On The Narrative Strategies Of The Kite Runner

Published in 2003, The Kite Runner, the maiden novel of an Afghanistan American writer Khaled Hosseini, is an instant success and brings the author great fame across the world. Since its publication, it has aroused much attention from academic circle. Some scholars analyze the novel from the perspective of bildungsroman, others interpreting the image of kite in it. There are still some critics arguing from the approach of psychoanalysis. However, there are relatively few scholars who have studied its narrative strategies. Yet the present author holds that its narrative strategies feature heavily in this novel, and therefore the thesis attempts to focus on it, specifically speaking, on its characterization, text time, focalization and narration.The thesis is divided into five chapters, with the body part covering from chapter two to chapter four. In the first chapter, the writer Khaled Hosseini and his work The Kite Runner are introduced. Besides, it also touches upon literature review of the novel and the layout of the thesis.The second chapter concerns characterization. Rimmon-Kenan’s theory of characterization is employed for analysis. The characters’ traits are displayed through their speeches and actions. In addition, the analogy between characters is also adopted to reveal the characters’ traits.Chapter three deals with text time of the novel. Using Genette’s and Rimmon-Kenan’s narrative time theories, analepsis, duration and frequency are analyzed. Analepsis occurs when the narrator tries to recall his childhood time and life in the United States. To make the novel vividly presented to the readers, both acceleration and deceleration are used. As for frequency, some images and expressions constantly appear in the novel.Chapter four is devoted to the discussion of focalization and narration in the novel. Internal focalization is employed to better reveal the inner world of the protagonist, Amir. For narration, interior monologue is widely used as a way of speech representation. Besides, the issue of reliability of the narrator is also touched upon.The last chapter is the conclusion part, which summarizes the previous analyses. The combined efforts at characterization, text time, focalization and narration make the novel a successful one.