" The Kite Runner " by Khaled Hosseini is an inspiring story written about a young boy and his childhood which takes place in Afghanistan. The first chapters are focused on Amir's background and his upbringing. In chapters one through eight, there are also pages based on Amir's father and the irony of their relationship with Ali and Hassan, their very respected family servants.
In chapter one through three the narrator explains Amir and Hassan's relationship as friends, as well by their social class which is extremely divided in this case. The book also explains why Amir and Hassan have much in common, both Amir and Hassan do not have mothers. Amir's mother died giving birth to him, and Hassan's mother ran away days after he was born. Amir and Hassan live in two different social classes, Amir lives in a grand beautiful home, while Hassan lives in a mud hut which is located on Amir's estate behind his house. The irony of their relationship is that their parents Baba and Ali, grew up together in the exact same scenario as Amir and Hassan are growing up in currently. Throughout these three chapters you can see a developing conflict with who Amir is, and who his father wishes he would be, which is also the theme in this case. Amir is always trying to gain respect from his father but feels like he never does. Baba feels that Amir is nothing like him, that he is too soft, and that bothers Baba, but I do not think that makes him love Amir any less. During these chapters you can see that Amir mentions being jealous toward Hassan when Baba says something nice to him. These three chapters cover all the bases of what is needed to know to further understand the story. In these three chapters I really enjoyed reading about the background of the characters as well as their relationships, these three chapters do not only review their relationships but they also include much of Afghani history, which not only helps us understand the story better, but helps expand our minds to the situation that was going on during that time and is still currently going on.
In chapter four, the narrator takes us back to the time of when Baba and Ali were children, and explains their upbringing as well as their relationship. Baba's father took Ali in as a child after Ali's parents died in a car crash. The relationship between them is very similar to that of Amir and Hassan's. I believe the fact the Ali has stayed Baba's servant for his whole life, really effects the mind set that Hassan has, because he might think he will never be anything more then a servant. In the chapter Amir thinks to himself that Hassan has no use for learning how to read, because he will never need it, which is also another mindset that not only Hassan may have. This is also the chapter where Amir starts reading stories to Hassan. Amir tells one story in particular that he made up from the top of his head and Hassan tells him that the story was the best one he has ever heard. Hearing this from Hassan really brings up Amir's confidence, and he starts writing more stories. The theme for that chapter would probably be Hassan vs, the world, because he might never be anything more then a servant. In chapter 5 gunshots erupt through the streets of Kabul and Amir and Hassan are frightened by this because it was the first time something like that had ever happened. The government is taken over and turned into a republic and this frightens Baba. In this chapter a conflict occurs between Hassan and Amir against Assef. Hassan defends Amir with a slingshot, making Assef to walk away, but Assef says that its not over. After that things go back to normal, until christmas when Baba gives Hassan a surgeon to do plastic surgery on him as his christmas gift. I believe that Hassan's cleft lip is a symbol to state that he is less fortunate, and symbolized his poverty. Hassan gets the surgery, and after a while all that is left is a faint scar. In these two chapters the plot is developing and the story is moving quicker, I loved these two chapters because they portray a flashback.
In chapters six and seven, the narrator tells us about Amir and Hassan's preparation for the kite competition. The day of the competition Amir ends up winning and feels like he finally has Baba's respect for winning. I think that the kites symbolizes for Amir, his want and need for acceptance from his father, he becomes something he is not, and does things he does not like just to gain respect from his father. That is what I believe the kite symbolizes, something that Amir is not. In the chapter there is a part where Amir talks about making his father so happy, and that made him feel amazing, which adds on to the kite and its meaning. At the end of chapter eight, Assef and his friends take Hassan to an alley way and rape him, Hassan says nothing afterwards and pretends it did not happen, even though he knows Amir had seen him. I think that this is the saddest part of the entire book, because Hassan got raped because he was protecting Amir and Amir knows but still does not do anything about it. In chapter eight things slow down again and things get awkward between Amir and Hassan, they no longer talk, and get nervous around each other. These last three chapters were by far the most eventful and most shocking.
These eight chapters were really good chapters to start the book off. We now have a clear idea of what the history of Afghanistan is, and we also have a clear idea of the backgrounds of the characters and their relationships. The story is very sad and shocking but in a way that keeps the reader interested and into it. I can only hope that the story grows better from here.
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