a brief presentation Upon THE writing style of KHALID HOSSEINI in THE KITE RUNNER, similes, metaphors, personification, symbolism, allusions and many more,,,,,,,,,,,,

1. Writing Style of Khalid Hosseini
in ‘THE KITE RUNNER’
Prepared by Irshad Hussain
2015-KIUSC-102
Semester 3rd

2. Content
1. Genre of the work
2. Narrator
3. Diction
4. Setting
5. Tone
6. Themes
7. Similes
8. Metaphors
9. Personifications
10. Symbols
11. Allusions
12. Other literary devices

3. Types of novels
• Epistolary Novel
• Realistic Novel
• Philosophic Novel
• Epic Novel
• Historical Novel
• Gothic Novel
:
:
:
• Bildungsroman

4. Genre
“The kite Runner” is a Bildungsroman.
Bildungsroman:
The composition of two German words;
bildung = education roman= novel
“Novel of formation”
“ A novel about the moral and psychological growth
of the main character” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bildungsroman

5. Narrator
First Narrator:
• Amir, the protagonist, is getting nostalgic.
• He starts the story narrating an event that had
happened in 1975 when he was 12 years old.
• We see approximately the whole novel through
the eyes of Amir.
• The narrator is very bold and clear and narrates
the story in detail and doesn’t leave any
necessary part untouched.

6. Narrator
Second Narrator:
• In chapter 15 the story is shifted toward the second
narrator Rahim Khan about the end of the chapter.
• Rahim Khan narrates a brief part of the story about his
experiences after the migration of Baba and Amir.
• All the chapter 16 and a half part of 17 is narrated by
Rahim Khan.
• He reveals the basterdy of Hassan.
• The novel is written in past tense.

7. Diction
• Language and Meaning:
• The story is written in English and into simple
language.
• Nevertheless, there are some occasional words in
another language.
• match of buzkashi, “Shahnamah,” the book of
stories , “I’ll come back with your morphine and a
glass of water, Kaka jan.” Soraya said.
-For example, Hassan says, “Thank you Agha,”.

8. Setting
Time:
The novel deals with the specific spans of time parallel to the real
history of the world.
• The regime of Zahir Shah, 1933-1973.
• The empire of Muhammad Daoud Khan,1973-1978.
• Invasion of Soviet, 1979.
• Rule of Taliban, 1996-2002
• 9,11 attack
Places:
• Afghanistan ; Kabul, Jalalabad and Hazarajat
• Pakistan ; Peshawar and Islamabad
• USA; Fremont, California

9. Tone
Fearless and undaunted:
• Hosseini didn’t waver to add the bloodshed and massacre.
• He didn’t hasitate even to discusse the rape scene
Hopeful:
• Although major part of the novel is gloomy because of the atrocities
done on hassan yet there is a ray of hope at the ending of the novel.
• Sohrab smiles his rare smile it foreshadows his happy prospect life.
Ironic :
According to some critics some of the part of the novel is ironic
because;
• Baba goes against his words.
• Amir ends up being Hassan’s half-brother.

10. Tone
Emotional:
• The novel shakes the emotions of kind hearted people and break
the dam of their tears.
• Majorly on the part of Hassan and other innocents being killed
ruthlessly by the cruel.
Anger:
• The stories mood reached anger when Amir finds out that Baba had
lied to him his whole life about Hassan being his half brother.
• He's angry at the fact that Baba had done something that he had
told him not do, which was to be a theft or lie.
Guilt:
• The whole story, Amir has to live with the guilt of his mistake and
the conscious that he's the reason why something bad has
happened.

11. Themes
Universal Themes:
• Friendship
• Racialism
• Sex
• Love
• Literature
Local Themes:
• Political Scenario of Afghanistan
• Social Scenario of Afghanistan
• Internal conflicts in Afghanistan

12. Similes
– “He looked like someone coming out of a good dream.”
(Chapter 5).
– The other two guys shifted nervously on their feet,
looking from Assef to Hassan, like they’d cornered some
kind of animal that only Assef could tame. (chapter 8)
– My good sir is like the fresh air I breathe.

13. Similes
• "At least two dozen kites already hung in the sky,
like paper sharks roaming for prey".
• "attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to
the sun”.
"He said it fondly, like a man telling of a great party
he'd attended.“
• “The Taliban were looking at the big house like…yes,
like wolves looking at a flock of sheep.”

14. Metaphors
• “A sign above his desk read, LIFE IS A TRAIN. GET ON BOARD.”
• “After all, life is not a Hindi movie.”
• “Baba…I helped him in a clean white shirt…nothing the two inches
of empty space between the collar but thought of all the empty
spaces Baba would leave behind when he was gone.”
• “I felt as if I were sitting on a pair of tree trunks.” -Baba.
• “From above, Assef’s screams went on and on, the cries of a
wounded animal.”

15. Personification
• “Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites, red with long
blue tails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the
trees on the west end of the park…”.
• “Sitting cross-legged, sunlight and shadows of
pomegranate leaves dancing on his face…”.
• “I ran with the wind blowing in my face…”.
• “The gun roared.”
• “I won’t bruise her precious ego.” –Soraya.

16. Symbols
• Kite running
• The Monster in the lake
• The Pomegranate tree
• Lamb
• The Black Bear

17. Allusion
• There are a total of nineteen references to American
film stars or American films in The Kite Runner – more
than the number of references to Afghan politicians.
• In Chapter 3, Baba takes Amir to a game of buzkashi.
There is also a scene in Rambo III in which people play
buzkashi.
• Khaled Hosseini was a practicing doctor until a year
after the publication of The Kite Runner. (Source)
• Khaled Hosseini has a cameo in the film version of The
Kite Runner. (Source)

18. Allusions
• In chapter 9 on page 105, after Amir plants his watch
and money under Hassan's bed, he states: "I loved him
in that moment, love him more than I'd loved anyone
and I wanted to tell them that I was the snake in the
grass." This alludes to the snake in the grass in the
Garden of Eden, who deceived Eve into eating the
forbidden fruit. In the book, Amir deceives his father
into believing that Hassan took the watch. This is a
biblical allusion. Hope I've helped :)
• Amir often read to Hassan, who was illiterate. Their
favorite story was “Rostam and Sohrab,” in which
Rostam fatally wounds Sohrab in battle and then finds
out Sohrab is his lost son.

19. Other Literary Devices
• Hyperbole:
“But he’s always buried in those books.”
• Repetition:
“There is a way to be good again.” page 2,
“Now there is a way to be good again.” page 192
• Onomatopoeia:
“The earth shook a little and we heard the rat-a-tat-
tat of gunfire.”

20. Thank You………….!