The Kite Runner - Chapter 3

Plot Summary: 

·        Baba and Amir’s relationship

·       Rahim Khan and Amir’s relationship

·       Baba’s attitude towards religion (which then influences Amir later in the novel)

·       Amir’s personality as seen by Rahim Khan and Baba

Analysis:

 The distancing between Amir and Baba is shown first here; Baba is presented as a strong, charitable, bear-wrestling, towering “force of nature,” whereas Amir is, in Baba’s opinion, a pathetic character who won’t stand up for anything. Rahim Khan challenges this about Amir, explaining the part of him which is “missing” is a, “mean streak.” This is the first time anyone has voiced an opinion about him; before this point, the story has been told purely from Amir’s point of view, with Amir’s opinions only. Rahim Khan fulfils more of a fatherly role in the part of the novel than Baba does, and this is the first instance we see of this relationship.

Baba disproves of religion. His defiance of the religious system that encapsulates the Afghan culture is echoed when he is dying, when he defies “the God he never believed in.” There is also considerable foreshadowing when he says, “God help us all if Afghanistan ever falls into their hands,” obviously because of the Taliban invasion.

There is a reasonable amount of foreshadowing in the novel, with the aforementioned Taliban quotation, Baba building the orphanage, Amir and Baba going to the Buzkashi tournament, assumedly in the same arena where the Afghans are executed and Amir mentioning cancer and Baba watching Henry Kissinger at that event. There is also the introduction of the running theme of dreams, with Amir dreaming of Baba and Baba disapproving of Amir being, “lost in some dream.”

Finally, there is the significance of Amir’s lack of “mean streak,” a personality trait which then plays a crucial part in Amir betraying Hassan and subsequently spending the rest of the novel suffering because of it.