The Kite Runner U Shaped Structure Analysis

Brief Introduction

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, was published in 2003 and considered as a contemporary classic, receiving a huge success worldwide. Set in Afghanistan and the United States. The Kite Runner illustrates the similarities as well as the differences between the two countries and the two vastly different cultures in a well-rounded manner. As a typical initiation novel, it is the story about friendships, relatives and master-servant relations, and it is a novel about right and wrong, betrayal and redemption, forgiveness and love, as well as the natures of evil and goodness.

The U-Shaped Structure

Above all, the U—shaped structure is so common that it has become an archetype which greatly influences later literary

This structure is defined as U-shaped structure by Frye in The Great Code: The Bible and Literature (1981). Frye argues that the narrative structure of The Bible is U—shaped，and there are many small U—shaped narrative units in the big U—shaped narration．In The Kite Runner, Amir's whole life is in a big U—shaped structure and his several experiences can be seen as small U—shaped narrative units．This U—shaped structure makes narration well organized and easily comprehended．Therefore, it is necessary and meaningful to analyze the U-shaped structure employed in The Kite Runner.

In a word, a U-shaped narrative structure shall consist of three parts：a harmonious start，the bottom，and a happy ending．And there shall be two actions which connect these three parts：descent and ascent．That being said, a typical U—shaped story shall begin with a harmonious start．Then the characters may suffer various misfortunes and hardships until they come the bottom of life．Then some good things shall appear and the characters will revive．Finally the story shall end up with a happy ending．The harmonious start and the happy ending shall echo each other，but they shall by no means be the

I think these will do me a great favor to my graduation thesis, though I have not finished the whole picture yet. First one is something about the social background. As an historical novel, telling about the story of the pre-Russian invasion and pre-Taliban rule of Afghanistan, The Kite Runner paints a realistic portrait of a country about which most readers probably know very little and think of it as a country that is full of terrorist, weapons and attack. Although it is a fictive story, the representation of the political, social, and cultural systems of this Middle Eastern country provides a different picture to the contemporary stereotype about Afghanistan, which is primarily regarded as the home to terrorists. There is no doubt that the function is profound. Second one is about kite flying and kite fighting, the most important symbols in the novel. Kites, the key word in this novel, symbolize the thematic topics and interaction between betrayal and redemption. I think maybe I can give priority to the kite at the same time, and follow it described in the novel to analyze the destiny and changes of