Bibliography

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print. 

Irony Write-Up

The first example of irony that we found in the Kite Runner was the day that Hassan got raped. Hosseini wrote how it was "a beautiful day" (pg.65) and the words came out of Hassan's own mouth. Hassan would never have guessed what was going to happen to him at the end of the day. The skies were a "blameless blue" (pg.64) and it was the day of the Kite Competition. This would be considered a good day in Afghanistan. Amir ended up winning and Hassan went running to catch the last kite for Amir. While kite running, he got trapped in an alleyway by Assef and unfortunately got raped. This is a form of situational irony because Hassan had said how beautiful the day was yet it ended terribly for him. The picture we used was of a beautiful day split with a black and white alleyway. We thought this represented the irony because you see the picture of the sun and blue skies and yet there is a dark alleyway at the same time. Shows how they day went from something nice to something tragic. The second example of irony we saw was the moment when Amir found out they would have little problem getting Sohrab to America. Right after Amir found out, he went to tell Sohrab happily, saying "We won't have to put you in the orphanage, Sohrab. We're going to America, you and I. Did you hear me? We're going to America!" (pg.360). You'd think that Amir would find Sohrab in the washroom, excited and very happy to hear the news, but instead, he is found almost dead. This is considered to be situational irony because it wasn't what we had expected to happen. We used a picture of an airplane and a bathtub. The airplane shows how Amir had found a way to get Sohrab into America. However the other half of the picture is of a bathtub that gives you the image of how Sohrab tried to kill himself. The last example of irony is Baba lying. Baba would always tell Amir how lying was a sin yet Amir eventually finds out that Baba had lied to him about Hassan being his brother. Baba said "There is only one sin. And that is theft... When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth."(pg.237) By him lying, he completely went against what he said was right. Baba had not only lied to Amir, but to Hassan and others as well. Baba had been doing something he knew was wrong, but he had still chosen to go against his own beliefs and do it anyway. The last picture for irony was of Pinocchio. We chose a picture of Pinocchio because his nose would grow with each lie he told. Since Baba was telling lies we thought this fit well with the irony. 

Irony: Baba tells Amir that lying is the worse sin yet he lied himself

"How could he have lied to me all those years? To Hassan? He had sat me on his lap when I was little, looked me straight in the eye, and said, There is only one sin. And that is theft... When you tell a lie, you steal someones' right to the truth." (pg.237) 

Irony: Amir finds out he can take Sohrab to America, Sohrab tries to kill himself

"'...It should all happen pretty quickly. He said the visa would be good for a year, plenty of time to apply for an adoption petition.' 'Its really going to happen, Soraya, huh?' It looks like it,' she said." (pg.360)

"A pair of small, bloody feet poke out from under the sheet and I see that the big toenail on the left foot is chipped" (pg.362)

Irony: Beautiful day, alleyway incident

"'It's a beautiful day,' Hassan said." (pg.65)

"Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan's hips and lifted his bare buttocks. He kept one hand on Hassan's back and undid his own belt buckle with his free hand. He unzipped his jeans. Dropped his underwear. He positioned himself behind Hassan." (pg.80-81)

Themes Write-Up

The first theme we came up with in the Kite Runner was "guilt is an effective motivator for people to fix their wrongs." The guilt of not helping Hassan that time in the alleyway haunted Amir for years. It was something so terrible, he just couldn't forget. The guilt he felt was almost an unbearable amount, and when he got the chance to "make up" for it by finding Sohrab, he did. The Amir without the guilt was unable to possibly risk his life or get injured for someone else, while the Amir with the guilt knew he was risking his life for Sohrab, and did it anyway. The second that the Amir with the guilt went to meet the "guy with the black sunglasses", (pg.270) he knew there was a good chance he wouldn't be coming out of the meeting ("I glanced at Farid sitting in the car and mouthed, I'll be back, not so sure at all that I would be." pg.287). The guilt that had built up after all those years pushed Amir to do everything he could not to "mess up" this time and allow an innocent life to be harmed because he didn't do anything about it.  We took this picture because it is of a person who feels guilty. We thought this showed the feelings of Amir. The second theme we identified was "broken promises lead to unfavourable situations for all parties involved." We came up with this theme because a broken promise was the cause of Sohrab's attempted suicide (which, in the eyes of most people, would be considered an extremely unfavourable situation). Amir had promised Sohrab that he would never put him in an orphanage again, and he ended up backing out on that promise. This caused Sohrab to get so upset to the point that he tried to kill himself. The picture we used for this theme was of two people doing a pinkie promise. We wrote Amir and Sohrab on our hands to show the promise between the two of them before it was broken. The third and last theme we found in the Kite Runner was "lying is unnecessary because eventually the truth is always unveiled." This theme revolves around the lie that was told to everyone by Baba, since forever. The lie that claimed that Hassan was not Baba's child, therefore claiming that Hassan and Amir were not related. Although this lie was believed for a very long time, Amir eventually found out that the people he trusted had been lying to him. Although the truth was never told to anyone else besides Amir, it is assumed the the truth eventually got out to all of those around him. This is because when General Taheri asked what to tell people when they asked why a Hazara boy was living with his daughter, Amir didn't even try to cover it up. He replied "You see, General Sahib, my father slept with his servant's wife. She bore him a son named Hassan. Hassan is dead now. That boy sleeping on the couch is Hassan's son. He's my nephew. That's what you tell people when they ask."(pg.380) If General Taheri did in fact decide to tell people this, the truth would have ended up being revealed. Even if he didn't, the truth was eventually revealed to Amir, and that was the most important part. The last picture we used for themes was a picture of a person with a sign that has truth crossed out. Since the sign is over the mouth, it shows that the person does not tell the truth and only lies. This tied into the theme because of the lies that were being told.

