Khaled Hosseini's Style and How it Affects Amir's Journey Back to Afghanistan

I have just finished about three-quarters of the novel, and the tensions in Afghanistan have heated up since Amir’s return.  The author, Khaled Hosseini, presents the conflict in this novel and the sense of urgency clearly through word choice and sentence structure when Rahim is telling Amir about how Afghanistan has changed.  

The extensive use of intricate details is a stylistic choice used by the author in this section of the novel in order to show the reader how much Amir needed to know about the new challenging lifestyle of Afghans.  Rahim Khan explains each important event of the past twenty years in utmost detail, hoping for Amir to feel that he was in Afghanistan when the events occurred.  Rahim Khan’s description of Hassan’s first child is extremely in depth, almost as if Rahim is trying to make Amir feel that he was there with them when “Hassan kissed the baby’s lifeless face, and we buried her in the backyard, near the sweetbrier bushes” (Hosseini 209).  Rahim wants to make Amir feel that even though he left Afghanistan, he is always welcomed back and in those twenty years he was gone but not forgotten. 

Hosseini uses very few words when trying to describe a powerful scene.  For example, when Amir is in shock once he hears about Hassan’s death all he says is “’No.  No.  No’ over and over again” (Hosseini 218).  By repeating the word no, the reader was able to feel the heartbreak that Amir feels when he hears that his half-brother is dead.  Hosseini’s careful placement of word choice especially at conflicting parts of the story helps the readers feel the emotions that the characters are feeling.    

            Not only does the author excessively pay attention to small details, he also incorporates Afghani words into the novel, specifically the dialogue.  For example, when the reader assumes that the conversation between Rahim Khan and Amir is in English, a Farsi word is dropped into conversation occasionally.  The subtle use of Farsi language in the novel is used to show that no matter what, the culture Amir was raised with is of utmost importance and that he was always see Afghanistan as his home, even though he does live in America.  Words such as “jan” are placed following ones name to show that they are good friends, family, and that they respect one another as loved ones.  Other words are slipped into conversation such as “Tashakor” meaning thank you and “Salaam” meaning hello, show how the author is trying to show the reader a glimpse of traditional Afghan culture by not only telling a story of Afghan life, but through their traditional Farsi language. 

             Khaled Hosseini has made his writing style unique and easy for a reader to appreciate.  Hosseini definitely showed his audience the gift he has for writing.  His style of writing keeps his readers on the edge of their seats, quickly turning the pages of the book hoping to find out what comes next!

Afghan v. American Cultural Norms

            Over the past week, I have read another portion of the book and am at the halfway point.  Journeys have been made and deaths have occurred in this section.  I noticed that the author focused the second quarter of the novel on the Afghan customs versus the American customs.  Amir and his father migrate to the United States and are living in Freemont, California as U.S. citizens.  However, Baba passed away due to lung cancer shortly after Amir got married to another Afghan, Soraya.  Amir and Baba stay true to Afghan customs in California, which made it easy for them to reconnect with other Afghans in the area.  Throughout this section, how they view trustworthiness and forgiveness struck me the most as cultural differences.  The opinions on these three cultural values show how difficult it is to assimilate into a new country. 

            Shortly after arriving in America, Baba saw how America was not seen as trustworthy as Afghanistan when writing a check to store clerk to buy fruit.  While handing over the check, the clerk asks for an ID from Baba, which makes Baba explode with rage shouting, “What kind of a country is this?  No one trusts anybody!”  (Hosseini 128).  This incident is a great example that captures the differences in American trust and security.  As a country, the United States wants to ensure that everyone is who he or she says they are and check that with identification.  Although you could be going to the same store for years, clerks still check identification because there can be no special treatment for loyalty to a store.  This confuses Baba because he is used to the Afghan lifestyle where everyone trusts everyone and credit cards are made out of branches, with cuts in the branch to mark transactions.  America finds it difficult to trust others because of the national threats and terrorist attacks on our soil in the past.

