December 21, 2006, there was much concern as far as the safety of the young actors in the film due to fears of violent reprisals to the sexual nature of some scenes in which they appear, and so, its release date was moved to December 14, 2007 . Since it’s release, The Kite Runner has been nominated for the Golden Globe Award for  Best Foreign Language Film in that same year, as well as Best Original Score at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, which was written by Alberto Iglesias.
This is a trailer that was shown prior to the release of The Kite Runner, and gives the audience an overall picture of the story, and is sure to capture their attention and haunt their minds such as the novel itself succeeded in doing.

“Baba and I immersed ourselves in a sweet illusion, saw each other in a way that we never had before. We’d actually deceived ourselves into thinking that a toy made of tissue paper, glue, and bamboo could somehow close the chasm between us.”

1990- Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work
Throughout the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, evidence of an internal conflict between the father and son proclaims to be quite prominent as far as factors behind motivation, and the occurrences by which this story was built upon. This notion of emotional disengagement between these two particular characters is attributed towards a life of secrecy and a quest for redemption in which both the father and son experience in their lives together.
When Amir, the son, was born, his mother died shortly after due to hemorrhage, leaving his father, Baba, to raise him alone. Since this occurrence, Amir has always felt as if his father never truly forgave him for the death of his mother, and in a way, blamed him for stealing her life away so that he could instead exist. For the affections and approval of his father, Amir would move mountains. All Amir ever wanted in life was for his father to be proud of him, and to show him that he loved Amir as much as Amir loved his father.  We are able to see the desperation that Amir experiences for the attention of his father as he is discussing his reasoning behind wanting to win the kite tournament for his father when he states that if he won he would, “run that last kite. Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and for all that his son was worthy. Then maybe my life as a ghost in this house would finally be over…And maybe, just maybe, I would finally be pardoned for killing my mother.” (p 56) Amir’s yearn to win the kite tournament in order to please his father ensued further events that would permanently affect their relationship for years to come, as well as the issues that Baba was facing as well. In order to win and seek the approval of Baba, Amir witnessed the rape of his friend Hassan, and also falsely accused Hassan of theft in hopes that his father would dismiss his “friend” from their lives, so that he and his father could spend more time together without Hassan constantly being invited to come along. With this, it is evident that Amir is extremely jealous of Hassan, as well as others, who tend to “steal” away his time alone with his father, and as well experience his appreciation and acknowledgement that Amir appeared to lack. However, until the end of the novel, Amir was not aware that his father’s affections towards Hassan further reflected his father’s personal issues towards bonding with his son, or sons, as Hassan would soon learn.
Baba had always been known to be hard on Amir, never truly letting him know how much he loved him, and always bringing him down and telling him that he is not “man” enough to be his legitimate son. Amir, of course, was hurt by his father’s actions, but his father felt as if he had to go about treating Amir this way because he felt guilty for making his other son, Hassan, who was only known as his servant at the time, live in a small shack and work for them while Amir did nothing of the sort. And so, to secretly display his affections for Hassan, his secret son, Baba would invite him to come along with he and Amir when they would go out, and always saw to it that Amir treated Hassan with respect, whether he was their servant or not. This angered Amir many times, but for Baba, this was an internal conflict in which he felt that he had to sacrifice his love and affections for Amir, so that his other son could somehow see that he cared for him as well, and to sort of redeem himself from the secrets in which he kept from those he loved concerning this issue. Baba kept this a secret for as long as he lived in order to preserve the relationships with his two sons, no matter what they are, but in the end, the ultimately shattered them through his own pain and suffering, as well as theirs.
Amir’s relationship with his father, as well as Baba’s with his two sons was greatly severed as a cause to their pursuits for redemption from one another in which their secrets lay, never to be fully unveiled. Amir did not learn of his father’s secrets until after Baba had passed away, and was never able to truly redeem himself to his father and truly grow to know and understand his reasoning behind the way that he chose to go about his less than loving relationship with Amir, his son. Baba was also never truly given the opportunity to tell both of his sons the truth, and to treat them with the upmost care and affections as he had longed to do so throughout their lives together, sequentially putting a strain upon their father-son relationship that never truly was, or would have the opportunity to heal. As a result, the underlying conflicts existing between father and son affected their lives in way that was less than fortunate, and was the basis behind the plot of the novel, and the actions in which the characters decided to act upon; ultimately changing life as they knew it, forever.

“With me as the glaring exception, my father molded the world around him to his liking. The problem of course, was that Baba saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can’t love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.”

This inital quote, stated by Amir concerning his father, stuck to me after reading through it. To see the world in black and white…one or the other with no in between, no shades of gray.  To view the world in black and white  means that you view it as right/wrong, good/bad, yes/no etc. and personally, I did not think that Baba saw the world in black and white because to me, Ali and Hassan were the shade of gray that Baba saw. Ali and Hassan were supposed to be their servants and were looked down upon because they were Hazara and not Shi’ah (black) , but for Baba, they were his family and he treated them well (white) and taught Amir to do the same. So for this particular quote in the book, although I did like it, I did not fully agree with it because after thinking about it, I came to see that it was not fully accurate as far as my understanding, but also, everyone has their own interpretation of texts and how they view different characters, so I suppose this is a debatable topic depending upon how one views this particular quote and their analysis of the characters.