Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 21 Notes .................................................................................................................... 22 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 23
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Introduction
The Kite Runner was firstly published in 2003. It was really a hit. Till 2010, it had been published in 42 different languages around the world and had been sold nearly ten millions in different versions. Because of the vivid description of the characters and the touching plot, it has gained a favorable reception after its publication, and is worthy of the name of the bestseller.
Surprisingly, Khaled Hosseini — the writer of this book, an Afghan American writer, had not set foot on the road of novel-writing before. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 4, 1965. Living there for 11 years, his family relocated to Paris in 1976. The family was kept from returning hometown by frequent war in Afghanistan. In 1980, the family sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from University of California-San Diego’s School of Medicine. The Kite Runner was wrote during his medical practice. In May of 2007, his second novel A thousand splendid suns was published.
The experience of Hosseini plays quite important role in creating The Kite Runner. Parts of the novel are based on his childhood in Kabul. Some events in the story echo tose in his life. He claimed in an interview that the protagonist’s prototype is himself. Hosseini read a lot and showed a special preference to literature when He was a child, which laid a good foundation to his later wrting career. Interest and personal experience led to the writing of his first novel, The Kite Runner.
The Kite Runner is a typical bildungsroman. It depicts Amir’s growth from a innocent dependent and cowardly boy to a mature, independent and brave man. Amir was the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, was a Hazara — member of a shunned ethnic minority. Before an unspeakable event happened and changed the nature of their relationship for good, Amir and Hassan lived a happy and peaceful life. It seems
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like that they were much closer than general master and servant. One day, Hassan was brutally assaulted by some bullies to protect Amir’s kite in a kite-fighting tournament while Amir, who witnessed the whole process, didn’t intervene. Even after Amir and his father flee to America because of war in their hometown, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly action and disloyalty to Hassan. 26 years later, Amir was told that Hassan was his half-brother. At the time, Hassan had been killed and his son Sohrab was taken captive by the ferocious terrorists. Rahim Kham pleaded Amir to save Sohrab and to be good again. This time, Amir decided to face up to his past mistake. After thousands of difficulties and dangers, he took Sohrab to America and adopted him.
Judging from the domestic and foreign reviews on The Kite Runner, it’s obvious that Hosseini and his works have received the full recognition of literary critics and readers all across the world. But researches about the book are still inadequate. Researchers mainly focus on the following perspectives as kite images, racial discrimination, religious disputes and the characterization of Hassan. The researches are of great academic value and they are very helpful to the present study.
This thesis attempts to analyze The Kite Runner from the perspective of personal growth. Three main parts are included: Amir’s initiation, Amir’s betrayal in the juvenile period, and Amir’s redemption in middle age. Step by step, following the procedure of Amir’s growth, the theme of redemption has been completely exhibited.
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I. Amir’s Initiation
In terms of the structure of the novel, the initiation stories have some common following characteristics. The first characteristic is that they share the similar plot pattern. “The plot pattern is temptation — leave — ordeals — puzzlement — epiphany — loss of innocence — knowledge of life and discovery.”1An initiation story usually put emphasize on the initiation process of characters, especially the protagonist. In this chapter, the author of this thesis will analyze Amir’s key stage of his life and how some characters affect his initiation.
A. Spiritual Guides
First, the author will analyze some spiritual guides in this novel that influence Amie’s growth.
1. Positive Spiritual Guides
According to Professor Rui Yuping in “American Bildungsroman” in the amount of view, the positive pathfinder Bildungsroman typically has the following characteristics: First, they are able to get along with as equals smaller than their older people. Secondly, they are helpful and compassionate. Once again, their identity or personality is often more special, this particularity to enable them to maintain a certain distance from the mainstream of society, but also their willingness to make friends with young people. Fourth, with the help of young people affected by them, as many of them also belong to the margins of society figures, has not yet been assimilated by mainstream society.2
Rahim Khan is the father’s best friend and business partner in Afghanistan. More importantly, in his father’s son — plays an important role in
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the growth path of Amir. By the author’s description of old photographs, Racine Khan for the first time and then the second chapter is mentioned.
“There was a picture of my parents’ wedding night, Baba dashing in his black suit and my mother a smiling young princess in white. Here was Baba and his best friend and Business partner, Rahim Khan, standing outside our house, neither one smiling — I am a baby in that photograph and Baba is holding me, looking tired and grim. I'm in his arms, but it's Rahim Khan’s pinky my fingers are curled around.”3
Readers get to the unusual information — a close relationship between Amir Khan and Racine. Amir pulled the baby is not his father’s hand, but Rahim Khan’s little finger. In the following sections, assume that the reader soon be verified. On the growth path Amir, Rahim Khan is able to understand his adult, rather than the father. Racine concerned about the growth of Amir Khan’s mind, like a father playing the role of a guide. He also understood Amir and spiritual support. He knows that Amir seemed to blame themselves for the death of his mother. Racine Khan believes Amir is not violent, just a desire for the little boy with his father’s affirmation of love; his weakness partly caused by a lack of confidence, that the consequences of the lack of fatherly love.
As a father figure, Racine Khan believes Amir is very much like writing and reading boy. His talent was certainly not his father. When Amir finished his first short story, he tries to share it with his father, while his father nodded, with no interests. As always, Racine Khan solves his embarrassment with a smile on his face and said that he would be glad to be able to read what Amir wrote. When pulled Sim Khan finished, he used a note to encourage Amir, a note filled with words of encouragement:
mir jan,
I enjoyed your story very much. God has granted you a special talent. It is now your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes his God-given talents is a donkey. You have written your
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