The Kite Runner

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Robert Corrigan Corrigan 1

Mrs. Sawyer

ENG 2DI-01

13 April 2006

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini's powerful debut novel "The Kite Runner" fulfilled the promise of fiction, awakening curiosity about the world around us, speaking truth as the lessons of history echo down the years. Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, as the son of a diplomat whose family received political asylum in the United States in 1980. He currently lives in northern California, where he is a physician. Seeing as this is his first novel, Khaled Hosseini has not had sufficient time to develop his reputation. However, "The Kite Runner" has shown to be a huge success, and in doing so, Dr. Hosseini's reputation will undoubtedly sprout. "The Kite Runner" is about a boy named Amir, who is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant. Hassan, his best friend and servant, is like a brother to Amir.

But Hassan is a despised racial minority in Afghanistan. When Amir betrays him to the neighbourhood bully, his guilt sets the rest of his life on a new course, constantly seeking redemption for his own weakness. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan sends Amir and his father to the United States, but he returns there as an adult during the Taliban rule to atone for his sins to Hassan. Amir also marries a woman named Soraya and begins a writing career. The themes of this book are universal: familial relationships, particularly father and son; the price of disloyalty; the inhumanity of a rigid class system; and the horrific realities of war. "The Kite Runner" describes the rich

Corrigan 2

culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But through the devastation, Khaled Hosseini offers hope: through father and son relationships, one's sin and atonement, injustice and human...