1. The Kite Runner Both an historical novel and a contemporary novel.
Could also be viewed as a fable with a moral message.
“Post-colonial” literary theory – fiction emerging from countries which were once colonised by others, examining how cultural identities have been affected by invading countries.
First person narrator. The protagonist, Amir, is therefore an unreliable narrator because his view is biased and skewed by his personal feelings and what has happened to him. As a reader, you therefore have to “read between the lines” of what Amir says.
The novel is geographically set in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the USA.
The novel is chronologically set in the 1970s up to the present day.

2. Chapter 1
Very short.
Juxtaposes Amir’s memories of Afghanistan with his current life in the USA.
Although we start in 2001, the story is then retold in a series of extended flashbacks.
The narrator therefore ALREADY KNOWS how his story is going to end – this fact must be taken into consideration as it colours the rest of his narrative.
This techniques of flashbacks allows the narrator to foreshadow events which have not yet occurred, building dramatic tension.
Uses pathetic fallacy (where the weather is used to reflect the character’s feelings) – “a frigid overcast day” – reflecting the oppressive and chilling emotions he experienced.

3. Chapter 1 – Key Quotes
“I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day”
“crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek...I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years”
“I’ve learned about how you can bury it [the past]”
“the past claws its way out”
“It was my past of unatoned sins”
“a pair of kites...soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees...floating side by side like a pair of eyes”
“For you, a thousand times over”
“There is a way to be good again”
“I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today.”