Setting plays a significant role in The Kite Runner. How does Hosseini use Setting in the
first 7 chapters of the book to convey his story effectively? (AO1=10, AO2=10)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a bildungsroman that tells the story of Amir and
his childhood companion Hassan, set against the backdrop of Afghanistan at the verge
of its political turmoil. The narrator, Amir, reminisces on his complicated relationship
with the past and his relationships – both riddled with shame and guilt; setting plays a
key role throughout the novel in communicating and exploring this as well as being
used as subtle foreshadowing device. Amir, being Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while
Hassan is opposingly Hazara and Shia Muslim, religion, politics, and social conventions
play a large role in their friendship. Thus, it is fitting and effective that Hosseini uses the
larger setting of Afghanistan, with its ethnic and racial divisions, to explore and further
the plot of the novel.
Firstly, Hosseini uses setting to visualize and convey the theme of guilt and Amir’s
relationship with his past. In the very first chapter there is a stark comparison of the
setting of a moment in his childhood in Afghanistan, and his present in America. Amir
begins – “I became what I am today…on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975.”
This dramatic first line immediately creates tension and anticipation in the reader for
this oft mentioned “winter of 1975” that is presented as the crucial turning event of the
entire novel: the setting itself embodies the momentous event and his past. The use of
the words “frigid” and “overcast” offer unpleasant and dismal tactile and visual
imagery, the setting effectively communicating the guilt that permeates this memory.
That Hosseini places this event in the winter also effectively symbolizes the dire
changes that are to occur. The is juxtaposed with the summer day he describes in his
present. Afghanistan holds his guilt and shame and thus becomes a physical
manifestation of these negative feelings in his memories. In contrast, his description of
his new life in America, a moment set in summer, is presented as an escape, both
physically and emotionally. The winter of his past has lapsed into the summer of his
present and offered him sanctuary from these negative experiences. Hosseini expands
upon these descriptions as well, with the memory taking place, “behind a crumbling
mud wall…near the frozen creak.” Again, the setting is gloomy and in disrepair,
reflecting his emotional instability in relation to this key event, and “the frozen creak,”
mirrors how – though he has physically moved on – emotionally, he is frozen in time.
This is blatantly juxtaposed with how, “the early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water,”
in the present. The imagery Hosseini uses here is warm and hopeful – and these feelings
evoked in the reader are heightened by their comparison with the past.
Furthermore, Hosseini uses setting to advance and enhance the plot of the novel by
setting the progression of Amir’s childhood against the backdrop of Afghanistan at the
cusp of its plunge into political turmoil. The chronological start of events: “In 1933, the
year Baba was born and the year Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan,”
is in itself directly linked to a significant political event. Shah’s reign was a peaceful
period in Afghanistan, marked by social progression in terms of education and women’s
rights. These progressive politics within the setting align with the microcosmic social
progression within a single household in the story – where a Hazara child, Ali, was raised
alongside a Pashtun child, Baba – despite the tensions between the two ethnic groups.
This period of peace continues into Amir and Hassan’s early life, Amir saying,
“sometimes my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day with Hassan.” As
opposed to the first chapter’s description of Amir’s past as a perpetual winter frozen in
first 7 chapters of the book to convey his story effectively? (AO1=10, AO2=10)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a bildungsroman that tells the story of Amir and
his childhood companion Hassan, set against the backdrop of Afghanistan at the verge
of its political turmoil. The narrator, Amir, reminisces on his complicated relationship
with the past and his relationships – both riddled with shame and guilt; setting plays a
key role throughout the novel in communicating and exploring this as well as being
used as subtle foreshadowing device. Amir, being Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while
Hassan is opposingly Hazara and Shia Muslim, religion, politics, and social conventions
play a large role in their friendship. Thus, it is fitting and effective that Hosseini uses the
larger setting of Afghanistan, with its ethnic and racial divisions, to explore and further
the plot of the novel.
Firstly, Hosseini uses setting to visualize and convey the theme of guilt and Amir’s
relationship with his past. In the very first chapter there is a stark comparison of the
setting of a moment in his childhood in Afghanistan, and his present in America. Amir
begins – “I became what I am today…on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975.”
This dramatic first line immediately creates tension and anticipation in the reader for
this oft mentioned “winter of 1975” that is presented as the crucial turning event of the
entire novel: the setting itself embodies the momentous event and his past. The use of
the words “frigid” and “overcast” offer unpleasant and dismal tactile and visual
imagery, the setting effectively communicating the guilt that permeates this memory.
That Hosseini places this event in the winter also effectively symbolizes the dire
changes that are to occur. The is juxtaposed with the summer day he describes in his
present. Afghanistan holds his guilt and shame and thus becomes a physical
manifestation of these negative feelings in his memories. In contrast, his description of
his new life in America, a moment set in summer, is presented as an escape, both
physically and emotionally. The winter of his past has lapsed into the summer of his
present and offered him sanctuary from these negative experiences. Hosseini expands
upon these descriptions as well, with the memory taking place, “behind a crumbling
mud wall…near the frozen creak.” Again, the setting is gloomy and in disrepair,
reflecting his emotional instability in relation to this key event, and “the frozen creak,”
mirrors how – though he has physically moved on – emotionally, he is frozen in time.
This is blatantly juxtaposed with how, “the early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water,”
in the present. The imagery Hosseini uses here is warm and hopeful – and these feelings
evoked in the reader are heightened by their comparison with the past.
Furthermore, Hosseini uses setting to advance and enhance the plot of the novel by
setting the progression of Amir’s childhood against the backdrop of Afghanistan at the
cusp of its plunge into political turmoil. The chronological start of events: “In 1933, the
year Baba was born and the year Zahir Shah began his forty-year reign of Afghanistan,”
is in itself directly linked to a significant political event. Shah’s reign was a peaceful
period in Afghanistan, marked by social progression in terms of education and women’s
rights. These progressive politics within the setting align with the microcosmic social
progression within a single household in the story – where a Hazara child, Ali, was raised
alongside a Pashtun child, Baba – despite the tensions between the two ethnic groups.
This period of peace continues into Amir and Hassan’s early life, Amir saying,
“sometimes my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day with Hassan.” As
opposed to the first chapter’s description of Amir’s past as a perpetual winter frozen in
