The Significance of Geographic Settings to Imagery

     The Kite Runner uses the many different geographical settings to provide vivid imagery in the first 79 pages.  The first geographical setting was on page 1 “crouching behind a crumbling mud wall peeking into the alley near the frozen creek.” Also on page 1 “I went for a long walk on Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park.”  These geographical settings can help the reader image where the story is taking place and actually visualize the setting. On page 3 the story relates about the boys climbing the “poplar trees in the driveway”, it goes on to explain why the trees were and important part in Hassan and Amir’s childhood.  Amir describes on page 4 the house where in grew up “The poplar trees lined the redbrick driveway, which led to a pair of wrought-iron gates. They in turn opened into an extension of the driveway into my father’s estate. The house sat on the left side of the brick path, the backyard at the end of it.” This was important in the story because it explains a key setting that is often mentioned in the book.  On page six it describes where Hassan was born “in that little shack,” this important to understand that the two boys grew up in completely different positions in live.  (Amir a palace and Hassan a shack) In the next couple of settings Amir is talking about how he and Hassan were always doing things together; even though he never really considered him his “friend”. On page 26 he says “We chased the Kochi, the nomads who passed through on their ways to the mountains of the north.” It goes on to say “I’d make Hassan sit on the Wall of Ailing Corn and fire pebbles with is slingshot at the camels’ rears. Then again on page 26, “We saw our first Western together” “at the Cinema Park, across the street from my favorite bookstore.”  These passages explain how close the boys actually were.   On page 27, the boys “trotted up a bowl-shaped hill, just north of my father’s property in Wazir Akbar Khan. There was an old abandoned cemetery atop the hill with rows of unmarked headstones and tangles of brushwood clogging the aisles. Seasons of rain and snow had turned the iron gate rusty and left the cemetery’s low white stone walls in decay.”

            This hill was also an important setting since Amir and Hassan spent many days there together. This is where Amir would read to Hassan.  On page 37 “We crossed the residential street and were trekking through a barren patch of rough land that led to the hill” it goes on to the boys getting ambushed by Assef, Wali, and Kamal. This setting is where Hassan saved Amir and himself from getting beaten up, which is a vital part in the book.  Winter is an important setting since this is when the kite-fighting tournament is held. On page 48 it says “I find my driveway, my father’s car, the walls, the trees, the rooftops, and the hills buried under a foot of snow.” Winter is the children’s favorite season, when they don’t have school and focus on the kite-fighting.  On page 52-53 “Hassan and I were running a kite. I was chasing him through neighborhoods, hopping gutters, weaving through narrow streets.” It goes on to say “we ended up on a rutted dirt road near Istequal Middle School. There was a field on one side where lettuce grew in the summer, and a row of sour cherry trees on the other.” This passage is significant because it shows that Hassan is the best kite runner, which you also see as the story develops.  On page 60, “The streets glistened with fresh snow and the sky was a blameless blue. Snow blanketed every rooftop and weighed on the branches of the stunted mulberry trees that lined our street.” This description provides the imagery of what the day was like for the kite running tournament that ended in both happiness and tragedy for both Amir and Hassan.

The Significance of Geographic Settings to Plot

            The setting changes in “The Kite Runner” show the significant impact on the life of the narrator, Amir. The book begins with the time and place in "December 2001" (1) in San Francisco as evidenced by the narrator's "walk along Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Gold Gate Park" (1) and the foreshadowing that the major event to be described has been affecting Amir for the last twenty-six years. By the setting moving in place and time over these years (by remembering the earlier time) the reader is able to understand and appreciate the major characters’ development and to feel the impact of the event that haunts the narrator. The settings give historical perspective and introduce the culture of Afghanistan, where ethnic, religious, and class distinctions play a major role in the conflicts of the story.

            The physical setting is significant because it describes the comfortable childhood of Amir in "the Wazir Akbar Khan district, a new and affluent neighborhood in the northern part of Kabul." (4)  This is in contrast to the "mud shack" (6) where his servant/friend Hassan lived.  The stark difference in class and ethnic background are significant throughout the book.  For example, the backstreet where the rape occurs is shabby compared to the grand house where Amir is raised.  The time difference from the reflection of 2001 to the mid 1970's and the contrasts of winter and summer are significant to give the reader perspective of the changes that occur over time and in the different seasons of life for all the characters. The geographic settings also portray the impact of these changes in the lives of the characters over the many years of the story.  The one setting, however, that remains constant is the flying of the kites by children with its tension, combat, and excitement.  This is significant because it shows the strength of this children's tradition and its appeal to the "young" in all of us.