This circular structure includes the people/things that were included in his memories of Kabul. The start of the chapter gives a brief overview of a memory that’s haunted him for twenty six years. The chapter then moves on to the present, skipping through that time with symbolism to interweave his past with his present and to make the reader realise that Amir has never forgotten or been able to get away from what happened in 1975. The author uses literary techniques throughout the first chapter. Hosseini uses negative language when talking about the memories of his past.
This clearly shows an example of how destructive shame can be on someone’s life. Some people can overcome shame and redeem them selves but to other people it can destroy their whole life. Another character form the book that experiences the tragedy of shame is Baba. Thru out the book it is revealed to us that Hassan is also Baba’s son. Baba feels ashamed of being Hassan’s father because he kept it a secret to everyone for all this time.
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. Looking back now, I realise I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” As Amir retells the story of his life, he weighs each event against his sin, his betrayal of Hassan and his inability to overcome it. The reason Hosseini starts The Kite Runner off with a flashback to the day that it had all occurred, is so that the audience experiences the past's immense effect upon the present. Hosseini uses repetition throughout the novel The Kite Runner for emphasis.
We see these scenes after Josh has been told the news of his father’s death. He has just almost beaten Lightener to death, and now he sits in front of the military recruitment center, crushed by the loss of not only his father, but also his identity. Josh was going to go to college. Josh was the only boy who, in the whole story, did not show any interest in joining the military, and now he viewed it as his only option. All of the confusion and dismay can only be portrayed in a series of pages that confuse and possibly dismay the reader, and truly put the reader in Josh’s mind.
Throughout the novel, Amir suffers from the physically and mentally debilitating effects of guilt caused by his past actions. Hosseini starts the novel with Amir’s indirect confession that “I became who I am today at the age of twelve, on a fridgid overcast day in the winter of 1975”. This quote refers to Amir witnessing the rape of his half brother Hassan, and the fact that despite being in the position to stop the horrific event, he did nothing but hide and pray for his own safety. Amir comes to a realization about his actions “I watched Hassan get raped … I understood the nature of my new curse: I was going to get away with it.” And it is because of this “curse” that Amir is so strongly affected by guilt through out his lifetime. It is so severe, that even the mentioning of Hassan’s name brings Amir not only mental, but physical pain as well he feels like “there is an iron fist clamped around [his] throat”.
My mind flashes back to the winter day six years ago. I see myself again suffering from my cowardice, peering down the alley, watching. Baba said it himself; if he hadn’t seen me pulled from my mother he would’ve never believed I was his son, something I myself have to question. My Baba is “Mr Hurricane”, Baba the honourable. Baba is a hero where as I Amir am a coward, a frail disappointment.
In the beginning of the story, Brother recounts the day Doodle was born, saying that he was a disappointment as soon as he entered the world. The narrator was not satisfied with his brother, which resulted in the horrible things he thought about him. Brother said that “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable…” As a result, the narrator enjoyed torturing Doodle, threatening to abandon him multiple times. He even took Doodle to see the casket that was built for him, and forced him to touch it. The narrator basked in the control he had over his brother.
Amir would rather his father love him and be proud of him for one day than help his best friend from getting raped. Amir was selfish and unappreciative. After Hassan got raped, the relationship between him and Amir changed for the worst. Amir did another terrible thing by framming Hassan. This was the last time Amir saw Hassan because after Hassan and his father left, Amir and Baba moved to America.
Hassan father is a servant to Amir’s father Baba who is Ali, after many years of service Ali becomes frustrated because he is HAZARRA a half blood line of Muslims and feels that he and his son do not belong with in the Pashtun community. About 17 years later Amir gets a phone call from a family friend who informs him that he should
Nnaemeka marries out of tradition, where the father chooses who he wants his son to marry. His son chose himself and that is a great disrespect to his people. It causes pain and disappointment to the father. The father is in pain because he couldn’t believe his son went out of tradition and decided to marry someone of his choice. “..Father’s silence was infinitely more menacing than a flood of threatening speech.