Comparative Essay On 'The Kite Runner'

The Kite Runner Comparative Essay
It is common for many different novels to be made into a film, due to their popularity. Often, the directors will leave out countless details because of the limited time. The same can be said about The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, which later turned into a film by Marc Forster. The novel includes realistic events which makes it more relatable to the audience. This is shown through the character Amir when he deals with many difficult situations throughout the novel, that of which are not found in the film. The author also adds important events of Hassan’s life, that causes the reader to relate to Hassan, while the director chooses to leave them out. Finally, this is shown when Sohrab does not deal with the

The first major event that is left out in the film is when Hassan meets his mother Sanaubar. This is a crucial scene to include because many other scenes are left out because this storyline does not occur in the film. In the novel, Sohrab becomes very close with Sanaubar. When she dies, Sohrab takes the news very hard because he is young and does not understand death. This does not happen in the film because the director leaves out the important scene of Hassan meeting his mother. When Hassan meets Sanaubar for the first time, her reaction towards him plays a big role in the novel. It shows how she has changed as a person, based on the information the reader receives at the start of the novel. When Sanaubar says, “I have walked long and far to see if you are as beautiful in the flesh as you are in my dreams” (Hosseini 221) , it shows her determination to find Hassan and redeem herself from her past. Without this part, the readers would not be able to connect with Hassan and how he is feeling. The film excludes this scene and therefore the audience does not develop a deep personal connection with Hassan. The second example that proves the audience relates more to Hassan in the novel compared to the film, is when the author describes Hassan’s cleft lip. When Amir describes Hassan’s cleft lip, he describes it as, “...the cleft lip, just left of the midline, where the Chinese doll maker’s instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had grown tired and careless” (Hosseini 3). His description about Hassan’s lip shows what Amir thinks about his unique feature. This is important because it causes the audience to feel sympathetic towards Hassan because of the way people look at his flaw. The readers also feel sympathy for him because they