Year 12 English Studies
Individual Study – Paired Texts
Text 1 – The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Text 2 – Disgrace – J M Coetzee
Common theme – redemption
Essay question – What techniques do the authors of both texts use to portray the theme of
redemption?
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, set in both Afghanistan and America and
“Disgrace” by J M Coetzee set in South Africa are two texts set in different places and
time periods but with a common theme between them, redemption.
The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan in the 1960’s and early 70’s. It follows the
childhood and early adolescent hood of a boy growing up during that period. At that time,
the country saw some significant political changes which inflicted rapid and severe
changes on the citizens of the country.
The story follows Amir, the central character and his close friend Hassan as they grow up
together in Afghanistan. As a result of the changing political structure and regime in the
country their friendship overtime wears thin and it is not until much later in life that Amir
realizes that Hassan was more than a friend and that he mistreated him due to pressure of
others. The breaking point in their friendship is the rape of Hassan by another boy in
Afghanistan because he was of a different race, that he was black rather than white, and
had tried to stand up for himself and protect Amir. Amir failed to act as a friend would
and defend and protect Hassan, this single fact haunted him for several years until he felt
compelled to seek redemption.
Shortly after the event took place, Amir and his father migrated to the US to escape the
political turmoil which had engulfed the country. Hassan and his father remained in
Afghanistan, and suffered badly for many years under the new regime. It was a good
fifteen years later than Amir returned to Afghanistan, only to find that Hassan had been
killed just a week prior. It was then that Amir made the discovery that Hassan had been
his half-brother, as they had shared the same father. Whilst in the country, Amir also
learnt that Hassan had been married and had a son of his own. With this news Amir
undertook the task of finding Hassan’s son. After Hassans death, his son was placed into
an orphanage by the authorities where he lived for two to three weeks before being sold
to a political official. That official was the boy who had raped Hassan during his
childhood, and as such it was the seeking of redemption that made Amir go back and
rescue his nephew from that person.
The novel Disgrace follows a period in the life of Professor David Lurie. Set in South
Africa in the late 1990’s, this novel followes a similar theme to “The Kite Runner”, that
of redemption.
During his career David was involved in a relationship with a student, whilst seemingly
harmless; this relationship had adverse effects on the student, resulting in them dropping
out of their university course, and their parents getting involved. As the result of this, an
inquest into what went on was conducted; which resulted in the voluntary resignation of
Professor Lurie from the university.
After his resignation, Professor Lurie decided to travel and visit his daughter, Lucy, who
was currently living on a farm, 300 miles from Johannesburg. When David arrived at
Lucy’s farm house, he discovered that her partner who was living with her had left, and
that she was on her own. Immediately David felt compelled to stay and bear assistance
wherever he could.
David helped out on the farm for a few days, packing up produce to sell at market and
running the stall at the market, as well as feeding the dogs who boarded at the farm with
Lucy whilst their owners were away. After David had been there for several days, whilst
returning from a walk with Lucy, they noticed an unfamiliar van parked near the gate to
their properly. Upon getting closer they were approached by three men, one of them only
a young boy aged around 14. They asked to use the telephone, but once they were inside
the hose turned upon and attacked David and his daughter.
David was locked in the toilet for several hours, before being taken out and doused in
kerosene and set alight. He managed to extinguish the flames, although he suffered burns
to his head and loss of hair. Whilst David was locked in the toilet, Lucy was raped by the
three men in her bedroom.
After the rapists had left, David did not know then that Lucy had been raped, so they
drove to a near by neighbors house for help. David was taken to hospital but nothing was
done for Lucy as she did not say anything regarding what happened.
Overtime the relationship between David and Lucy began to wear thin. David was not
sure what the cause of this was, but he soon discovered about the rape and the fact that
his daughter was pregnant as a result of it.
David had started working during the week at as a volunteer at the local animal clinic
with Bev Shaw, a friend of Lucy’s. He felt as though doing this work was, in a way,
partially giving back for his misdemeanors. After a period of time David decided to go
and visit the parents of the student he had had a relationship with. Their reaction to him
was not forgiving nor forgetting of what he had done, but rather to show him what he had
done and how his action affected other peoples lives more deeply than words could
describe.
Following this, David’s life was changed, with him living in a more simplistic manner
and giving back to the community, as well as forming friendships and helping people in
need. Prior to the events that took place, he would not have given other people less
fortunate than himself a second thought, but as a result of what happened, his views on
life were dramatically changed.
Both texts clearly show a link through the theme of redemption; however how the authors
go about demonstrating this is different. In “Disgrace”, J M Coetzee uses several
different examples of redemption being sought for actions by various characters. There is
the main character, David, seeking redemption for his past actions; the relationship with
the student, and how he led his life in general. In addition to that, there are also other
characters wanting to redeem themselves for actions that they contributed towards, but
were not completely responsible for. In a sense the story goes in a cycle, from actions
committed, to consequences of those actions, to “making up” for those actions.
In “The Kite Runner”, there are only the actions of Amir, and how he seeks redemption
for them later on in life, rather than a series of sub characters and their individual actions
being intertwined together to build a story and provide a universal resolution.
The times and places each novel was set in both portray images of racial hatred and
prejudice. In Afghanistan in the 1970’s there was the hatred of the Kashir people by the
white Afghanis, and in South Africa in the 1990’s there was the hatred of the black South
African’s by the white South Africans. There is also the perception that older people have
power over younger people, as seen in “Disgrace”, where Professor Lurie is in a sense
able to force himself into the life of one if his students. This is also evident in “The Kite
Runner”, where children and people older and bigger than Amir and Hassan were able to
torment and influence them in a negative manner.
In conclusion, the links between the two texts are strong, with the common link of
redemption as well as contributing factors leading up to the theme of redemption
unfolding in both novels. Both Authors use similar techniques to build up their story to
the point that a character feels the need to seek redemption for their actions, however
there are a few subtle differences between the two, such as in “Disgrace”, the use of
multiple characters seeking in a different way redemption, whereas in “The Kite Runner”,
there is only one character seeking redemption for his actions and their ramifications. In
each novel, at the end the two central characters each manage to achieve a sense of
redemption. In “Disgrace”, David Lurie redeems himself by changing his way of life,
speaking to the family of the girl he had relations with and doing volunteer work for the
community. In “The Kite Runner”, Amir returned to Afghanistan and rescued his nephew
from the Taliban, and later saved his life after an attempted suicide.
Techniques of the novelist
Setting
Plot
Characters
Storyline
Time
Place
Government – Politics – Society
Contrast between people
Other peoples opinions