Stylistic Development

As I continued to progress through the book (Chapter 4-8) some stylistic devices have emerged as common pieces of Amir’s story.  Hosseini commonly uses a storytelling model in order to move through Amir’s experiences and convey the major messages of the book. Each chapter is broken into short first person narrative flashback stories told by the main character Amir. This first person point of view is very beneficial to the reader. It allows the reader to see what it was like to live in Afghanistan as times of turmoil emerged. In the early stages of the book Afghanistan has a relatively stable society, but as a reader you get to experience the ethnic supremacy of the Pashtuns over the Hazaras. For example, Amir describes the typical school day. Amir is driven to school in his father’s muscle car while Hassan is left at home to do chores with his father Ali. Hassan is illiterate and relies on Amir to read him stories. Amir says that his favorite part of reading to Hassan is, “when [they] came across a big word that he didn’t know. I’d tease him, expose his ignorance (28)”. Amir reveals that he would feel bad, but he doesn’t have too because Hassan is only a Hazara. Hosseini’s choice to use first person storytelling from an upper class Pashtun boy tends to be very revealing. It truly shows the lack of empathy for the Hazaras. Although this is just a single example, Hosseini constantly uses the storytelling technique in order to provide important plot and the major messages of the novel.

            Storytelling is not the only stylistic technique that Hosseini has utilized, however. He also frequently drops one-liners at the end of chapters, which foreshadow what is to come or even help to uncover the meaning of the previous story. For example, after Hassan has a surgery to fix his cleft lip Amir says that it is ironic that he had it fixed because, “that was the winter that Hassan stopped smiling (47).” This one line cliff hanger foreshadows future events in the novel.

            Finally, Hosseini makes use of metaphors commonly throughout the book. The metaphor that really stood out to me came after Hassan runs down the final kite from the kite running competition (a day in which all of the children fly kites and try to battle each other out of the sky). The final kite that falls is the most valuable one, so Hassan runs to retrieve it in order to please Amir. Amir hopes that if he can bring home the final kite, Baba will accept him. Some time passes, so Amir goes looking for him. When he finds Hassan, he sees that Assef (a bully who terrorizes all of the boys) is ready to attack Hassan if he doesn’t hand over the kite. Hassan refuses because he can’t let down Amir, and is raped by Assef as punishment. As Amir watches this horrific scene, he thinks of the days of “Eid Al-Adha” when they would sacrifice a sheep. He imagines that the animal understands that, “its imminent demise is for a higher purpose (77).” He incorporates this flashback into the story of Amir’s rape in order to compare Hassan to the sheep. Amir thinks that Hassan’s well being may just be the price necessary to please Baba.  Metaphors such as these contribute to the plot as well as develop some of the main ideas such as the cultural strife between the Pashtuns and Hazaras.

            It’s interesting to see all of the different stylistic devices that Hosseini utilizes in order to enrich his writing. I think that they will soon come together to form a strong central meaning for the book. Thanks for reading! I’ll keep you posted.

Nolan “the breeze” Burgundy