Irony in The Kite Runner
In the book The Kite Runner irony is present at many points. Khaled Hosseini gives the readers many examples of irony. The textbook definition of irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect. The themes are betrayal, love and karma. Below is the explanation of those themes.
The first theme is betrayal. The example is Baba’s dishonesty about Hassan being his son. Amir’s reaction to this is expected. His father had told him that stealing is the only sin. What Baba did in Amir’s eyes was dishonor a man the worst way possible. ¨How could he have lied to me all those years? A thief of the worst kind, because the things he’d stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor¨(#225). Hosseini writes this to show the importance or the gravity of what Baba has done. This is very ironic because earlier in the book Baba says that stealing is the worst and only sin, but he committed the sin himself. …show more content…
The example is both Amir and Hassan’s lip scars. Hassan is born with a cleft lip and could not afford correct himself. Baba out of guilt and probably love paid for the surgery. While rescuing Sohrab from Assef Amir gets a permanent scar straight down his lip just as Hassan. ¨The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip (#297). The irony is clear here, before Hassan had one and now Amir does, they are now one in the same. The love is that Amir got that scar out of his love for Hassan and the need to save
In the book The Kite Runner irony is present at many points. Khaled Hosseini gives the readers many examples of irony. The textbook definition of irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect. The themes are betrayal, love and karma. Below is the explanation of those themes.
The first theme is betrayal. The example is Baba’s dishonesty about Hassan being his son. Amir’s reaction to this is expected. His father had told him that stealing is the only sin. What Baba did in Amir’s eyes was dishonor a man the worst way possible. ¨How could he have lied to me all those years? A thief of the worst kind, because the things he’d stolen had been sacred: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor¨(#225). Hosseini writes this to show the importance or the gravity of what Baba has done. This is very ironic because earlier in the book Baba says that stealing is the worst and only sin, but he committed the sin himself. …show more content…
The example is both Amir and Hassan’s lip scars. Hassan is born with a cleft lip and could not afford correct himself. Baba out of guilt and probably love paid for the surgery. While rescuing Sohrab from Assef Amir gets a permanent scar straight down his lip just as Hassan. ¨The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip (#297). The irony is clear here, before Hassan had one and now Amir does, they are now one in the same. The love is that Amir got that scar out of his love for Hassan and the need to save