The Kite Runner

It was a disaster.

It went way over time, way over the unspoken word limit, and is probably largely a jumble of nonsense. Future essays should be better, please don't get turned off reading them -.-"

I just felt like it would be a waste to delete it, so i'll just post it here.

Part 1

Baba sighed, “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir.” To what extent was Baba prophetic?

Khaled Hosseni’s novel The Kite Runner is one full of twists and turns, especially in the lives of his characters. It epitomizes the transient nature of humanity, and how quickly and suddenly the “course of a whole lifetime” can be redirected or shattered, simply by the presence or occurrence of one or two key events, that could take place in but a single day. Amir’s life is repeatedly subjected to these key events, events that shape and reshape the course of Amir’s life, his mindset, and ultimately his values. During Hassan’s rape on the day he won the kite running tournament, Amir’s inaction in response to that horrific act left him and his conscience scarred for life. Amir’s consequent set up of Hassan and Ali, in another selfish act to purge himself of his wrongdoing by attempting to rid himself of Hassan, resulted in both his and Baba’s devastation at the loss of people who symbolised a part of their childhood, their life. Rahim Khan’s call, convincing Amir to return to Kabul to “redeem” himself was another turning point in Amir’s life, leading up to his eventual confrontation with Assef, the catharsis of the novel in a sense. All these events, most of them arguably unfair, took place in the space of no more than a few days, yet each holds more significance in Amir’s life than the rest of it together, based on the author’s portrayal of this character. Baba’s statement holds true throughout the novel with respect to Amir’s life, and may be considered highly prophetic.

The first of the key events in Amir’s life, and possibly the most significant, was witnessing Hassan’s rape as a bystander, while doing nothing to stop it. Throughout Amir’s childhood, Hassan has been portrayed as a loyal servant, yet at the same time,