1. Amanda Iliadis
Ms. Maynard
ENG3U104
May 21st
2013
The Power of Storytelling
The art of storytelling is very powerful; in fact so powerful that it can bring people together and
mend relationships. Khaled Hosseini demonstrates a flawless representation of how one character’s love
for stories, connects him to the people he loves in an incredible way in his novel; The Kite Runner.
Amir and Hassan almost never leave each other’s sides, but it’s storytelling that binds those special
moments together. Their special tree signifies the spot in which Amir reads Hassan his favourite stories.
Rahim Khan was always like a second father to Amir, but the bond through writing has brought them
closer than ever before. When Baba fails to recognize Amir’s talents and interest, Rahim steps up to the
plate. Amir and Baba’s father-son relationship was never built on strong ground, but as time moves
forward their personalities seem to merge partly through Baba’s support towards Amir. Baba finally
supports Amir’s choice of career, but all too soon, he comes to an untimely death. In The Kite Runner
Amir’s talent and ability to write cleanses his paternal connection to Baba, strengthens his delightful
relationship with Rahim Khan, and provides Hassan with something to believe in.
Amir and Hassan have an outstanding, yet troublesome friendship fueled by the stories they
share together. Growing up, the two shared a special tree where “[Amir] would read to Hassan” (30).
Hassan was always so captivated and “despite his illiteracy… [he] was drawn to the mystery of words,
seduced by a secret world forbidden to him” (30). In pity, friendship, and compassion, Amir “read him
poems…stories…riddles… [that] he couldn’t read for himself” (30). Amir did not just do this for Hassan.
He loved to read and sometimes when reading to Hassan, he would suddenly “[stray] from the
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2. written story…pretend [he] was reading from the book…but [abandoning] the text altogether, taken over
the story, and made up [his] own” (32). Amir partly did this to tease Hassan about his illiteracy because
to Hassan “the words on the page were a scramble of codes, indecipherable, mysterious” and for Amir
“words were secret doorways and [he] held all the keys” (32). So even though Amir knew of Hassan’s
illiteracy and teased him often, it did not change the fortitudinous friendship between them. Hassan, in
turn for Amir’s teachings of the written language, was the person who inadvertently sparked Amir’s
entire future career. After reading a made-up story to Hassan and receiving a fantastic response, Amir
felt “like a man who discovered a buried treasure in his own backyard” (33). He remembered Hassan’s
words: best story you’ve read me in a long time, and his mind was immediately made up (33). He
knew that he had made up this story and Hassan still loved it more than any published story he had
ever read to him. When Amir wrote his very first short story, he reads it to Hassan who claims,
“someday, Inshallah, you will be a great writer…and people all over the world will read your stories…you
will be great and famous” (36). However once Hassan moves away and contact between the two
companions seizes, Hassan has no idea that Amir has indeed become a famous writer, and has followed
his dream. In the middle of the novel, Amir receives and old letter from Hassan proving that after all
these years, the influence of storytelling is still embedded in his mind from childhood. The fact that
Hassan learned to read and write himself to be able to produce a letter was astounding but he even
taught his son Sohrab “to read and write so he doesn’t grow up…like his father [did]” (228). Hassan
clearly does this not only to educate him and Sohrab but to feel closer to Amir and feel worthy in his
eyes. Amir and Hassan’s, despite the toils brought on by illiteracy, are bonded by Amir’s love for stories
and Hassan’s willingness to listen to them.
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3. Amir and Rahim Khan have an amazing connection that nobody else shares in the novel; this is
largely based on Amir’s talent for writing and Rahim’s constant support. When Amir writes his very
first short story, Rahim Khan offers to read it out of interest when his own father will not. Rahim Khan
replies to his story with great encouragement and optimism:
Amir Jan, I enjoyed your story very much. Mashallah, God had granted you a special talent.
It is now your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes his God-given talent
is a donkey. You have written your story with sound grammar and interesting style. But
the most impressive thing about your story is that it has irony…it is something that some
writers reach for their entire careers and never attain. You have achieved it with you first
story. My door is and always will be open to you…I shall hear any story you wish to tell.
Bravo (35).
