Abstract

The first novel written by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-born American writer, The Kite Runner swept the literature circle since its debut in 2003. Work can reflect the writer’s thought. The Kite Runner, his most successful novel, mirrors his similar life experience through the image of Amir. This work vividly depicts the story between two boys, involving their “friendship” and envy, betrayal and salvation…As a typical initiation novel, The Kite Runner unfolds around Amir, the protagonist in this novel. Sin and redemption, growth and betrayal as well as hardship and happiness depicted in this novel are similar to the core of the doxies of The Bible. Therefore, the thesis is going to adopt Frye’s archetypal theory to analyze the biblical archetypes in this novel, ranging from characters, plots to themes, hoping to have a deeper understanding on this novel.  

Key Words: Archetype theory; Holy Bible; Sin; Redemption; Betrayal

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

1.1 Khaled Hosseini and The Kite Runner-1

1.3 Theoretical Framework-6

2  Archetypal Characters-9

2.1 Amir: Adam and Cain-9

2.1.1 Amir’s Betrayal-10

2.1.2 Amir’s homicide-12

2.2 Hassan: Scapegoat-13

2.2.1 Scapegoat for Amir-13

2.2.2 Scapegoat for His parents-14

2.2.3 Scapegoat for His group-16

3  Archetypal Structure-18

3.1 Structure in The Bible-18

3.2 Structure in The Kite Runner-19

4  Archetypal Theme-23

4.1 Sin-23

4.1.1 Original Sin in The Bible-23

4.2 Redemption-26

4.2.1 Amir: Redemption for Himself-26

4.2.2 Amir: Redemption for His Father-28

5  Conclusion-30

Bibliography-32

Acknowledgements-34