Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Kite Runner: Chapter 22
Element

Notes

Plot summary

During this chapter, Farid drives Amir to the house of the Talib
official who bought Sohrab from the orphanage
...
Amir’s fake beard is pulled off and he recognises
Assef - Hassan’s rapist
...
Assef orders
the guards not to enter as he fights Amir for Sohrab
...
The pair flee in Farid’s Land Cruiser
...


Themes and
features

The high walls of the Taliban compound and the shady trees
build tension and suggest intimidation
...
Amir is frisked by Taliban guards who carry
Kalashnikovs, foreshadowing the violence to come
...

Assef’s swirling of prayer beads also appears rather ironic - it
plays on the Taliban’s rigid interpretation of Islamic scriptures
...
This is Haram in Islam
...

Assef creates an incongruous figure, portraying himself as a
godly figure in white robes
...

Assef’s Hitler-esque beliefs are grossly exhibited through his
“breathtaking” ​love of the Hazara massacre
...
Patriotism is seen
through Assef’s description of America as a ​“whore”, ​suggesting
that Amir has deserted his homeland
...
Assef’s dictatorship beliefs are shown through his
pale, sweaty skin, blue eyes and lighter hair colour - distinctly
Aryan features
...


Assef refers to Sohrab as ​“my boy”, c​ reating a chilling
atmosphere which juxtaposes the fatherly love usually shown
through this phrase
...

Sohrab is compared to a dancing monkey, with Amir remarking
that he has a ​“breathtaking” ​resemblance to Hassan
...
Amir’s description
of Sohrab’s ​“Chinese doll face” ​reiterates the ethnic and visual
divide between Pashtuns and Hazaras, whilst also connoting his
youthful innocence
...
The boy’s shaven head
also evokes Nazi Germany’s treatment of those in concentration
camps, emphasising the fact that Sohrab is a prisoner (and is
viewed as inferior and unworthy of freedom)
...
Assef’s leeriness
and the way he gropes Sohrab implies that he sexually abuses
him
...

Assef’s experiences have undoubtedly shaped his beliefs
...
Assef
ended up in jail but supposedly had an epiphany during a beating
from a prison guard
...
This emphasises the cyclical nature of
violence, as victims often become perpetrators later in life
...
This suggests that anger and a sense of injustice
rise to the surface at this point, hinting at a previously unheralded
resilience and courage
...

Assef orders his guards not to enter when he is fighting with Amir
because he assumes that he’ll win and kill Amir
...
After all, Assef has always been physically
bigger and stronger than Amir
...
Later, we realise that it references Doctor
Faruqi, who treats a dream-like Amir after the fight
...
The erratic sentence
structures emphasise the rapid and brutal fight, whilst the
repetition of ​“Sohrab screaming” ​creates a terrifying atmosphere
...
Hosseini also uses the simile: ​“ribs
snapping like tree branches” ​to convey Assef’s power and
strength
...
Amir feels ​“healed” a
​ nd at peace,
after decades of insomnia and guilt surrounding Hassan’s rape
...

Context

The symbolism of Assef’s blood-stained robes – subverts them
from peace/purity to butcher’s clothing
...

The circular structure of the narrative – Sohrab settles the debt
originally set by his father, Amir redeems himself by defending
Sohrab (finding the courage of Baba and Hassan)
...


Afghan
vocabulary

Rupia​ = Indian currency
...

Bis​ = come with me

---