FOR YOU, A THOUSAND TIMES OVER

The Kite Runner - A literature analysis

Written By -Aanya Bhaduri

//Regret? It was my oldest friend 

Wandering away, but waiting 

At day’s end 

And it followed me around 

A shadow, a ghost 

Regret, the feeling that hurts the most 

Years gone, sleepless nights 

The guilt of betraying the brightest light 

The only inkling of good in evil times  

The guilt I carry in my lifeless eyes 

A chance at redemption

A way to be good again 

To write stories of love 

Over fading scripts of pain 

Maybe a cure to my heartbreak 

A chance at redemption I’m too scared to take 

A fight worth the tears 

A battle I think I one 

Although the sadness doesn’t completely perish

I can now see happiness return //

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime”

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini takes us on a journey spanning across the life of the main character Amir all the way from his turbulent childhood in Kabul, Afghanistan to his adult life in California. It focuses on how a single incident shaped the main character's relationships over the course of his life, with others as well as himself. 

“I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t.”

As Amir watched his best friend get raped, he did not speak out about it due to his own cowardice and personal greed to seek Baba’s approval by getting the last kite after winning the kite tournament and that one regret carries with him throughout the book. He keeps looking back to the incident, trying to justify his silence, but everytime he is hit with immeasurable guilt. He perpetually believes that his silence in that particular moment, changed the course of not only his life, but also that of the people around him. 

“And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too”

Hassan, Amir’s servant and his constant companion, as a character depicts loyalty in its most absolute form. He is purely, completely and unconditionally devoted to Amir. He is an innocent and honest person who continues to do good despite having all the misfortune in the world and his life or more precisely his death signifies how good people don’t often get treated the same way they treat others. The book makes the reader feel almost angry on behalf of Hassan, pity for him and pure sadness for his fate. However, it instils in us this belief, that goodness still exists in the world and that ever so often we will find someone who loves us without reason, who has trust in us in times of self-doubt, who keeps giving and giving and giving but asks for nothing in return, and when do find such a person, we should not take their friendship for granted. 

“There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.”

This story connects us emotionally to the condition of people in war zones and how their lives, as complicated and similar to ours, are affected by changing political scenarios in such countries. It portrays war from a humanised angle, showcasing intricacies and personal details from individual stories instead of making generalisations of pity and sympathy. The book covers how from such a small age, people lose their innocence to war and how little children and women are subjected to heinous crimes like rape and assault, almost shaping this flawed idea of normalcy for them. It shows us how that trauma remains with immigrants long after they have moved away from that place, becoming a part of who they are and how they see the world. 

“The problem, of course, was that he 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.”

Another central theme in this novel was that of the father-son relationship between Amir and his Baba. His urge to win his father’s approval was one of the key reasons why he did not stop Hassan’s rape so that he could get his kite after winning the kite tournament. Baba’s idea of a son was athletic proficiency which did not align with Amir’s literary personality. Baba’s own hesitation towards loving Amir completely stems from guilt over not being able to publicly accept Hassan as his illegitimate son, which was revealed to Amir much later after both Baba and Hassan had died. Their relationship changes monumentally after their shift to the United States, when Baba starts viewing Amir as his equal and accepting him just as he is. Amir goes on to become an author and Baba is seen supporting him through that journey. Baba’s death by cancer is an important event that shaped Amir’s story and revealed to him the truth about him and Hassan being half-brothers. 

“It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make ANYTHING all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting.”

In the conclusion of The Kite Runner, Amir is given a chance at redemption when he is asked to go and rescue Hassan’s son Sohrab from Afghanistan. He is faced with a difficult choice between going back to the place he wants to forget and rescuing the son of the person who’s loyalty he abused. Sohrab mirrors Hassan in several ways: their striking physical resemblance, upbringing in the same home, abuse by the same perpetrator, shared kite-running experiences with Amir, and use of a slingshot. While Hassan once used his slingshot to threaten Assef for bullying Amir, Sohrab later fulfilled this threat years later to save Amir from Assef. These similarities make Sohrab a key part of Amir's journey, as rescuing him represents Amir’s attempt to make amends for betraying Hassan. However, Sohrab's experiences differ in that his trauma is depicted more vividly. Struggling with feelings of being "dirty and full of sin," Sohrab withdraws and even attempts suicide when he fears Amir might abandon him. This crisis becomes a turning point, rekindling Amir's faith as he prays fervently for Sohrab's recovery. Sohrab initially is very withdrawn after being adopted by Amir and his wife Soraya but one day in a park, he sees a kite and smiles. Amir asks him if he wants him to run the kite for him and when he does nothing but gulp, Amir says “ For you, a thousand times over.”, the same lines Hassan said to him before he went to chase that one kite over which he was raped.