Irony and its many uses in literature ... or just in Khaled Hosseini's 'The Kite Runner'

Savannah Dotson Hanson

Originally written at some point in 2007.

IRONY and its many uses in literature

...or just in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.

Irony is ever-present in literature - the books we read, the magazines we skim through while waiting in line at the grocery store, and the articles that we read on the NYTimes online.

And whether reading about Britney, Bush, or Harry Potter, we always seem to find that one “aha!” moment, when you realize that the writer has just touched on something ironic. That moment happened quite frequently to me as I was reading Khaled Hosseini’s bestseller (which is about to become a movie) The Kite Runner. Hosseini seems, in this book, to have some kind of a base of irony that he keeps briefly skimming throughout the whole novel - as if to prove his main message, he must constantly show examples through irony. I can only deduct from this that his theme is that there is NO limit to the amount of times that ironic situations can occur in a novel... (only joking). Actually, my interpretation of the theme in this novel is that life throws you curves, bends, and overpasses, and to go on with your path, you must find a way to get over, or make straight, those obstacles.

Take, for example, the instances of Hassan and Amir’s childhood. Both were relieved of their mothers very early on, and they were both reminded of it for the rest of their lives. Sanaubar was Hassan’s mother and she “refused to even hold Hassan, and after five days, she was gone.” (Hosseini 10). Amir’s mother, (Baba’s ‘princess’) died in childbirth - a thing that was never forgotten by Baba. But, while Hassan’s torture about the loss of his mother was more public (the taunting in the streets of the fact that Ali would have gotten Sanaubar, etc.), Amir’s suffering was much more private, and it had more to do with the fact that his father could never be proud of him - that Baba could never look at Amir and see himself; “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of [Baba’s] wife, I would have never believed that he was my son.” (Hosseini 23)

And through all of this that the two boys shared together, plus numerous other circumstances, Amir is the one who frames Hassan for stealing Amir’s watch - and is the reason why Ali and Hassan leave! However, this instance haunts Amir for the rest of the book, and he eventually ends up going back to Afghanistan to see Rahim Khan (an old friend of Baba’s), to try and talk to him about it.

Later in the book, there is another situation of irony when Assef threatens to beat up Hassan and Amir; and then we find out that he was beaten in prison to within an inch of his life. Also, Hassan and Amir were terrified to death while being threatened, as opposed to Assef, who took his punishment laughing, saying later that it was “a message from God. He wanted [Assef] to live for a reason” (Hosseini 284). If there could be more irony in that whole charade, it would have punched the reader in the face as they read the book. Assef later overcame the punishment and situation of being in prison by killing the man who beat him later in battle, and going on to punish numerous other for this beating. Not that this is a genuinely good path - but it is legitimate and relevant to the theme.

Another example of this sardonic literary style involving Assef is that, while Hassan threatens to shoot out his eye, and mocks him (“they’ll have to change your name ... to ‘one-eyed Assef...”) (Hosseini 42) to try and get him to leave when the boys are children, it is his son, Sohrab, who does shoot out Assef’s eye later on, when Amir is getting the pulp punched out of him. And, true to the theme - Assef made a promise to Amir, telling him that “[the incident] isn’t the end.[Amir] will have to face [Assef] someday.” (Hosseini 43). To get over that impass of a statement, he held true to his word, and Amir faced him about twenty years later.

Now, to take a quick break from the impulses of pointing out ironies, I would like to show how my theme is relevant to the book The Kite Runner. Throughout the book, Hosseini has a few major characters that he brings back - Amir, Hassan, Assef, Baba, and Rahim Khan. Amir, of course, is the main character, which shows why it is so important to follow his story line; but what of the other four?  Well, Hassan is tied to Amir through his childhood, and his molestation by Assef just tied him even more closely to Amir through Amir’s unwillingness to accept what had happened, and what could have happened. Amir needs to overcome this guilt he feels about this event by somehow repaying Hassan - rescuing Sohrab automatically becomes ‘the right choice’ that would even out Amir’s conscience; and so he must rescue Hassan’s son. Assef only comes back to terrorize Hassan’s son and Hassan even more - to continue to make everyone who was close to him miserable and messed up. Amir obviously had to somehow overcome Assef -in order to get over his grief. Baba, obviously, because he is Amir’s father. But, after he is dead he makes a brief reoccurrence - in reference, of course. When Amir goes back to Afghanistan to speak with Rahim Khan, Khan lets him know that Baba fathered two sons - Hassan and Amir (Hosseini 222). This event, which not only shows Rahim’s importance as a reoccurring character and the resolving of Baba’s character, also spurs on Amir to save Sohrab and confront Assef. This event of ironic revelation led to the entire conclusion of the book.

Back to the irony.

After Amir and Baba move to America, they have a decent life for a while. Amir graduates high school and starts college, and Baba starts working at a gas station - a lower job than he is used to, no doubts there, but a job nonetheless. However, as soon as Amir finally finds a woman that he wants to marry, and starts being happy, Baba is diagnosed with cancer.  And as Amir’s life gets more and more promising, Baba’s life gets more and more downward spiraling.

A more dramatic irony you could not find in the tabloids - the once great, bear-wrestling Baba becomes bed-ridden! His son becomes a husband - and starts to have a happy life as his father is wasting away! GASP! But, it is necessary to have this scenario - Amir has to overcome his father’s shadow so that he can live his life the way he wants to.

Some other instances of irony that support this theme of straightening out the kinks of life are: the only time that Amir gained his father’s respect as a child was when Hassan sacrificed himself for it - it wasn’t even in Amir’s control anymore. This made Amir go through most of his life in shame and guilt - which he then resolved by saving Sohrab. Another: Hassan spent his whole life standing up for what he knew was right and good, and was killed by a man who embodied the very opposite - one of the reasons that Sohrab was so very inclined to shoot out Assef’s eye.

I guess you could say that the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a very resonant story. Almost all of the conflicts that are started in the book are finished, and all is well and good in Amir’s life when the writer decided to pan out over the landscape and end the tale. But I think that this book was one of strife, conflict, and drive. All of the characters have flaws and humanistic qualities, and all in all, the novel has an appealing draw that sucks in a reader like a moth to the flame. And though, at first the irony overload was too much for a critical reader like myself, I do believe that the irony helped to drive home the point. That no matter how messed up life is - there is a way to be good again.

Works Cited:

1. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York : Riverhead Books, 2003.