Character development changes a good novel into a great one. Sure, someone can write an amazing plot that has the reader wanting to find out what happens next, but good character development also can drive the plot and gives the reader someone to root for and against. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, is about a boy growing up in tumulous 1970’s Afghanistan when their monarchy fell to a coup d’etat. The book is driven by the characters, their development, and how they interact. Even though Hosseini introduces numerous characters in the first section only a handful are important.
First, there is the narrator, Amir, he is the son of a wealthy businessman. His only goal in life at the young age of eleven is to make his father proud of him. His father, Baba, is a large businessman who values physical strength and ability and financial worth more than anything else. To his dismay his son is a bookworm who is unathletic and squeamish at the sight of blood. The only true bond that Amir has with his father is their shared interest in kite fighting, a traditional sport in Afghanistan. Baba is not even proud of Amir when he does well in kite fighting if he does not win the overall tournament. The desire for his father to be proud of him affects Amir so much that he changes his goals and ambitions to be the son his father wanted.
The next most important characters are Amir and Baba’s servants, Ali and Hassan. Ali is an old, crippled man who was taken in by Baba’s family when he was younger. Even with all his struggles Ali is still very devout. Ali’s son, Hassan, is a boy around the same age as Amir and is also a servant to Baba’s household. Hassan is very loyal, kind, and thoughtful. Since he is a servant Hassan does not go to school, but instead relies on Amir to read him stories. Hassan is also more athletic and seemingly gets more attention from Baba because of his abilities. Hassan and Ali are also Hazara whereas Amir and Baba are Pashtun. The Pashtun have always been in power in Afghanistan and the Hazara have been discriminated against.
The best part about these characters is contrasting them. Hassan and Amir are foils of each other. Hassan is the kind yet poor kid in the unfortunate situation of being a servant, and worse than that a servant that is also discriminated against because of his religion. He puts that all behind to be a great friend to Amir and would do anything for him, an example being when after Amir won the kite fighting tournament Hassan ran to get the kite whose string was just cut and did everything to get it and then give it to Amir. Amir is wealthy and smart, but he does not treat Hassan very well. He teases him by making fun of the fact that he does not know long words, even though it is out of Hassan’s control. Amir will also not refer to Hassan as a friend in public even with them spending a great amount of time together. Hassan and Amir’s relationships with their fathers is also comparable. Even in Hassan and Ali’s poor conditions they still have a good relationship, while Amir and Baba are powerful and have lots of money, but cannot form a good relationship.
So far in this novel I have enjoyed the characters and their development. The main characters are dynamic and has multiple roles in the story. Amir is caught in his internal struggles while Hassan and Ali face the issues being a minority. That being said I am sure dynamics will change as the novel progresses through the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan.
Great reflection Jacob! I liked your analysis of the inter-character relationships. Do you think it is significant that both Hassan and Amir lack a mother figure? and is it comparable to how Guitar and Milkman lack significant mother and father figures in Song of Solomon?
ReplyDeleteYes, it strengthens the foil between them. It also makes sense that these characters would be like Guitar and Milkman because they were a foil as well.
DeleteThe only part of the blog post that I question is the assertion that Baba places strong emphasis on financial worth. In my reading, I have not gotten that sense. Sure Baba is wealthy and spends his money, but I don't think he looks down on people that have less than him. Take Ali and Hassan for example. He treats both of them like family despite their very limited financial means. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI think Baba treats Ali and Hassan the same because he values their long lasting relationship. They have become family to him. However, when he does give them presents there is this underlying feeling that he is showing off his wealth in the same way he does with his parties.
DeleteA nice overall discussion of the characters and their relationships, including the historical context of the novel and its conflicts. Do you think there's any significance to Hassan's cleft lip?
ReplyDeleteA strong first post overall.
In terms of the cleft lip it gives a physical representation of Hassan being inferior. The cleft lip also goes away around the same time that Hassan becomes athletic and Amir does not. Amit loses some of the reason to believe he is superior which factors into his desire to make Baba proud all the time.
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