The Kite Runner Group

Question:

tonywill
tonywill
Student
High School - 10th Grade

As The Kite Runner begins, what does the author say about the past?

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Posted by tonywill on Sunday October 18, 2009 at 8:15 PM and tagged with author, beginning, past.

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  1. scarletpimpernel Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The story begins in current times and then flashes back to the past; so Hosseini discusses the past at the very beginning not only to foreshadow one of the novel's themes but also to build suspense as to what the narrator is trying to bury in his past.  At the opening of Chapter 1, Amir says,

    "It's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out" (1).

    In connection to the themes of the novel, because of Amir's actions in the past, he struggles with his guilt and the need for redemption. That guilt and desire to atone for what he did are the part of the past that is "clawing" its way out of its burial plot.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/kite-runner/chapter-1-summary-analysis

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    Posted by scarletpimpernel on Monday October 19, 2009 at 11:45 AM