Kite Runner
In what ways is chapter one, of The Kite Runner, an interesting way to open the novel?
Language
The language used in chapter one is very mysterious and invites a reader to continue further into the book and the use of pathetic fallacy in the first sentence sets the mood for the rest of the chapter. Words such as crouching and peeking suggest the character is somewhere they shouldn’t be. As well as this, the phrase about the ‘past clawing its way out’ gives the impression that what happened there is a monstrous thing that the character has locked away and doesn’t wish to relive like a memory.
However, the second paragraph is the opposite of the first and begins with summer whereas the first begins with winter and the calling suggests that it isn’t just Rahim Khan calling him, it is his unatoned sins and they are enticing them back to their past to pay for whatever it is that they have done. The use of the word unatoned produces a semantic field of religion and the way in which someone should be punished when they sin.
Phrases such as sun sparkled and crisp breeze are the complete contrast of the frigid, overcast day which is described in the first paragraph. In the last paragraph of the chapter the use of the words there is a way to be good again makes me want to find out what it was that happened in the past that was so bad that someone has to return there and face their punishment for something that happened a long time ago.
The twin kites could have been used as a way to relate to the characters relationship and friendship with Hassan and the last line of the first paragraph is almost a repetition of the first line, mentioning again the theme of winter and 1975.
Structure
The structuring of the first chapter is good because it switches from negative to positive and then back to negative again which suggests how things for the character have changed from when they were bad, to how good they got and then how they got back again.
Chapter one’s structure
Language
The language used in chapter one is very mysterious and invites a reader to continue further into the book and the use of pathetic fallacy in the first sentence sets the mood for the rest of the chapter. Words such as crouching and peeking suggest the character is somewhere they shouldn’t be. As well as this, the phrase about the ‘past clawing its way out’ gives the impression that what happened there is a monstrous thing that the character has locked away and doesn’t wish to relive like a memory.
However, the second paragraph is the opposite of the first and begins with summer whereas the first begins with winter and the calling suggests that it isn’t just Rahim Khan calling him, it is his unatoned sins and they are enticing them back to their past to pay for whatever it is that they have done. The use of the word unatoned produces a semantic field of religion and the way in which someone should be punished when they sin.
Phrases such as sun sparkled and crisp breeze are the complete contrast of the frigid, overcast day which is described in the first paragraph. In the last paragraph of the chapter the use of the words there is a way to be good again makes me want to find out what it was that happened in the past that was so bad that someone has to return there and face their punishment for something that happened a long time ago.
The twin kites could have been used as a way to relate to the characters relationship and friendship with Hassan and the last line of the first paragraph is almost a repetition of the first line, mentioning again the theme of winter and 1975.
Structure
The structuring of the first chapter is good because it switches from negative to positive and then back to negative again which suggests how things for the character have changed from when they were bad, to how good they got and then how they got back again.
Chapter one’s structure