Theme: Lying is unnecessary because eventually the truth is always unveiled.

"'Why? What can you possibly say to me? I'm thirty-eight years old and I've just found out my whole life is one big f***ing lie! What can you possibly say to make things better? Nothing. Not a goddamn thing!'"(pg.235)

Theme: Broken promises lead to unfavourable situations for all parties involved.

" 'I don't want to go to another orphanage," he said. "I won't ever let that happen. I promise you that.' " (pg.340) 

" 'Well, Mr.Faisal thanks that it would really help if we could… if we could ask you to stay in a home for kids for a while.' 'You promised you'd never put me in one of those places, Amir Agha,' he said. " (pg.358)

Theme: Guilt is an effective motivator for people to fix their wrongs.

"Come. There is a way to be good again, Rahim Khan had said on the phone just before hanging up. Said it in passing, almost as an afterthought. A way to be good again." (pg.202)

Symbols Write-Up

As seen below, the three symbols we have chosen from the Kite Runner are trees, the money placed under mattresses, and Amir's watch. Starting with the trees, we believe that Hosseini's intention was for the trees to symbolize the overall change in Afghanistan, before and after the Taliban took over. Before the Taliban, Afghanistan was flourishing with all different kinds of trees, ("rows of cherry trees" pg.5) ("the poplar trees lined the red brick driveway..." pg.4) whereas after the Taliban came, Amir described there being fewer trees than he remembered, and many of them were bare (pg.245).  Hosseini was not only trying to show the negative change in the environment of Afghanistan, but also how people felt. When the Taliban showed up, violence became an everyday thing for the people in the community to witness (ex. hangings, people being beaten, shot, etc.). This gave the people of Afghanistan very little hope for a better future, therefore the trees also symbolize the hope of the people. When the trees began to die off, so did any hope people had for themselves, their families, and their country. The picture we chose was a tree with little leaves because it gives you the idea of what the trees would look like in Afghanistan. The next symbol was the money that Amir placed under two different mattresses; first the one in Hassan and Ali's hut, and then one in Wahid's home. We believe that the money under the mattress symbolized the change in Amir's personality. When Amir had first placed the money under Hassan's mattress (pg.110) he had done it out of selfishness. Amir had wanted Ali and Hassan to leave so he could be free of the guilt he was feeling after the alleyway incident. He did not even wonder what would happen to them once they left, he only cared about himself and making sure the guilt feeling was gone. Whereas when Amir had planted the money under the mattress at Wahid's house (pg.245), he was doing it out of sincerity. He wanted the kids to be able to be fed because the family had taken great care of him, when they couldn't afford to take care of themselves. Amir wanted to repay them by giving back and so he did. He had started to care more about people rather than his own well being. By giving them the money, it showed how much he had changed in those 26 years. We chose to take a picture of money under a mattress because it is a visual of what Amir had done. The last symbol we chose was the watch. We believe that the watch symbolized Hassan's loyalty to Amir. Amir wanted Baba to dismiss Ali and Hassan so he put the watch under Hassan's bed to make it seem like he stole it. Sure enough, like Amir wanted, Hassan took the blame and admitted to stealing it. (pg.111) Hassan would do anything for Amir and would never make Amir look bad. By Hassan saying yes, it kept Amir from getting in trouble and proved how loyal he was. It was Hassan's last show of loyalty for Amir before he left. We used the picture of the watch because thats what Amir had hid to get Hassan in trouble which showed how Hassan is loyal to Amir.

Symbol: Amir's Watch

"'Did you steal Amir's watch, Hassan?' Hassan's reply was a single word, delivered in a thin, raspy voice: 'Yes.'" (pg.111)

Symbol: Money Under Mattress

"I lifted Hassan's mattress and planted my new watch and a handful of Afghani bills under it." (pg.110)

"Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did something I had done twenty-six years earlier: I planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress." (pg.254)

Symbol: Trees

"Pine trees flanked the road, fewer than I remembered and many of them bare..." (pg.245)