Devon Gallant
Evan Fitzimmons
Julien Sommerville
Brandon Dignam
 The
Kite Runner revolves around the concept
of the protagonist’s innocence, and how it is
lost throughout the novel.
 Hassan
getting raped was a loss of innocence
because Amir is very wealthy in Afghanistan,
he see’s the world from a perspective of a
family without any major issues and when he
see’s Hassan getting raped, it kind of brings
him down to the level of everyone else, and
he realizes that the world isn't as innocent as
he thought it was.
 Before
Amir began going to school, his
treatment towards Hassan was very
brotherly. After he went to school, he
subconsciously transitioned to being racist
towards the Hazara race, just like everyone
else around him.
 Another loss of innocence is Baba lying about
Amir and Hassan being brother. This betrays
Baba’s own morals about stealing and how
lying to someone steals their right to know
the truth. Baba also stole a brother from
Amir and Hassan.
 Amir
– Amir is affected by loss of innocence
over the course of the novel. A prime
example is one of the main events of the
novel, him witnessing the rape of Hassan.
 Hassan – Hassan experiences loss of
innocence in only one way. It was involuntary
and for the most part, Hassan is a static
character.
 Baba – Baba presented the loss of innocence.
He stated that the only crime is theft. He
can be considered an instigator of loss of
innocence.
 Afghanistan
(Kabul, Khandahar)
– Wealth, but War
Amir grows up in a wealthy town and
household then everything changes when the
war starts and the Taliban take over.
 America (San Francisco)
– Poverty, but Peace
Although they are no longer wealthy and
cannot afford their daily luxuries, they are
living without fear of the Taliban and the
war.
 Amir’s
narration is very mature for his age.
He has an insight of one many years older
(although this may be just because he’s
retelling it from an older age). Nevertheless,
the maturity in which he narrates allows him
to use intensely negative words to describe
exactly how he feels as his innocence is lost.
 Foreshadowing
(“Because suddenly
Afghanistan changed forever.”)
 Metaphor (“The Kite Runner”, Kite Fights, “I
felt like a soldier preparing for battle the
night before.”)
 Symbols (“Kite”, “Pomegranate Tree”,
“Slingshot”, “Brass Knuckles”)
 The
author ends every chapter with an inner
reflection or foreshadow by Amir, which
relates to loss of innocence because he
reflects on what just happened or what is
about to happen.
 By
using short sentences, the author draws
the readers attention with short, snappy
phrases to amplify the sudden occurrence in
which Amir loses his innocence.
 By
using First person point of view, we see
everything happening from Amir’s
perspective, allowing us to see exactly how
everything affects him.
 (Page
39 – (War) Our whole way of life is
over; Sidebar)
 Page 83- Rape
 Page 91 – Rape; Monster in the lake
 Page 235 – Finds out his life is a lie
 Split
into two teams. We will present to you
examples from the novel. It is your job to
determine whether these examples are a loss
of innocence or not. For every correct
answer, your team will receive 10 points.
Remember, you must explain yourself in
order to get points.
 The
examples are in no particular order from
the novel.
 Amir
finds Sohrab in the bathtub, wrists slit.
The young boy had tried to kill himself.
 Yes,
because Amir didn’t see that coming
(even though he should have).
 When
Assef beat up Amir at the end, and
Sohrab shot him in the eye with his sling
shot.
 Yes,
It is a loss of innocence for Sohrab,
because he had to substantially injure a
grown man (despite what they had done to
him).
 When
Farid beat up the man at the
orphanage and the children were watching.
 No.
It was just a fight.
 Because
of the war, the pomegranate tree
that Amir and Hassan used to haunt has
withered and has stopped bearing fruit.
 Yes,
it is a loss of innocence in the sense that
the pomegranate tree was something that
Amir always had in his life (just in the
background) and it’s death came as a shock
to him.
 Towards
the end of the novel, Amir teaches
Sohrab to fly a kite. This brings a smile to
Sohrab’s face, and brought them closer
together.
 No.
It was just a bonding moment.