Comments on 'The Kite Runner' chapter 1

Setting
A number of settings are mentioned within the open pages. For the first one, an exact city or country isn't mentioned, but based on the text 'Crumbling mud wall' we would presume that the character is in a less-developed city in a less-developed country. This is very clever as the writer has left us, the readers, to create the setting from our imaginations, using only a few words as guidelines. We are also given a season, Winter, and this is further expressed when the 'frozen creek' is mentioned. Our existing thoughts of a less-developed country are also confirmed, when the writer mentions the character receives a call from Pakistan.

We are next given a new season, Summer, and this is further expressed by words such as 'early-afternoon sun'. the city of San Fransisco, a developed city in a developed country, is also mentioned. By doing this, the writer has created a huge contrast between the two settings.

Narrative Devices
When the protagonist mentions the things Hassan and Rahim Khan had said to him, rather than using speech marks, the quotations are in italics ('For you, a thousand times over' and 'There is a way to be good again'). This indicates that these words could have more significance compared to any others in the chapter. The locations are also described with specific details, such as 'park bench near a willow tree' and 'northern edge of Golden Gate Park'.

The writer also creates an omniscient feeling, by describing the two kites in the sky as 'a pair of eyes looking down on San Fransisco'.

Characterisation
The protagonist makes themself out to have a very negative past. They mentions that something changed them in the Winter of 1975, when he/she was only 12 years of age, which indicates that the person was not always as they are now. However, what happened exactly is not mentioned. We know that the protagonist is defiantly troubled by something (the quote 'For you, a thousand times over') but we also get the impression that what they have done can be fixed ('There is a way to be good again' said to him by his friend Rahim Khan). We also get the impression that what happened in 1975 must have been very serious, as they mention that it 'changed everything'.

Questions the chapter leaves us considering
- What happened in the Winter of 1975?
- Why is the protagonist so negative about the past?
- Why did the protagonist move away from their original home? Why did they choose San Fransisco?
- Who are Hassan, Baba, Ali, and Kabul? What happened to them? What did they do to the protagonist?