The Kite Runner Chapter 10

1. The Kite RunnerChapter 10 By Sabrina Sahota

2. Summary • Russia invade Afghanistan and Amir and Baba are forced to flee to Pakistan • They travel with Karim, a people smuggler, and a number of other passengers • At a checkpoint they come across a Russian soldier who will only let them pass if he could have half an hour with one of the female passengers • Baba stands up for the woman and the soldier threatens to shoot Baba but another officer stops him • As they reach Jalalabad the group are forced to stay in the basement of a house for the next week with other refugees • Karim recognises one of the boy’s in the basement who turns out to be Kamal alongside is his father • They finally get in the truck to Pakistan, however it turns out to be a fuel truck which makes the journey even more difficult • Kamal’s father starts screaming because Kamal has stopped breathing • Kamal’s father attacks Karim and manages to grab his gun. Kamal’s father then shoots himself because of the death of his son.

3. Structure • Jump in time suggesting nothing of significance has happened in Amir’s life ‘…a perfectly encapsulated morsel of a good past…’ • Majority of chapter is in past tense and is in chronological order • After basement events are very broken up and the description is quite short and general. ‘We sat shoulder to shoulder along the walls, ate crackers, bread with dates, apples.’ • Chapter 10 ends on a moment of suspense, the severity of the situation could foreshadow Amir and Baba’s future

4. Language • Change in Afghanistan • ‘…the city of cypress trees and sugarcane fields’ • ‘Complain about the curfew to the butcher and next thing you knew, you were behind bars staring at the muzzle end of a Kalashnikov’. • Still a sense of bitterness towards Baba • ‘…he saw my car sickness as yet another array of my weakness’ • Amir’s perspective is skewed so Hosseini reminds us about Baba’s courageous character • ‘I’ll take a thousand of his bullets before I let this indecency take place.’ • Still hasn’t got over events with Hassan • ‘I wondered where Hassan was. Then the inevitable. I vomited on a tangle of weeds… ’ • Sensory description to describe the journey • ‘As if on cue, a MiG suddenly screamed past overhead.’ • ‘The fuel tank was pitch black.’ • ‘The air wasn’t right. It was too thick, almost solid.’ • ‘And the stench of gasoline.’ • ‘He was humming the wedding song and drumming his finger on the edge of the tailgate.’

5. Form • Pivotal moment in the novel • Beginning of Amir and Baba’s journey to America • Moments of tension • Heightened tension at the end of the chapter when Kamal’s father turns the gun on himself