The Kite Runner: A Lifetime To Ascertain The Open Sky

The Afghanistan-American writer Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner hit the bestseller list in 2003 during the aftermath of 9/11 incidents. As I re read the novel for a book review, I was shocked to learn the recent history of Afghanistan-the 1978 civil war, the Soviet invasion, the rise of the Taliban opposition, the tension between the and the Shiite Hazara community.

What entered to my mind at the first reading must have captured most of the readers to consider this novel as an unforgettable story- the love, guilt, stealth and the final redemption.The political turbulences that play an intrinsic role in the novel merge with the emotions of the characters and often secrete into the oblivion.

There are open and hideous events described in the novel that must prompt any tender minded reader to close the pages. There is no doubt that these events will haunt them for the days to come and to contemplate on the situations of political victims. They will feel an oxymoron in the optimistic Hassan"s cheerful words "There is no monster but, just a beautiful day." (P.54)

"There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir" (P.16) Amir's Baba has instructed him during his childhood days. But before Amir crossed the doorsill to teenage, he stole the faith, trust and love his friend Hassan. Later in his life Amir realizes the fact that he was also stolen by his Baba from the right to know an intricate truth that would have saved his life from the usurping guilt feelings. However unlike his Baba, Amir gets a chance to come back to Afghanistan after 30 years of his exile in United Nations to save Hassan's child Sohrab from an undeserved gloom.

The redemption happens to Amir as he receives the last letter from Hassan at Pakistan, expressing the lost friend's unchallenged love towards him. The normally coward Amir decides to rescue the helpless child of Hassan from the fanatic Islamites at Kabul. Now the novel shifts to the atrocities at Kabul under the rule of Taliban. The fanatic rulers reassert the superiority of the and suppress the Hazaras just as the Nazis had suppressed the Jews. The brutal prosecution at the open ground freezes anyone's blood for a moment.

Amir finds Sohrab as a pathetic victim at Assef's house, who had cruelly molested Hassan years ago and repeating the same crime with his son too. However the little Sohrab rescues Amir from the brutal attacks of Hassan and pay the punishment to Hassan, which his father intended to do years ago.

Sohrab's comeback to the real life seems to be a hard struggle for Amir. Even though he becomes successful in raising the hopes of the little child, the flames soon fade out as Sohrab attempts suicide in the fear of abandonment. Their exile to U.S doesn"t improve his spirits until the colourful kites rise in the sky on a misty day.

The Kites have a symbolic meaning in this novel. It is through a kite running competition that Amir face the sinful rules of cowardice, disloyalty and treachery. This prompts him to hide in a shelter in an attempt to forget his childhood traumas. However he becomes able to break the shell of solitude and sin through a path of redemption on a final kite running. The kite running becomes a path for him to soar to the real truths of life cutting back the guilty feelings and traumas.

This novel may pull you back at many times but, as you finish the last page, you may realize the unknown truths in your own life.