The Many Styles of Kites

After finishing three-fourths of Khlaed Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner, it is clear that there is a very distinctive style in the book. While the book is set with the tumultuous events of Afghanistan during the 1970's through the early twenty-first century, it is not about how one survived during the rough era in Afghanistan and more about characters, specifically Amir and Hassan, and how their relationship progresses and their decisions impact their lives.

One of the main stylistic choices of the book is to have told in first person narration. The narrator is Amir. The selection of Amir for the narrator is important because of how he views events differently from others. This is evident during the original coup d'etat before Soviet Intervention. Amir lives in an affluent neighborhood, which is barely affected during the change in regime. This is shown when Amir returns to Afghanistan after years in America and states that he "feel[s] like a tourist in his own country." (231). His driver scoffs at this remark and rambles on about Amir's luxurious house and servants. He states that Amir has never known the real Afghanistan, the part which dirt covered beggars roam the streets looking for spare change, instead he has always been a tourist in his own country. Because of Amir's limited viewpoint and the fact that he leaves for America, we do not get a good view of the turmoil in Afghanistan. Included in having Amir as the narrator is we only get his view of when Hassan gets raped. We only get Amir's inner struggle and reliving of that day and his inability to look either Hassan or himself in the eye after doing simply watching the event. Hassan also some issues he has to overcome before trying to return to normal. He has to forgive Amir and be able to go into public without fear, but we do not get to delve into these problems because of the choice of point of view.

Another interesting stylistic choice is the fact that the later part of the novel is written like a journey myth. A journey myth is when a hero is called to an unknown world to retrieve and return with a reward all while facing ordeals along the way. In the case of the novel the hero is Amir and the unknown world is Afghanistan at the turn of the century after the Taliban has taken over. The reward is Hassan's son. The previous part of the novel was character development to make sure that the people involved were complex characters with multiple motives, especially Amir. Amir wants to finally feel at peace for watching Hassan be assaulted, but he also wants to make Baba proud even after his death. He also wants to fulfill Rahim Khan's dying wish. Finally, Amir has gotten a wife of his own now and wants to return safely to America. By having the story act like a journey myth enforces the reasoning behind choosing Amir as the narrator. Khaled Hosseini wants to make the reader feel everything that his hero feels on his journey. He clearly uses the technique to make the novel about Amir's adventures instead of him living in Kabul as Afghanistan drastically changes.