Amir admits that Rahim Khan “did more to encourage [him] to pursue writing than any compliment
any editor has ever paid [him]. [The] word was Bravo” (34). Rahim Khan further supports Amir, when
on his birthday; he gives Amir “a brown leather-bound notebook” to write all his stories in (106). Time
passes, but when Amir visits Rahim Khan in Pakistan many years later, Amir tells Rahim “about [his]
schooling, [his] books- four published novels to [his] credit...he smiled at this, said he had never had a
doubt” (208). Amir also tells Rahim Khan that if “it weren’t for him, there would be no books” and
that’s why he dedicated his most recent novel to Rahim Khan (Benioff). Rahim Khan was constantly
there for Amir when no one else was, and even when Amir had a new family, Rahim felt bound to him
unconditionally through the bond they shared with writing. Rahim khan and Amir have an outstanding
relationship; one of the closest bonds in the whole novel based upon Rahim’s fatherly support and
Amir’s talent of writing.
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4. The parental relationship between Baba and Amir was never a strong one; however Amir’s
stories brought the two closer together drastically. Right from the beginning of the novel it is apparent
that Baba objects to his son’s niche. He does not want Amir “always buried in those books or shuffling
around the house like he’s lost in some dream” because “[he] wasn’t like that” (23). He wants Amir to
be exactly like him instead of being himself. When Amir tells Baba he has written a story, “Baba [nods]
and [gives] a thin smile that [conveys] little more than feigned interest” (33). This constant carelessness
and disregard ultimately scars Amir and forces Amir to look further for Baba’s validation. Baba and
Amir flee to Pakistan before departing to California where they will be safe from the Soviet invasion in
Afghanistan. During the journey, Baba sees that Amir is scared and holds Amir close asking him to
recite one of his favourite poems to calm himself down (Benioff). Baba would never normally adhere to
Amir’s love of writing but in this instance it is apparent that Baba is willing because deep down his love
and support for Amir is there. After moving to California, Amir graduates high school at the age of
twenty and while out celebrating, Amir tells Baba he wants to “major in English…creative writing” (142).
Baba’s response however harsh shows that he cares about Amir’s future just not in the way Amir hoped:
“Stories, you mean. You’ll make up stories. They pay for…making up stories? What will you do while
you wait to get good and get discovered? How will you earn your money? you’ll study several years to
earn a degree, then you’ll get a chatti job like mine…on the small chance that your degree might
someday help you get…discovered” (142). Amir noticed that Baba was always grunting something about
medical school, law school, and “real work” (142). However Baba’s attitude forever changes once they
meet the Taheri family and Baba can see Amir’s interest in General Taheri’s daughter, Soraya. Baba tells
the family that “Amir is going to be a great writer”
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5. and that “he has finished his first year of college and earned A’s in all of his courses” (147). Baba is
diagnosed with cancer and one day while he is in the hospital after a collapse, Amir reads his novel to
him…Baba does not object, he enjoys it (Benioff). In the last effort before Baba dies, he shows Soraya
Amir’s notebook that Rahim Khan had given him for his stories and shares it with her out of interest.
He dies the same night, but that was his final act towards Amir and it was a virtuous one at that.
Throughout the novel, Amir and Baba’s damaging relationship evolves to a pleasant one filled with
support from Baba’s end towards Amir’s career in writing.
The Kite Runner is a novel that represents the art of storytelling in a beautiful style; tightening
the bonds of fellowship in a ground-breaking way. Friendships and parental relationships are challenged
but in the end, the power of storytelling heals them in an incredible way. Amir and Hassan’s bond
becomes stronger through the familiar stories they share together, giving Hassan hope to challenge his
illiteracy and giving Amir a plan for his future. Without this early childhood bond, the two could have
never connected and remained connected their entire lives. Rahim Khan, a second father to Amir
constantly supports his dreams and encourages him to carry on when no one else will. Rahim Khan
supports Amir and is by his side when he has no one else. And finally Baba, Amir’s parental figure
eventually comes to terms with Amir’s goals in life and supports them even in the face of
others…something he would have never done before. One of the most ground breaking moments is
when Baba steps up in front of the Taheri’s to support his son’s fulfillment. In The Kite Runner Amir’s
talent and ability to write makes his parental relationship with Baba grow, encourages his friendship
with Rahim Khan, and keeps the bond strong that he has with Hassan. “The world is shaped by two
things- stories told and the memories they leave behind” (Nazarian).
Works Cited
Benioff, David. The Kite Runner. DreamWorks SKG. 26 December, 2007.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Anchor Canada: Random House of Canada Limited.

6. Nazarian, Vera. “Dreams of the Compass Rose.” Goodreads.
<www.goodreads.com/quotes>
Amanda Iliadis