            The motto in America for forgiveness is that if you make a mistake, you can do everything in your power to fix it, and if not, everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lifetime.  “America was different.  America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past.  I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far” (Hosseini 136).  America is a clean slate for Amir, letting him remember his wrongdoings in Afghanistan, but allows him to move on.  America is forgiving of the past, which is necessary for him to make a new lifestyle for himself in this country.  Amir knows that in Afghan culture, once a sin is committed, the sin stays with you forever.  I think that leaving Afghanistan and migrating to America was the best decision for Baba and Amir.  Now not only are they safe, but Amir can finally build the life he wants and become a writer.  Amir was struggling a lot with facing Hassan after knowing what happened to him; Amir needed a fresh start in order to start this new chapter of his life as a mature adult. 

            Afghan moral values when compared to the traditional American values were very interesting when looking at how all of these values were packaged together to shape Amir in the novel.  Since Amir successfully connected Afghan and American values together, he is able to be a traditional Afghan husband, but also is understanding and follows the American values of his wife being seen as an equal. 

            The novel’s connections between Afghanistan and the United States are very interesting and I am interested in how the rest of the novel turns out.  So far so good!

Father-Son Relationships and Brotherly Bonds

This week, I began reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This novel focuses on modern day life in Afghanistan and the story is told through the interactions between five characters: Baba, Amir, Hassan, Ali, and Rahim Khan.  I wanted this first blog post to focus on who the key characters are in the novel, setting the base for the rest of my posts about this book.

Baba is the father of Amir and in the district he is known as a businessman.  When Amir begins to show an interest in kite fighting and running, Baba also gains interest because he feels that this is the only way to connect to his son.  “Baba would buy us each three identical kites and spools of glass string.”  Baba’s interest in kite fighting is only due to his son’s interest in the sport, and feels that kites is the only way to connect to him.  Baba’s character brings up the question of if parents are too focused on what can be measured success of their child over their child’s happiness?  I’m hoping that as I continue to read, Baba’s parenting style changes as his child’s attitude and interests change.

            Amir is the son of Baba and the main character of the novel.  Currently, Amir is a child that is about twelve years old, and acts as if he is brothers with his servant’s son, Hassan.  Amir’s true personality shines through when he is unable to support Hassan, and "ran because [he] was a coward.”  When Amir chooses to be a bystander and not do anything to help Hassan, who is the closest person he has to a brother, it shows where Amir’s priorities truly lie.  Depending on his actions to protect Hassan and stand as an individual or go along with a group will decide Amir’s personality and true priorities.

            Hassan has also been going through a difficult time trying to balance being Amir’s servant as well as his friend.  In the first five pages, the reader notices that Hassan is so loyal that from Amir’s perspective that “he wouldn’t deny [him]” of anything.  Hassan’s unwavering support is clearly shown during the winter when the two of them are a team for kite fighting and running.  Once Amir cuts the last kite, Hassan runs to go and catch the kite “for [Amir] a thousand times over!”  The need to please Amir shows how loyal he is.  Hassan proves his loyalty to Amir time and time again, yet, Amir does not reciprocate his feelings.

Ali is the father of Hassan, while he is a father he is also a servant to Baba and his family.  When Ali was a young child he was an orphan, since he had no place to go and no parents to raise him, Baba’s father adopts Hassan.  Ali is raised with Baba and has the same relationship their sons have with each other.  The brotherly bond between Ali and Baba is strong, but unspoken.  Ali and his son are practicing Shi’a Muslims as well as Hazaras, which is the minority currently in Afghanistan.  Ali has been with Baba and in his family for over forty years, and Baba’s father “loved Ali like his own son.”

Rahim Khan is Baba’s best friend and his business partner. Rahim shows his support for Baba as well as Amir by offering to “hear any story [Amir has] to tell. Bravo.”  Amir shows Amir that Rahim will support his interests, even if they are not his interests as well.  From my perspective, Rahim is the father that Amir has been looking for because he genuinely supports Amir.  I think that many readers will enjoy Rahim’s character throughout the novel because he is Amir’s outsource to having someone to turn to when he needs the traditional model of a father.