Chapter 1:

‘I became what I am today at the age of twelve’ 

-Narrative hook: what was this traumatic event, and why did it condense the typically gradual coming of age process into a single moment.

‘I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years’

-The power of memories: how they can distort time and replay a single moment over and over and over, potentially lasting forever, drawing out the emotions of this event across a whole lifetime. 

-’Realize’ demonstrates how memories can be locked away within the ‘Id’ (unconscious segment of our mind) from which, unknown to us, they can influence every single seemingly rational decision we make. Perhaps Amir suppressed the notion that he is not the man his father wanted him to be, and instead of facing it and acknowledging it, it burns within him.

‘A pair of kites’

-Relevance to the story is indicated by its reference to the title.

-Exhibits how it is impossible to suppress a memory and not encounter motifs in life which will break down the walls of your unconscious and send the trauma flooding back into your conscious mind. Some people try to eradicate all of these motifs through violent destruction.

‘The winter of 1975’

-We keep on circling back to this inescapable moment, this narrative promise of trauma. This cyclical structure of going through pleasant childhood narratives, but ultimately circling back to winter does ape the seasonal structure. Winter is grim, and inevitable, it is only a matter of time before it arrives, and the more we think about it, the quicker momentum builds, and the closer we get to it.